FilmSnobReviews

Title: In the Land of Brothers
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Alireza Ghasemi, Raha Amirfazli
Starring: Hamideh Jafari, Bashir Nikzad, Mohammad Hosseini
Runtime: 1hr 35 mins

What It Is: A movie that centers on the harsh treatment of Afghan refugees in Iran. Through three different members of the same extended family (Hamideh Jafarii, Bashir Nikzad, Mohammad Hosseini), we are presented with three different unfair situations at various points over the last several decades.

What We Think: This movie is pure human suffering. Every ounce of this movie shows humans on bare display and truly elicits sympathy for Afghan refugees. When the movie ended, there were no immediate claps. It was awe inspiring, felt like something powerful was just witnessed and experienced. The claps only trickled in as soon as the credits were done, as if savoring a last breath, waiting for the shoe to drop. To say this film is well made is an understatement. The acting from all three leads is superb and the cinematography and score are brilliant.

I think my only true fault with the movie was that all it had to offer was purely bleak. While giving insight into the struggles of Afghan refugees, there was not one moment from this movie that anyone could even remotely consider happy. I’m aware that the stories being told are not supposed to be happy in the slightest, but an old trick of tragedy is to have light moments to contrast the dark. It makes the tragic moments that more tragic. It’s as if the entire movie were shades of blue, when it needed a contrasting color to balance it a little. I think the movie would have benefitted from some more moments of levity. Once we stay in the drama, it remains in the drama. We fall in a pit and stay there.

This all being said, this film was very very good. It surpassed my expectations. I did not know just what I was in for when I bought a ticket, but I’m so glad I did. This is a movie definitely worth watching.

Our Grade: B+, Solid movie. A solid drama that brings to light the struggles of Afghan refugees. Definitely would recommend.