OFF THE LIMITS
A film review by Thomas E. Billings
Copyright 1990 Thomas E. Billings
Synopsis: In Iran in 1972, a thrifty civil servant and his wife buy a house in the Tehran suburb of Hertabad. The very first night, they catch a thief brazenly stealing their goods. The house owner then tries to have the thief arrested; he takes the thief to several different police agencies, encountering major bureaucratic obstacles the entire way. A nice satire on bureaucracy and human nature.
Iran (English subtitles), color, 1988, 100 minutes. Director: Rakshan Bani-etemad
Mr. Halimi is a thrifty and proud civil servant. He saved for 8 years to have the money to purchase his own house; he even deferred having children to save money to buy a house, a tactic his wife strongly objected to. Finally he achieves his goal, and buys a house in the Tehran suburb of Hertabad, known as "Chaos City."
The first night in his new home, he awakens to find a thief openly stealing his possessions. He shouts an alarm, the neighbors come and the thief surrenders without incident. The next morning Mr. Halimi and his neighbor take the thief to the police station, on an odyssey to find justice.
However, justice is not to be found. They go to the regular police, only to be sent to another police agency (the "gendarmerie" -- federal or military police?) because "Chaos City" is not within the boundaries of their jurisdiction. After being turned down at yet another police district, Mr. Halimi finally ends up at the Ministry of Justice. The story continues with Mr. Halimi stubbornly trying to get justice from the intransigent bureaucracy of the Ministry of Justice!
This movie provides some interesting insights into human nature, and our attitudes towards laws and those who break the laws. Mr. Halimi is extremely stubborn and has the soul of a bureaucrat. His reaction to the unresponsive, inept police bureaucracy is quite humorous, but in a subtle way. As the film progresses, his temper slowly approaches the boiling point.
On the other hand, the thief is blase about the whole matter. He behaves as if he has been through it all before. He is also an opportunist, stealing from people they encounter in their journey through the bureaucracy. This latter point upsets Mr. Halimi a great deal; he is even more upset when the thief offers him a new job, as his partner in crime!
Although the film is a nice satire of bureaucracy and also makes one think about the foibles of human nature, it might not appeal to a wide audience. The film has an extremely slow pace; some viewers may find the first half of the film to be boring. There are rewards for patience though, for the second half is interesting (perhaps the word "cute" would be appropriate). The humor is generally low-key and subtle. If you appreciate sophisticated satire, the film is certainly worth considering.
Distribution. Part of a film series, "Iranian Film Now," coordinated by The Film Center, Chicago on behalf of the Farabi Cinema Foundation. Screened at the Pacific Film Archive, University of California, Berkeley. This film may be available on video, if you can find a source for Iranian videos.
Reviewer contact: teb@stat.Berkeley.EDU
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