Arun George Much like Farhadi's other films, 'Fireworks Wednesday' also depends highly on character revelations, the powerful dialogues and sensationally grounded performances the director is able to extract from his ensemble. The movie sheds light on certain events that take place in the life of a married couple (Mozhdeh & Morteza) on the eve of the Persian New Year. The wife suspects the husband of cheating with the neighbor but as yet, she does not have substantial evidence to prove the same. How the movie juggles between the perspectives of the lead protagonists is indeed effectively done. A domestic help (Rouhi) who is about to get married enters their day and things start to go topsy-turvy all of a sudden (for reasons you might not expect!). It is pretty clear how Farhadi is a master at story-telling from a minimalist angle. His films more or less rely on how well the characters react/emote and how one event is the result of the other. Taraneh Alidoosti who plays the role of the domestic help, conveys the right set of expressions (cute and mushy when talks of her marriage pop up, but solemn when things around her start spiraling out of control!). Hediyeh Tehrani as the grieving wife acts out her role like she's literally living it. Hamid Farokhnezad who plays the husband also does a deft job (it's exciting to see how he hams it up when he's losing (rather, pretending to lose) it. Pantea Bahram as the neighbor Simin delivers a glowy performance.Farhadi is certainly a director of nerve. The fireworks (explosive outbursts) are taking place both inside the house and outside. The inside version is a startling mesh of anger, suspicion and grief, while the outdoor one is an expression of joy and celebration. How contradicting can they get! Farhadi bases almost the entire run-time of the film around (max.) two or three characters but the narrative unraveling is executed almost flawlessly that the viewer never loses track of what's going on. The dialogues are so intrinsically striking that at one point, I felt like wanting to learn Persian. Human beings are not projected as cardboard cut-outs; each one's got themselves a purpose, painted in shades of grey.Next on my Asghar Farhadi binge-list is 'About Elly'.

Sandra Milner I watched this film with a mixed group of people, some Iranians, some non-Iranians who had seen many Iranian films and some who had never seen an Iranian film before.The ones who had never seen an Iranian film were amazed, thinking this is the greatest thing sine sliced bread. The rest merely liked the film. The first group was shocked by how good this thing is, probably unaware that Iran makes actual films (maybe thinking Iran just makes anti-US films?), but what amazed them is how real the story felt like and how different it is from anything they had seen before.Yes, Iranian films are very realistic because they chose subjects that are not implausible to begin with. It's not difficult for Iranians to act roles of husband, wife, child, father, son, roles they actually play in real life. What's more difficult is to act roles they don't play in real life - Sassanian knight, medieval poet, secret agent, drug dealer, prisoner, etc. This film's originality is because there are few Hollywood films (or even world films) like it. In that sense it is quite original. In another sense, it is very Iranian and there are quite a few Iranian films like it.This movie is a slice of life into the lives of a married couple through the eyes of a cleaning lady who they also use for errands, as a babysitter, as a spy and as an alibi. She is a poor, simple and rural girl, and thorough her innocent eyes we see the lives of the upper middle class, how their financial security does not save them from living in a personal hell. It is a slice-of-life film taking place in a 16 hour period, a story that drops you gob smack in the middle of the story and leaves you without an ending. That is my biggest problem with the film. I have no problem with a slice-of-life stories. I really love them. I have no particular problem with stories that don't have proper beginnings, that just start in the middle letting your brain connect the threads together, arranging the pieces of the puzzle as you get new bits of information. I actually think that this may be a better approach than an exposition at the start of the film - such as an introductory text, or overhearing a conversation that sets up the story in its entirety, i.e. something like "I think my husband is having an affair. I think it's the neighbor. I saw her number on our caller ID. Someone heard his voice on her answering machine. He also smells like a woman's perfume. Could you please spy on her for me?" That's a terrible way to start a film. I'm also neutral on stories without a clear-cut ending. Or a story without a central character. But films like this are unsatisfying. No beginning and no ending is a bit too much for me. It's as if you went to your friends house, a married couple, watched them fight for a few hours, get dragged into it, provide an alibi, and then leave. That's the movie. Of course, there's more to it than that. This movie is a window into Iran, into the Iranian middle- class, into married life in general, into Tehran and into Newrouz. In 100 minutes, we get to see through this window into a country, a social class, a building, a nuclear family, a city and a festival. But we don't get to see a story. We overhear a story, we catch a glimpse of it, like seeing a couple fight in a restaurant. If you're there long enough, you'll hear the entire history of the couple, along with the lists of mistakes each of them has done, but you won't hear a conclusion. Contrast this with About Elly, which is also a slice-of-life film, but has a clear beginning and end.The lack of conclusion is not the only flaw with this film. It's that this kind of film is not really original for Iran. Someone listening to a jazz song for the first time might think it's completely new, but when you hear more and more you realize that that piece may not have been all that original after all.I want to see Iranian filmmakers challenge themselves, try to do something that is not just uncommon for world cinema, but uncommon even for Iranian cinema. There are other weaknesses in this film - the music - the traditional music during the day festivities was good, the bandari songs played during the night festivities were good too, but the soundtrack (played during dramatic scenes) was not good. It was too loud and just not one of the better things from Iranian music. Iran has a rich history of music but there's a big disconnect between Iranian musicians and filmmakers. The only films that have great music are ones about musicians it seems.Other than that, everything was excellent. Cinematography is brilliant. There are two scenes that stand out, Simin walking on the street and the car ride during Newrouz. A must watch for cinematography fans and film students. Everything felt realistic. You never feel like anyone is acting. It feels more like a documentary than a stage play, which is a good thing. It is a good film, but not really a must-watch.

Andres Salama This film by Iranian director Asghar Farhadi (A Separation, About Elly) is well made, though in my opinion he has done better. There are elements in this movie you see in other films of the director: heated marital discussions, secrets and lies coming to the light, cultural differences between the middle class and the working class. However, the end result is not as compelling as in other of his movies.The action transpires on a single day in Tehran during the celebration of the Iranian new year (a holiday where a lot of fireworks are thrown). The young Rouhi (played by the pretty and talented Taraneeh Alidosti, who was in About Elly), is a working class woman that will soon marry her boyfriend. She gets a temporary job cleaning a apartment in a middle class neighborhood. Upon arriving at the apartment she finds herself in the middle of a heated domestic dispute between Mojdeh and Morteza. Mojdeh (Heyde Tehrani, who's great) suspects that her husband Morteza is cheating on her with the next door neighbor Simin, a woman who set up a beauty salon there after her own marriage broke up. Over the course of the day, Rouhi, the fighting couple, their small son, the wife's sister and husband, and the beautician engage in a series of exchanges and confrontations, as the truth unfolds.Of course, the central conceit of the film, that the residents of the apartment complex would trust this cleaning lady they barely know so much they would confide to her all their problems, is absurd. At one point, Mojdeh even asks Rouhi to pick her young son at school (she has only known her for a few hours, and already trusts her to fetch her son, whom Rouhi has never met!)Not knowing much about Iranian culture, I was intrigued by the relationship between Rouhi and her boyfriend. I suppose Iran being a culturally conservative country their relationship before marriage is non sexual, yet they seem so close and loving, especially at the opening scenes of the movie. But the movie doesn't dwell too much in this, a pity since you don't see much about young love in Iranian movies.

m-mirehei If we have two or three of such movies per year, that will be more than enough for our society to break down. One of the best Iranian traditions, Chaharshanbe-soori, has been shown like a dangerous street riot throughout the film and the sound of explosions is heard in all scenes. Is this really all we have in "Chaharshanbe-soori"? The house cleaner "Roohi" does nothing but eavesdropping, lying and interfering in Mojde's private life and goes happy with her fiancé at the end with no punishment for her behavior. The worst part is that the hairdresser "Simin" who is the cause of this entire scenario (beside Morteza of course) appears as an angle requesting an end to her affair with Morteza because Mojde is under intense pressure due to their relationship (as she says)!!!! So real!!! If this angel really has a heart like this why has she started this affair not thinking about Mojde but her little son who may lose either his father or mother as a result of her joy (mentioning that Simin herself has a son who is experiencing a different life because of separation of his parents). While the only positive point of the movie is that apology that Morteza gives to her wife because of his behavior in the street, Morteza believes that he has the right to cheat on his wife because she is a terrible housewife (Morteza: go and ask neighbors to see when has been the last time that they have smelled food from our home?); as no where in the movie this idea is denied, it seems to be the final belief delivered to the viewer, but is this really the solution???...