Le Président

Mohsen Makhmalbaf's 'The President' is a golden sociopolitical commentary piece that utilizes cinematography and satire to achieve his thesis. The film is beautifully written with touches of cultural realism coming from Makhmalbaf's Iranian background. The film follows the journey of a dictator, from an adored totalitarianism figure to a fallen, wanted man. The story is unforgettable and shocking, it starts a conversation on the fate of dictatorship, with an unexpected ending that leaves you thinking. The ending of the film is haunting, it is somewhat horrific in the sense that it represents humanity in its most brutal form, but more so, the ending was uncertain. Makhmalbaf comments on political dictatorship through 'The President,' but he does not force a view on the audience. This film allows the space for individual interpretations and opinions. This is a must watch. It is also evident that Makhmalbaf's stylistic choices shift significantly from his 1992 film 'Once Upon A Time, Cinema' where censorship and retraction were enforced on his production, to 'The President' where the entire film was shot in Georgia with less governmental guidelines. His style for films changes, and therefore structurally progressed. Both films, though stylistically different, are monumental films that present Makhmalbaf as an auteur.

I don't know who wrote comedy drama at the top of this page. The only excuse I can make for such an error is somebody confusing satire with comedy, because there's a lot of satire here but not a shred of comedy. In fact, we are ended here with a tragedy, that only the director's political ideology stopped before it had reached its natural conclusion. The ending of this film is not the ending that flows from the story but rather the ending Mohsen Makhmalbaf wishes he could write for all the political sagas unfolding around the world.

As is, this ending is a problem, but when we get Makhmalbaf's talent for combining hauntingly beautiful images into an unforgettable story. The amazing actors performing in this film headed by Misha Gomiashvili and Dachi Orvelashvili in the two leads. The cinematography that presents all this tragic beauty on screen, the perfect editing of this movie - think about the fact that the most memorable image from this film is the one we never see on screen (with a pitchfork) - the final scene of the film becomes almost a minor issue. It's another must see masterpiece of Makhmalbaf, if you get the chance don't miss it.

Set in a non existent country we meet El Presidente, or 'your Majesty' as he likes to be called. He is a nasty, self obsessed man who has surrounded himself with the trappings of any self respecting tyrant. His children are spoilt, he out corrupts the most corrupt and most of his fawning subjects hate his twisted guts.

Then the people just crack over his latest outrage and a revolution kicks off; as he has been detached from reality for so long he is unaware quite how bad things are and elects to stay to sort out the kerfuffle. His grandson – a mere boy- also wants to stay with him, and grandpops relents. Soon they are on their own and having to survive by their wits.

Now this is a film made in Georgian and the sub titles could have been better, but it has a momentum right from the start that just grips you and makes you want to go for the ride. The performances are excellent, the action sequences realistic and often brutal. The filth and detritus that we see as the plot unfolds can be quite moving too. Add to all of that a very humanist story and you get a well made, conceived and presented original piece of cinema.

The fact that this is a fictional country means, that it is not penned in by the constraints of history and so is free to concentrate on the human side of the story. This also means that we avoid political dogma and just see what extremism can do to people. Well worth a punt even if you are half curious as I strongly feel you will not be disappointed.

This is an interesting film about a deposed president of a fictional country. The fact that the country is fictional does not devalue the film, it moves it away from historical documentary and toward a humanist commentary, away from politics and towards philosophy.

This could've been any country, really. The world is filled with dictators and tyrants. What this film didn't need is people saying "Actually, the opposition turned out to be worse" or "This particular president did not order that" or any sort of political bickering, whataboutery and bias.

All the facts here are on the table. There is no "half the story is in the film, the other half is in reality."

The film shows how terrible people can be to each other, by they can't always blame their superiors or say they were just following orders. The film shows how this dictator can be horrible as a dictator and a poor refugee, how power did not corrupt him because he was just as bad without it, just as many others in the ensuing chaos of the power vacuum.

We see how people behave with and without power, under orders and on their own volition, when desperate and when not, as individuals and in groups, all in the course of 2 hours.

The cinematography is brilliant and there is a particular scene, the riot scene at the start of the film, is one of the greatest moments in cinema. It is that well done and it must be seen. It is worth watching the whole film for.

Not a perfect film but highly recommended.

A dictator falls into a position of traitor in his country as the result of social conflictional rebel. That unnamed country metaphorizes any dictatorship regyme in the real world. The president faces the cruelty, poverty and madness which are caused by his despotic politics. What an irony of truth is that Iranian Director Makhmalbaf had to shoot the film in Georgia and Tajikistan because of conservative preventions of Iranian governments. The president is really a brilliant movie and it indicates Makhmalbaf's top level of directorship experience.