Maryam

The year is 1979. There are lines at the gas stations and a revolution in Iran. As the film opens, we see archival news footage from the latter story as the soundtrack plays "Good Times Roll" by The Cars. We meet Maryam (Mariam Parris), who is a high school senior in New Jersey. She was born in Iran, but knows almost nothing of that culture. She is the anchor for the school television news program, goes by the name Mary at school, and generally seems comfortable in her life, although her parents are a little more strict than most.

Soon she learns that her cousin Ali (David Ackert) is coming from Iran to live with the family and attend a local university. Ali's father died years ago, and his mother recently died as well. When he arrives, he seems very uncomfortable with American life -- people (even women!) shake hands, dance, and do all sorts of things that Ali is used to thinking of as immoral in his native, Ayatollah Khomeini-controlled country. Ali thinks the Ayatollah has been a *good* change for Iran, and that the deposed Shah is evil. Maryam's reply is that the Ayatollah "calls the U.S. the Great Satan. I mean, the guy could lighten up a little."

The key characters in the film are Maryam and Ali. I thought Parris was outstanding in the former role, showing both emotion and typical high school irreverence with equal skill. Ackert was harder to judge, but he did make me believe that Ali was *very* uncomfortable with most of what he saw of America, and I can't recall any sour notes in his performance, so it was at least acceptable. The remaining actors, especially Maryam's parents, were less developed but also quite believable.

The writing, direction, cinematography, and so on were also quite good, but what really sets this film apart is the way that it shows how hateful and intolerant American society can be. Especially after the American embassy hostages are taken, almost everyone becomes very cold to the entire family -- the militant Islamic Ali as well as the totally Americanized Maryam -- regardless of past friendships. Because we have had the opportunity to get to know these Iranians as human beings, the escalating hatred is that much harder to watch.

This film was made well before the events of 9/11, so the obvious parallels to the current distrust of anyone who looks like he might be Afghani were not planned. But this film is outstanding in its ability to remind us to see the person and not the label. See it if you have the chance. Unfortunately, it has closed where I saw it, so you might be forced to wait (and hope) for home video.

Seen on 6/19/2002.

This film was simply fantastic and my favorite from Roger Ebert's 3rd Annual Overlooked Film Fest. The girl who plays Maryam gives an incredible performance and i can't say enough good things about the script. It was an excellent tale about what it was like to be a regular American teen who happened to be of Iranian descent during the hostage crisis in '79. This film manages to be poignant and thought-provoking about race relations in America without beating the audience over the head with the "SpikeLee Stick". good and good for you.

I was too young while the events portrayed in the film were going on to truly experience them. So I view it at somewhat a disadvantage as history, but this isn't too bad -- a primary audience for this film should be teens, who clearly are in even worse of a situation than I.

It is not considered best to respond to comments, but I think I can voice my thoughts in answer to some of them. I too thought some of the supporting characters were badly played -- actually, what the film lacked were truly three dimensional non-Iranian characters. This is troubling. The potential b/f is portrayed as a bit of a boob and even the teacher isn't much help. The neighbors are a bit better, especially the wife in a couple scenes, but this is clearly a problem in the film.

I too felt that the film was sort of an extended Afternoon Special ... it shows my age that I remember them! All the same, it was a pretty good one with good acting by the leads, and some good situations. Given the paucity of good teenage drama in the theaters these days, Afternoon Specials actually look pretty good.

Let's remember this is the director's first film and a low budget one at that. This doesn't justify all of the films weaker components, but it helps understand them. Also, not only does the culture clash advance the plot, it very well might have been true that the family discussed how the cousin has different beliefs etc. Mary could very well have mostly ignored such "boring" discussions and the father might not have wanted to overdo it. Also, Ali's beliefs were rather new ... the father might have recalled him as more middle of the road.

As to historical accuracy. This is amusing -- the director based some of the film on his own experiences. I also don't know what was not historical accurate in the film. As to the lack of violence or truly harsh discrimination, the director in the commentary said he chose that route purposely so as not to make the film too harsh -- he wanted to focus on the emotions of the characters.

The lack of three dimensional non-Iranians aside, I thought it was a good film that showed a particular "growing up" moment for a teenage girl. The dad also impressed, a sort of everyman, that shows himself much more impressive than he first seems.

A good first effort ... with the expected flaws of a first film.

I worked on this film in the fall of 1998 when I was doing acting in NY. It was shot in NJ at an actual high school, and the main actors were wonderful. The lead actress really is named Maryam, and her performance is so much more relevant today than 5 years ago...this should really be re-released and get some attention again, it kind of slipped under the radar the first time around.

I also think this movie was fantastic. It was a good blend between a sweet coming-of-age story and an intriguing political/historical drama. Well thought out depiction of the complexities of the time; each character isn't perfect and makes you think. One may find it didn't go far enough in its message, but at least it poses a great many questions which are as applicable today as they were in '79.

Save room for after-the-movie discussions...