Septembers of Shiraz

Plot

During the first months after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, wealthy Jewish Iranian gemologist Isaac Amin (Adrien Brody) is suddenly arrested at his office in Tehran by the Revolutionary Guards who take him to prison. During his prison days, he meets fellow prisoners of different backgrounds, who are tortured and finally prosecuted. In interrogation sessions, his interrogator Mohsen (Alon Aboutboul), once torturing him with a lit cigarette and having him lashed, refers to the injustice of being affluent and to the justice that the revolution is bringing to the oppressed. After the guards scare him by putting him before a firing squad and shooting around his body, he says to Mohsen that he has realized the truth and is ready to pay all his savings as his debt to the revolution. After emptying his bank account, Mohsen declares him free and leaves him alone in the street.

Isaac goes to his office, now deserted, and recovers a hidden pack of diamonds from behind of a brick in the wall. As he prepares to leave, he sees Morteza (Navid Navid), a former employee of the office and son of their housekeeper (Shohreh Aghdashloo), who has already directed the stealing of his gems and office equipment, wandering in the corridor. Mohsen asks for more and shows him a letter of compliment that Empress Farah had written to him, to blackmail him. Issac tells him that he is now a contributor to the revolution and can eliminate Morteza by a single phone call. Morteza leaves. Issac refers to a human smuggler and pays him the diamond so he will smuggle them out of Iran. In the meantime, Morteza gives the letter to Mohsen at a Revolutionary Guards office but was arrested in turn. When alone, Mohsen reflects over the letter and burns it. In a night journey on horseback and through forest, Isaac and his family make it to the other side of the border.

Cast

Production

On February 7, 2014, Salma Hayek and Shohreh Aghdashloo joined the cast. On April 9, 2014, Adrien Brody joined the cast. Principal photography began on June 9, 2014. The film was shot in Bulgaria.

Release

The film premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival on September 15, 2015. The film was released on June 24, 2016, by Momentum Pictures.

Reception

Septembers of Shiraz received negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 30%, based on 10 reviews, with a rating of 4.2/10. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 16 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike".