Tatami - Una donna in lotta per la libertà

... to fight? No parties to be found here (well political ones maybe) ... so no pun intended as always. I read a bit after I watched the movie and it seems this is not a real story overall, but the gist of it, the main points it brings across ... well they are more than true. Even more so for the trainer actress/character ... who seems to have had trouble with her country ... never a nice feeling if you want to call it that.

It it quite harrowing to really want to keep your spirits up ... to want to succeed for your country ... and the country constantly failing you ... more than that to be honest ... but you have to watch this quite harrowing movie to get what it does ... and where it goes ... the human will never dies ... but it can break .. will it happen here? And what does it mean for freedom and choosing your own destiny ... this is powerful stuff ... and it does not take prisoners ... literally ... well sort of. Well worth a watch to say the least.

What makes 'Tatami' so captivating? It is an efficient thriller and intimately connects us with the main character.

A THRILLER SHOT LIKE A TRAGEDY

The movie follows the rules of classic tragedy:

• Unity of time: all actions occur in less than 24 hours, except the epilogue a year later and the flashbacks of course;
• Unity of space: the plot is mainly located in the Dojo of the World Championships. When we see the family in Iran, they are interacting by phone with Leila on site, with very few exceptions;
• Unity of action: the two stories, namely the competition and pressure from the regime, are closely intertwined.

The use of black and white increases the sense of classical format and tragedy, the former being enhanced by the "old" aspect ratio of 1.33 to 1, which is closer to a square than the more common 1.85 or 2.40. Overall it looks more like a film noir than a sports feature.

The action follows a downward slope where characters are increasingly threatened and unable to avoid their fate, as in a nightmare. The happy end is only relative: granted, Maryam, Leila and her son eventually live in France, yet we don't know what happened to Leila's husband and parents, as well as Maryam's mother. In the penultimate scene, both women are in a bus as they were in the first scene, a gripping loop since it seems nothing has changed whilst everything has. They look at each other and only vaguely smile: a bittersweet ending.

To increase the dramatic atmosphere, the movie deliberately aims for efficiency rather than accuracy as it takes many liberties with Judo standards. As such, it is not a film about Judo: sport is a background to the thriller.-

• The World Judo Association (WJA) does not exist, it is the International Judo Federation (IJF). Senior officials would not get involved so directly and at such short notice.-
• No Judo World Championships were ever staged in Tbilisi, where the film was shot: the actual environment (Dojo and streets of the city) is more important than historical accuracy.-
• The IJF does not allow wearing a hijab (headscarf) on the tatami for safety reasons, contrarily to some national or regional organisations; wearing a bonnet has occasionally been tolerated. This is bypassed by the movie in order to illustrate the clothing norms imposed to Iranian women: it provides a general dimension to the specific plot.-
• The rhythm of the competition is on the fast side. The World Championships are indeed held in one day for each weight category, with a maximum of 6 combats from round of 64 to the final. However they spread over hours to allow Judokas to recover from the effort and potential wounds, whilst the movie action almost seems to be in real time.-
• The fights are purposefully dramatized. Some techniques are practically unseen at this level, for instance Tomoe Nage for those who know Judo (the "attacker" falls on her back and projects the opponent over her), which a world-class Judoka could easily counter.-
• The Iranian federation and pundits react much too quickly to Leila's success: they intervene at the beginning of the competition, whilst it is absolutely not certain she will face the Israeli Judoka in the final. Actually related instructions would have been given ahead of the competition, but this would not have enabled the dramatic build-up.

AN INTIMATE CONNECTION

Most of all, we intimately share the main character's experience.-

• The image is generally dark with many shadows, echoing the feelings of the two main characters. The backgrounds are especially sombre, illustrating the looming threats.-
• Most of the action occurs inside and when it does not, exterior scenes are obscure: the overall sensation is claustrophobic and oppressive.-
• The above-mentioned narrow format of 1.33 increases this feeling of confinement.-
• The grain of the film is rather thick, as opposed to the usual smooth texture nowadays. It is as if we were touching the rugged Judogi uniform (improperly called "kimono") worn by the athletes, feeling the dense atmosphere, smelling the sweaty environment.-
• The fights are frequently shown close or very close, with fast camera movements and quick editing: we are on the tatami with Leila.-
• There are subjective shots where we see through Leila's eyes, for instance when her vision is blurred in the last combat.-
• All flashbacks are related to Leila: we visualise them with her. Some are intimate: a nude scene in bed with her husband, a sweet scene with her son in his bed. We follow her train of thoughts: the photograph flashes before a round evoke a powerful scene where she dances with her husband, among stroboscopic lights in a clandestine club (since her hair is loose).-

The movie depicts the emancipation of Leila who refuses to submit herself, symbolically removes her hijab in the last round and defects. Interestingly, she becomes an example for Maryam who, after complying, supports her, confesses to unduly forfeiting the 1988 Olympics and also defects: a reversed situation since Maryam has always been a model for Leila.

The plot is not strictly based on real facts: it is a compilation and dramatization of existing incidents. According to the diaspora site 'Radio Farda', the directors mentioned the following references:

• Saeid Mollaei, an Iranian male Judoka who was ordered to lose during the 2019 World Championships to avoid facing an Israeli in the final;
• Elnaz Rekabi, an Iranian female climber who appeared without hijab during the 2022 Asian Championships;
• Kimia Alizadeh, an Iranian female taekwondo athlete, who defected in 2020.

These events are condensed in the story of Leila. For memo the boycott of Israeli athletes is not specific to Iran or Judo; in Judo alone there were recently e.g. Fethi Nourine (Algerian) and Mohamed Abdalarasool (Sudanese) during the 2021 Olympics, as well as Messaoud Driss (Algerian) during the 2024 Olympics. Leila's exile also echoes co-director Zar Amir Ebrahimi's who plays the role of the coach Maryam and who was forced to leave Iran in 2008.

In summary, 'Tatami' is a compelling thriller with political, ethical and personal insights. It appropriately embodies the present repression by the Iranian regime of all its citizens, notably women. Ironically this oppression is not even efficient: the Israeli Judoka who could have faced Leila in the final eventually loses in semi-final. Hence if Leila had not been stressed by threats, she would have been more focused, could have passed the quarter-final stage, have won a medal for Iran and would not have defected. Note the final twist: in the ultimate scene, Leila as part of the Refugees Team faces an Iranian Judoka. Repression has turned against itself.

Long moments at the start of the movie are spent showing a bus ride. I think the idea is to set the bar low where thrills are concerned. The photography is in black and white, the aspect ratio is not wide, and for most of the movie everything is in shadows. Very dark, at least as screened at my local theater.

And there are only two major characters. One is a serious athlete out to follow her dream at all costs, even if her family life suffers somewhat. The motif is familiar from any number of biopics, but here it's overlaid by another priority that the athlete defies: She's Iranian and she dares to disobey her government. Her courage is a big element of the movie, so there's a second character, her trainer, who embodies the conflict, wondering what the right thing to do really is.

The sport involved is judo, and the heroine is being asked to take a fall in order not to have to compete against an Israeli. Something like that actually happened, but this isn't a retelling of the actual story. It might have more impact if it were, because as is the movie is incessantly telling us how evil an authoritarian government is from the writer's point of view, rather than letting us figure it out from true-life facts.

A judo match, however you photograph it, is unfortunately not easy to follow. The movie provides a sports commentator on the scene, whose voice-over helps us out somewhat. A mystery I never did solve is the timing of the dreaded match against the Israeli. The Iranians pressure their contestant as if it's coming up right away, but it turns out not to be the next match. How are these things decided? If you never know when your opponent is going to be an Israeli, why did the Iranians send her to the competition in the first place?

Before you can think too much about that, though, the movie sweeps you along-- as relentless as its heroine. And if there are no blue skies or comic relief or rooftop chases, you don't miss them.

Tatami is a film that feels special.

Tatami is about an Iranian judoka that participates in world champion ship in Tbilisi, Georgia. As she comes further into the competition the Iranian government becomes worried that she might need to fight against an Israeli judoka. This forms a challenge for her does she choose her sport and passion or her country and safety.

As the film started I noticed immediately that it was in black and white (which is hard not to notice I must admit), i was scared for the film about this choice. A film can thrive in the simpleness that black and white brings but can also destroy it if the story isn't strong enough. For Tatami it thankfully it was the first, the black and white made the story the centre in the film. Making you not distracted by anything else and keeping you in a hold that judoka would perform on you. It kept you on your toes as you were constantly wondering what would happen next. It helped that the whole story basically took place on one day, making it not drawn out.

The acting was good but could be better. The acting felt a bit over acted at times which made you lose your attention, from what was happening.

In the end I would highly recommend this film to anyone. You will regret it if you don't watch this political personal drama.

8.

Greetings again from the darkness. Given the turmoil around the globe, being the first film co-directed by an Iranian filmmaker and an Israeli filmmaker makes this one even more impressive ... both on screen and behind it. The co-directors are Zar Amir Ebrahimi (who also stars) and Guy Nattiv (who also co-wrote the screenplay with Elham Erfani). Nattiv previously won an Oscar for his superb short film SKIN (2018).

Arienne Mandi ("The Night Agent") delivers a powerhouse performance as Leila Hosseini. Leila is a competing for Iran in the WJA World Judo Championships. Her husband Nader (Ash Goldei) and their young son are cheering her on back home, along with a house full of friends and family. We first see Leila as she hops on the bike to drop .3 kg in 20 minutes in order to make her fighting class weight of 60 kg. After cruising through the first couple of rounds, Leila discloses to her coach Maryam (co-director Zar Amir Ebrahimi) that she has "a great feeling today."

It doesn't take long for her great feeling to turn sour. The Islamic Republic calls Maryam and orders Leila to fake an injury and withdraw to avoid the possibility of losing to an Israeli competitor in the finals. When Leila refuses, the threats to her family become real and danger awaits for anyone associated with Leila or Maryam. As any dedicated athlete can attest, the pursuit of excellence has nothing to do with politics ... until it does. The story is inspired by a true story, and we see the extreme actions from all parties. It's filled with tension and anyone who values freedom will be aghast.

Filmed in Georgia (the country, not the U. S. state), the writing and acting are top notch, even for those of us (yours truly) who know little of judo competitions. Tatami is the mat used for the competitions, and Leila certainly had multiple battles going on simultaneously. We feel her pain, both physical and emotional. Flashbacks are used sparingly to provide background, and it's obvious why this film has been so frequently recognized and awarded on the festival circuit. The lesson, which never seems to be learned, is that political conflicts, even long-standing ones, can benefit so much from the humanity shown by individuals.

TATAMI opens nationwide on June 13, 2025.