Literal translation of the movie's title is "The Butterfly Stroke", a technique in swimming. Much meaning is lost with "The Drown" when you realize Parvaneh, the woman whose swimming video was leaked means Butterfly in Persian.
The premise of the story is brilliantly chosen, as it highlights something mostly obsolete and historical in Western societies, yet deeply rooted and much alive in traditional oriental societies. The sense of shame when one of your female relatives, especially your daughter or wife, becomes exposed to public with few clothes on. Hashem uses it as grounds for honor-killing his wife, Parvaneh. Yet, it's later revealed he did it more to retain his macho persona and his reputation as the neighborhood's grand thug. He's especially triggered after his brother tells his parents on the phone that both are okay and nothing has happened.
The film is quite long for its story, at a little over 2 hours. The script masterfully uses the.jargon of delinquents and criminals, and the actors even more fantastically emulate the infamous "Southern Tehran" accent. The hidden layers of society are quite accurately depicted -- addicts, thugs, prostitiutes, gamblers, drug fiends, etc. The plot also harbors quite a twist, and a dilemma ensues that we cannot figure out until the very last moments of the film. However, the script has its weaknesses too, like the freeing of the informers and then shooting them down with tranquilizer scenes could be edited out altogether. And the violence is deliberately toned down, as violence in Tehran underworld is as dark as any metropolitan criminal hub.
Although the well-chosen cast were all pretty marvelous, I pick out Pantea Bahram's stellar performance as the gambling housemaster - Shapur. Only appearing for a few minutes, she perfected the role so much, and left a lasting impression. Not to say, I didn't recognize her at first due to artistic makeup.
This movie wasn't perfect, but was a perfect start and directorial debut, hope to see more from Mr. Kart's works.
