BUY TICKETS Sunday, 7 December – 1.30pm – The Australian Cinémathèque at GOMA
“A penetrating exploration of retribution versus forgiveness, blood money, sacrifice and the intricacies of Iran’s Islamic judicial system.” – The New York Times
Akbar and Ala, two troubled young friends, are both sent to juvenile detention – Akbar for murdering his girlfriend, Ala for petty theft. Freed early, and desperate to help his friend escape the death penalty, Ala joins forces with Akbar’s sister to petition the murdered girl’s father for clemency. But under Iranian law, lifting a death penalty requires blood money to be paid by the victim’s family; even if such a crime could be forgiven, could a father pay to see his daughter’s killer spared?
Farhadi’s second film picks up where Dancing in the Dust left off, producing another compelling, agonising and subversive exploration of the fault lines running through modern Iranian society. A magnificently acted and deeply humane look at a legal system where lives can be bought and justice is a luxury afforded only to the rich, Beautiful City is an intricate and resonant piece of cinema.
