Raye makhfi

I thought I'd add another comment to the mix of comments made about this film, which is that this film also tackles the issue of Iran's treatment of its Arab minority. This minority lives primarily in a western province called khuzestan (borders w/iraq), and along the western coastline, where the island portrayed in the movie happens to lie.

Most of the local inhabitants that the election official meets speak Arabic, some dont even speak Farsi (like the man in Granny Naghoo's compound). Being semitic, they have different physical appearances from the iranians, who are indo-european. And their customs are more similar to the arabs on the arab side of the persian gulf.

In addition to making points about democracy and about gender issues, Secret Ballot is also about the distance of Iran's central government from its Arab minority, seeming to be out of touch with their customs, their concerns, and their issues.

Incidentally, this theme of how Iran deals with its minorities is also addressed in Baran (Majid Majidi), but in that case it's about Iran's Afghan minority.

Congratulations to Babak Payami for a wonderful little gem of a movie.

I liked Secret ballot. It's similar to most Iranian films (even though it was written/directed by an Iranian/Canadian from Toronto) as it takes this wildly simplistic idea and then forms a story around it.

Secret Ballot is about a lot of things: the chaotic election process in Iran, the women/men relationships there, the isolation of rural areas and the role of women in Iranian society. That's four, you could probably find more if you wanted. A woman college age shows up at an outpost remote from cities and people and takes a sloth like soldier along looking for people willing to vote. It's harder to find voters than she thinks it might be as a lot of folks just don't want anything to do w/ the woman or casting a vote for the democracy that she touts ceaselessly. Secret Ballot has a good deal of sly, quiet moments and its this intelligent astuteness that I liked the most about it. I also enjoyed the harsh, remote terrain the film is set. The entire cast is full of non-pros who have never acted before and they do a fine job and are natural throughout. I especially liked the soldier who seems almost catatonic he's so slow talking. This is a very typical Iranian film: simple, slowish, extremely long and drawn out takes and full of non actors and real people. Plus it's a sly satire that has its own charms.

This is a superb film. Almost plotless, but far from pointless, this film really made us think about what democracy means in a society where the democratic political institutions are so slight.

The young female voting agent is excellent, transforming, as her day on Kish proceeds, from fresh faced idealist to drawn pragmatist. Her soldier guard, by way of contrast, is barely touched by what he sees, he's kind of seen it all before.

The traffic light in the middle of nowhere is surely symbolic of the futility of such democracy, as well as surrealistically very funny.

Avoid this film like the plague of you need action, glamour or twist in your movies, but if you want to be thinking about a film for days after seeing it, Secret Ballot is a great one to see.

For what it's worth, if I'd been head of programming, I wouldn't have shown this film around 2 p.m., even though these days it seems we just should be glad to see this sort of film on TV in the first place. Set your video recorders if it's shown again. I know I will, if only because I missed the first 20 minutes.

Secret Ballot (or Raye Makhfi) is the story of a woman who travels to an island to get the inhabitants' votes. A soldier is told to accompany the election agent while she does her job. At first he's surprised to find out she's a woman, but they learn to appreciate each other.

Even though the political and feminist points of the film are powerful, in the end it's the visual style that's the biggest reason one should stay watching. There's a lot of candy you can treat your eyes to, from the camera work to the nearly surrealistic scenes (the ballot box dropping, the traffic lights).

Directed by Babak Payami and from an idea by the legendary Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Secret Ballot may lack essential elements to be called a masterpiece, but it's a very good movie with visual flair and a message that should be heard. It should be seen.

I saw this at SF International Film Festival. I liked the pace of the story. The democracy desire of the female voting agent is almost tangible, with her constant running around and pleading people to vote. The soldier was played so well, I was shocked to learn that he was not a professional actor.

Sometimes the metaphors were a little too obvious: how military and democracy play against each other at times, how it is futile to vote where laws don't mean anything. But it was definitely a well-spent 100 minutes giving you a slice of the Iranian culture.

But I have to recommend "The Circle" if you would like to see Iranian movie at its best.