Written and directed by Abdolreza Kahani, a reclusive mortician faces an unusual request from a dissident singer in hiding. Starring: Nima Sadr, Gola, Hamidreza Hosseini and Rahim Bahrami.
You can sense straight away that Abdolreza Kahani has a very specific style that scales everything back to create an intimate story. Kahani works with a cast and crew that are as small as possible, putting his hand to almost every element of the process. In that sense, it’s quite an unusual experience, the visual is simple and somewhat old-fashioned and yet it matches the tone and atmosphere of the story well. It’s finely tuned with its leading character, Mojtaba (Nima Sadr), he’s an almost painfully generous, humble and kind man, who is forever putting others ahead of his own wants and needs.
He’s a genuinely unique character to find in cinema of today, there’s no hidden layers, he’s exactly as you see him, but that’s not to say he’s simple, he has plenty of emotion and personal issues to bring to the table to make him a well-rounded and compelling person. Nima Sadr’s performance is sincerely impressive to create such a quiet, noble man and yet keep him interesting. So, it’s then quite entertaining in the brief moments that he outwardly voices his frustrations, but he also creates a very sweet connection with Gola’s Jana.
The two of them have a curious friendship, it grows gradually and organically, they do have an immediate connection but it evolves into something deeper. Gola brings an interesting strength, confidence and boldness to Mortician. Jana is the polar opposite of Mojtaba so the two of them together are intriguing to watch because they hold an unexpectedly charming awkwardness that leads to an open, intimate dialogue.
However, Mortician is also distinctly sad, highlighting the different experiences within an oppressive regime. There’s a slowly growing darkness, that takes the film to some surprising places and does a wonderful job of capturing the cruelty. Cleverly it doesn’t try to veer into thriller territory, it’s decidedly a drama but Kahani does bring through a nicely suspicious edge, there’s forever a dark cloud lingering over these characters.
Mortician is a unique film to find in today’s landscape, the style takes things back to cinema of decades past, but the story is highly relevant and poignant. Nima Sadr gives a superb performance, it’s intensely understated and earnest, while quietly charming. He’s paired terrifically with Gola, and though their tale is a slow-burner, it’s worth the patience it asks of you. It holds a disarming simplicity, choosing not to push the complex issues of this story to the forefront but to focus on the characters, and let the experience speak for itself. It’s unusual and unexpected.
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