Review of Secret Ballot (2001) by Ifty Z — 03 Jun 2008

An absolutely spellbinding movie. Its set on a small island in the boondocks, off the shore of Iran on election day. A ballot box is parachuted in by plane and a young, idealistic female election agent arrives to try and get the locals to vote. Assigned to escort her around the island is a big, dull soldier who is uncomfortable about being placed under the orders of a woman and generally cynical about the entire election process. Throughout the movie they move about the island (and in one scene, row off it to a fishing boat) to try and get votes, all the while confronting both deep-rooted gender prejudices and a weary cynicism about the ability of elections to bring about any positive change. Despite running into problem after problem, the election agent refuses to give up.

The movie is a commentary, firstly, about how elections by themselves don't bring about change overnight. The scene where they stop at a red light out in the middle of the desert, wasting precious time waiting for the light to change to green until finally the driver remarks, "I thought it had been repaired" comments on the apparent futility of following the rules when the system itself is broken.

But its the final scene that provides the key to understanding how the elections also provide hope for real change. The symbolic changing of the guard that occurs at the beginning of the movie suggests an endless cycle where the soldiers swap shifts, but where no real change occurs. But in the final scene, the soldier who has been moved to cast his own ballot for the idealistic election agent decides to stay up for the next shift, suggesting that this cycle can be broken, even if it is a slow process that happens one person at a time.

Altogether this is a magnificent movie, with heart, humour, and that rarest of things, wisdom.

04/06/2008.