Savushun

A disappointing series by a regime-affiliated Iranian director, adapted from a widely celebrated novel.

The first major flaw lies in the fact that the screenplay is not truly an adaptation-it's more of a word-for-word copy of the book. There's no creativity, no reinterpretation-just a literal transcription of the novel into a screenplay, which completely misses the spirit of what a meaningful adaptation should be.

The performances are equally underwhelming. The lead actress, Behnoush Tabatabaei, and her on-screen husband, Milad Keymaram, both deliver unconvincing performances, made worse by their completely unfit accents for the region their characters are from. It's baffling why the director insisted on casting two actors who clearly don't belong to the cultural or geographical background of the story. The result is both distracting and inauthentic.

"Savushun" is one of the most influential novels in modern Persian literature. It deserved a thoughtful and respectful adaptation. Instead, what we get is a director trying to slap his own signature on a story that doesn't belong to him-especially disturbing given that the original author is no longer alive to defend her work. Unsurprisingly, the public reaction has been largely negative.

The casting is weak.

There are excessive pauses between dialogues, giving the impression of a dramatic reading rather than a cinematic experience.

The sound design is extremely irritating-for example, the singing of Hajji Firouz or the noise from fireworks.

The beginning of the series is confusing. It's unclear where we are in the story or where it's supposed to go.

The dialogue scene with the drunk Irish photographer was a turning point that completely discouraged me from continuing the series.

It's unfortunate-this could have been a good story with a strong concept, but as a series, it simply doesn't work.

The beginning of "Suvashun" dragged on way too long and didn't really tell me anything useful. The sound effects were over the top, and the camera kept shaking, which made it hard to pay attention to the story. Plus, the text was pretty confusing and just added to my frustration. It feels like some people are giving it good reviews just because they love the original book, not because of the screenplay. I also think that viewers might be more inclined to praise it because Iranian cinema often faces censorship, and this film offers a slightly different perspective that feels refreshing to them. Overall, this part was more of a headache than a fun intro.