Zalava

A beautiful Iranian film capable of showing what is not there and creating tension with a simple glass jar. Difficult, once seen, to forget it. In a village in Kurdistan, just before the revolution, a young sceptical sergeant fights against the irrational beliefs of the local population. They believe that demons (the jinn of the Islamic religion) exist and take possession of men and women. In this case they have to be shot in the legs to draw out the blood and with it the demon. The sergeant tries to convince them that this does not exist, but the arrival of an exorcist (who in the eyes of the sergeant seems nothing more than a vulgar charlatan) sets the stage for an impending tragedy. Wonderful atmosphere, excellent pace, solid tension and a sharp reflection on the unhealthy power of faith and autosuggestion and how little reason can do in the face of these destructive forces. Not to be missed.

I have a feeling people who don't like this movie rate the Avengers movies pretty high. The movie broods but takes you on a journey that allows you to investigate your own relationship to the concepts of faith, fear, and motivation. Highly recommend.

.... namely non-Persians....: this movie threads its politics and nationalism very carefully. With a potential loss for the depth and intensity of the story, it does not engage Islam in any way too. The exorcist seems to have never heard of Quran: pretty surprising when compared to the ubiquitous Christian theme of priests-exorcists.

This well-written story, starting from the total denial of the demonic, slowly takes more pro-demon stance (but never decisively) by engaging the love of the main character, a gendarmerie sergeant, for a local doctor, who is a reluctant demon believer (of the kind: it does not harm to believe). Once more, Eve (Malilah) leads Adam (Massoud) astray.

In its approach to ghosts/demons, the movie reminded me about "Benedetta" by Paul Verhoeven: both films leave open the question whether demons exist or not.

This is a solid portrayal of a village's mass hysteria over a supposed demon that is blamed for any bit of bad luck that happens. This time, a local army sergeant wants to stop this nonsense, and the clash of cultures leads to an inevitable (but very predictable) tragedy.

The three lead actors (the sergeant, the doctor, and the exorcist) were sound, but the rest of the cast were very amateurish.

I don't know why the score is so low. I watched it today at the NIFFF and it was BRILLIANT!

Never had so much tension because of a pickle jar! The acting is great, the editing is great, the stress is real! It's not so much a horror movie as there's no horror... what's horrible is how superstition leads to stupid actions.

If you like to open your mind on foreign cinema, this is it!