Les Graines du figuier sauvage

To better understand the concept behind the film, this might help, learn where the name of the film comes from: There are plants known as "strangler figs" that exhibit strange behavior. Strangler figs (genus *Ficus*) begin their life as seeds deposited on the branches of a host tree, typically by birds or other animals. The seeds germinate and send down roots that eventually reach the ground. As the roots grow and thicken, they encircle the host tree, creating a lattice-like structure.

Over time, the strangler fig's roots and branches grow larger and more robust, competing with the host tree for sunlight and nutrients. Eventually, the fig's growth can become so extensive that it constricts the host tree's trunk, restricting its ability to transport water and nutrients. This process can lead to the host tree's death, effectively allowing the strangler fig to take over the space and resources previously used by the host.

The strangler fig does not immediately kill the host tree but rather slowly overcomes it through a combination of physical encasement and competition for resources. This fascinating but destructive relationship highlights a unique strategy in the plant kingdom for survival and growth.

SotSF is pretty great until near the end when the tension started to dissipate (or maybe it is because if you show a gun for that long, the anti-climax of it *not* going off should be earned and I am not convinced this did). Maybe it was seeing so many putting this in the top, top pantheon of the year's films; not only it's Oscar nomination, but the nature of how it was basically smuggled out of the country to be Screened at Cannes (itself a bold and inspiring story to get to where it found distribution for much of the world) brings an expectation, not to mention the run time. The fact that it is really really profound and strong in the ways that matter counts though, especially as a film about family dysfunction and how the roles they've been put into are disastrous.

I loved how the mother was not that sympathetic to the daughters early on, and yet there were more than a few wrinkles in what the filmmaker shows us of the distance between husnand and wife - all those nights where he comes home and she at first stays up but then falls asleep as he is out longer and longer (and to look back after the film is done at those scenes and to understand *why* he was out so long having "meetings" at work adds to the chilling nature of his response) - and that if it wasn't for this missing gun something else was going to break in this family some way. And this is a time period that is not some far off context but a society that is actively in religious oppression and armed to the teeth.

Some of the film is shot fairly standard, coverage being largely shot reverse shot and so forth for dialog, but what's impressive to me is when Rasoulof breaks from this, like when the girl's friend is at the house with the battered face and the mother takes time to pick out the pieces of weaponry from her wounds. That is the most upsetting part of the whole film if I take stock of it all, in how carefully she takes in picking out those pieces, and it's also from here that the mother Najmeh may not say it outright (and she still has a lot of motherly consternation for her daughters after this, especially in the "it'll upset your father" realm, Golestani is in like 6 dimensions with her performance), but she is changed and has to see things differently now. Or will she, is a key question.

It does lean more into a Genre/Thriller kind of story in the last half hour - almost like something out of the Shining if one were to say more like a Horror film (only our dad/husband just has his own maniacal paternal paranoia and self hatred to blame) - and that isn't quite as absorbing as just seeing this family at home. But we do need that moment where the two people following the family on the road confront the dad, for us to see just what extent they are at now in the story, and that it almost has to unravel from there with what the gun is really all about. And all of this with the immediate and harrowing backdrop of the protests and demonstrations of the period, it makes for an extremely satisfying film.

Iman gets promoted as investigating judge which offers him higher salary and a 3 bedroom apartment. His wife Najmeh is delighted at this prospect while they finally decide to reveal the nature of his job to their daughters. It's an extremely volatile environment in Tehran with the nationwide protests against the government and the citizens being forcefully silenced by the government. Iman's daughters Rezvan and Sana too witness the atrocities and start questioning the authority. Iman is now in full control of the authoritarian government refuses to accept change whereas Rezvan and Sana rightfully rebel.

It was honestly a surprising watch considering the turn it took in the final act. In terms of writing, dealing with the authoritarian figure i.e. Iman in the extreme way felt like a clever take and the director succeeds in maintaining the tense moments. What worked for me was the two acts where one introduces the character of the free spirited Sadaf and her predicament which impacts Rezvan and Sana deeply. The other being the missing gun segment and how Iman starts doubting his own family, putting them through interrogation, all of this while the footages of the protests were displayed. These two acts had a solid impact and then the final act took a giant leap with the thriller angle. Overall, it was a solid watch for the most part, putting across it's stance through it's female characters.

The sacred fig is also the strangler fig. It nuzzles its host even as it strangles them to death. The criminal is not the one you expect.

Iman is climbing the ladder in Iran's judicial system. High minded, ambitious, and hard-working, he strives to earn the approval of his superiors and is promoted. Expecting adulation, Iman encounters rebellion instead. Where he presumes love in his workplace, country, wife and daughters, he finds insurgence. If Iman looks inside himself, he might find a way to set things right.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig won two prizes at the Cannes film festival and succeeds because of its authenticity, depth, capable actors, and riveting story. Director Mohammad Rasoulof spent time in prison for the crime of practicing his art of filmmaking. Rasoulof appeared via video at this Toronto International Film Festival screening to tell the story of one of his interrogators who felt shame at his actions and didn't know in what direction to turn. He claimed to be getting grief from his family. This interrogator is the model for the character of Iman.

This raw and unsettling film features actual footage from the violent 2022 uprising in Iran over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was taken into custody for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly. The film reminds us to take a close look at our workplace, country, friends, family, and selves in order not to become a host for any strangler figs, no matter how sacred they claim to be.

Where do I even begin ?.. Words like freedom and dignity are not just mere words but they carry in them the deepest pain and suffering of all of humanity, Pain and suffering that were unawaredly endured for thousands of years through social and all kinds of oppression at the hands of a few oppressors and many a times by the very social norms that the humanity had laid out for itself through the truncated understanding of its own social condition in the larger scheme of collective human existence, how do you even go about freeing yourself from the clutches laid out by the collective oppression that has become your identity and the very means to your existence, how do you even go about waking up the society to the cultural cruelty that it's inflicting on its own cultural freedom and social well-being, The seed of the scared fig is not just a movie about Iran and it's women and their struggle over theocratical oppression to expand the social space for their personal freedom to reach the realms of human dignity and it's social acknowledgement, it's a much deeper study on the conflict that arises between the all empowered state through whatever social dictum and the individual freedom which forms the basis of the creation of the sub-unit called family, the very basis on which societies as such come into existence and seek to thrive in various forms and colours...This movie carries a seed in it that humanity needs to cherish for its own better future ...