Rosewater Review

A Rose By Any Other Name

When progressing to the world of directing, one has to wonder what one is trying to accomplish in this endeavor. Do you want to entertain? Do you want to say something profound? For Jon Stewart, his first directorial effort in the world of feature length cinema is Rosewater (a movie he also wrote), a feature centering around a story that does seem like it would particularly resonate with Stewart, considering his investment in not only politics matters but also journalism as a whole.

Moments of comedy pop up in the film, but for the most part Rosewater is content to play things in a more dramatic and intense manner. The plot hinges on a journalist named Maziar Bahari (Gael Garcia Bernal) held captive due to him being accused of being a spy (he's innocent of such absurd charges). Much of the movie takes place during his imprisonment, though plenty of scenes occur prior to his captivity. These moments are some of the movies weakest moments, specifically bits which to enhance some folks Bahari meets in Iran. His association with them helps support the governments idea that he's a spy of sorts, but the characters themselves feel underdeveloped.

We're supposed to feel an instant connection to them, but it's hard to get caught up with them in these early scenes considering how lackluster they are as personalities. The longest dialogue exchange this gaggle of dudes has centers around one of them joking about one of the members of the group finally getting laid, just to give you an idea of the kind of depth many of these scenes deal with. That being said, scenes with Bahari and his pregnant wife are poignant, and a sequence depicting a riot in the streets is effecting in it's attempt to show the devastating carnage that leaves an impact on Bahari.

Where the film really shines is in scenes where he's being interrogated, which primarily consist of a blindfolded Bahari and violent and intimidating Haj Agha (Nasser Faris). The physical appearances of the two couldn't be greater, and the way the scenes can either play up tension or occasionally humor is down to some impressive directing by Stewart, who makes sure to reinforce the cramped confinements Bahari is unfairly trapped in. The longer he's trapped, the more I got invested in his plight, to the point where any moment where Agha violently interrogated him had me on the edge of my seat.

I do hope Gael Garcia Bernal pops up in more movies in the future, as he has a charming presence before his capture that helped me easily warm up to him. Faris similarly fares well here, and I appreciated the flash of depth he's given in his final scene that lends an extra layer of nuance to the film. Speaking of that final scene, the movie ends in a somewhat abrupt manner, but at least it manages to inform the audience through text some news both positive and tremendously negative. The reminder that a stunning amount of journalists are similarly trapped unfairly shook me, and in it's best moments, Rosewater accomplishes a similar amount of success.