An absurd and audacious parable on false charity. One of the highlights of contemporary Iranian cinematography.
An unusual couple – a man with his arm in a cast who thus resembles Napoleon and a well dressed woman – are making their way through a war-torn mountainous region in a station wagon. The boot of the car contains plastic bags filled with money to distribute to the needy people they encounter on their journey through the remote and ravaged parts of the country. But are the two of them really on a charitable mission or are we watching a duplicitous game of temptation and morality?
»The strategy for writing this film was to guess what the audience was going to think (or guess) about us (the couple in the film), so I found some way to underline that preconception: you say: they are probably going to think we are married, so we should make a scene where I claim that she is my sister. /…/ So the whole idea is that you throw something at the audience they think it’s going to come from one direction but then it ends up coming from another direction.” (Mani Haghighi)
Mani Haghighi
Born in Tehran in 1969. He studied philosophy for several years before making his first feature, Abadan, in 2003. He has also written screenplays for other Iranian directors. Modest Reception is his fourth feature film.