“Leila’s Brothers”: the Iranian social elevator broken down

When his factory has just gone bankrupt, Alireza (Navid Mohammadzadeh) is forced to return to live with his elderly parents. Which already house his sister Leila (Taraneh Allidousti) and two of his three brothers, who are struggling in lousy jobs. While the third is entangled in various scams. Leila pushes Alireza to go upstairs not to stand idly by and to set up a business with her brothers… But to buy the shop in a shopping center that could finally get the family out of poverty, the siblings need money. Uninterested in their fate, their old father Heshmat (Saeed Poursamimi), sick with heart, only dreams of becoming the godfather of the family. But for that, he will have to show off at the wedding of his wealthy cousin’s son, by offering the biggest of the gifts…

The spiral of misery

In 2019, Saeed Roustayi made a strong impression at the Orizzonti at the Venice Film Festival with Tehran Law, a relentless thriller on the ravages of drugs in Iran. Promoted in Competition at Cannes with his third feature film, the filmmaker seems well placed in the race for the Palme d’Or. Abandoning genre cinema, he signed with Leila’s Brothers a drama of great intensity, which plunges us into the heart of precariousness in a country where a simple Tweet from President Trump is enough to make the price of the dollar and gold soar and relaunch galloping inflation.

But Roustayi is not satisfied with a simple criticism of the international sanctions which are beating his country. He digs deeper into the depths of Iranian society, to depict a totally broken Iranian social elevator (an image with which the filmmaker literally plays on several occasions). But for once, it is not corruption that is denounced here, but the blockages linked to a traditional and patriarchal society, where children are instilled with convictions and not reflection, as Leila laments. A strong female character, head on shoulders, who sacrificed herself for her family, without ever having been rewarded…

By putting again in his heart a deep moral dilemma – should he privilege his father, the proprieties and the honor of the family or his brothers? —, Leila’s Brothers brings a new striking proof of the excellence of contemporary Iranian cinema. Thanks to a tense staging, a series of very strong scenes and excellent actors – including the formidable Taraneh Allidousti, seen in The customer of Asghar Farhadi and, since, in delicacy with the mode of Teheran for its progressive positions, which were worth 5 months of suspended prison to him -, Saeed Roustayi directs a great film on the misery which corrodes a country however young and modern. A country which asks only to flourish, if it could free itself from outdated traditions, misplaced family pride and a regime from another age. Even if, clever with censorship, Roustayi does not openly address this last point…

Leila’s Brothers Family drama Script and production Saeed Roustayi Photography Hooman Behmanesh With Taraneh Allidousti, Saeed Poursamimi, Nayereh Farahani, Navid Mohammadzadeh, Mohammad Ali Mohammadi… Duration 2h45