Terrestrial Verses

Terrestrial Verses

Studio: KimStim
Directed by: Ali Asgari & Alireza Khatami

April 21, 2024
By Kaveh Jalinous

Web Exclusive

Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami Terrestrial Verses relies on the short form narrative to gently but forcefully assess a political system centered on the idea that all faults come from the individual rather than the society of which they are a part.

Terrestrial Verses consists of nine extremely short vignettes set at different locations within the Iranian bureaucracy. Each vignette uses the same narrative and stylistic setup. Asgard and Hatami's camera remains static, capturing characters as they plead with an authoritative figure, placed just out of frame and audience view. The content of their arguments varies from brief to brief. The opening vignette follows a new father struggling to name his son 'David', which is impossible given the name is too western. As the character notes, “Davood,” David's Farsi accent, is perfect for use. A long series of fights begins between the two.

This kind of deadpan, dialogue-driven satire drives and illuminates the film from start to finish. Another vignette follows a driver who is detained at a police station for not wearing her hijab in her car, which, because it has windows that other people can see in, is not considered private property. The film's most descriptive vignette follows a director struggling to get the Ministry of Culture to approve his film's script. The only problem: the Ministry demands that huge chunks of his script be removed to rid the film of anything that might make the regime look bad.

Balancing all these stories, especially within the confines of a 77-minute film, is a difficult task. Asgari and Khatami's sharp script and commendable stylistic choices make each story unique and exciting. The decision to keep the camera static and the valid characters out of frame, capturing only the space occupied by the subjects and little else, is extremely clever. Not only does the lack of camera movement highlight the content of the dialogue, but it also makes it easier to notice changes in the characters' actions and movements.

In one of the film's hottest scenes, a man applying for a driver's license is forced to take off his clothes to show his tattoos to the police interviewing him. The character slowly standing up marks such a distinct visual difference from the seated position he occupies throughout the vignette, enhancing the sense of discomfort his character (and by extension the audience) feels. Additionally, because the audience and characters are essentially placed face to face, there is a constant sense of dread watching the subjects as their faces slowly lose hope, realizing there is no escape from this system. Their words become worthless. so are their actions. All of their fates have already been decided long before they even entered their current state.

It's clear why the filmmakers chose to focus on multiple short stories instead of one narrative, and this approach largely works. The bite-sized stories allow the film to ponder a variety of societal flaws without ever feeling too tied to one aspect in particular (a feat aided by the relative parity of the vignettes' running times). Even so, the sheer number of stories, as well as the way the film jumps from one story to another, leaves something to be desired. The themes are obvious, but it's easy to imagine that, with more time to explore the characters and their journeys, the film could have bolstered its reviews by better leveling their diversity with their strength. (www.kimstim.com/film/terrestrial-verses/)

Author Rating: 6.5/10