Movie Review: The Disappearance by Ali Asgari

There is a cruel sadness in many contemporary Iranian movies, especially when they include dramatic interactions between the oppression of the political system and the individual existence. My latest examples are the Oscar-winning A Separation and most recently Disappearance (Napadid Shodan) the debut film of Ali Asgari.

After her first physical contact with her boyfriend, a young woman needs to be hurried to a hospital. What is mostly a very simple procedure in the case of the young Iranian couple means a dramatic contact with the everyday realities of a regime that controls the bodies of its citizens, especially women. An unmarried woman is not allowed by the state to have an active sexual life. Of course young women in Iran do have boyfriends but the problems arise when they need specific medical care like in this case. Unless the couple is able to provide a marriage certificate she cannot be treated. Otherwise, the nurses threaten to call the (religious) police. A woman not accompanied by a man - father, husband - does not have rights, although is allowed to go to university or to work. But her power to decide her future and especially about her body is limited by the state.

The couple move from a hospital to another, in the middle of the night, until with the help of some friends, they are finding a doctor who is able to do the necessary procedure illegally, after being paid a hefty amount of money.

It is a slow motion movie, with the tension built from a stop to a hospital to another, through the silence of the couple. A mixture of silence, desperation, disappointment and, finally, disappearance. When virginity is a matter of high political interest the struggles of young people are significantly different from what we, in the free world, are used to experience. Hence, the lack of usual signs of public affection that we are used with, with the two young partners from The Disappearance not displaying any sign of empathy appropriate for the crisis they are going through. Public signs of affection are also a matter of state policies. However, the movie story also shows the value of friendship and solidarity that counters the religious opression. Friends are always there to help you and recommend you the right connection and one is not always left alone to face the absurdity of the system.

At a certain extent, the movie reminded me of the 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days by Cristian Mungiu, a Romanian film director that Asgari mentioned in an interview among his inspiration, alongside Michelangelo Antonioni and Frederico Felini. Asgari studied filmmaking in Italy and he is often a critic of censorship politics in Iran. 

The film, co-produced in Iran and Qatar, had the world premiere at the 74th Venice International Film Festival and was screened at the 2017 Toronto Film Festival.