The movie
World War III
A poor day labourer is bewildered to find himself promoted from a lowly extra to the role of Adolf Hitler on the set of an Iranian Holocaust thriller… ‘[It has] the urgency of a good thriller and the clarity of a fable.’—Screen
Length: 107 min
Country: Iran
Language spoken: Farsi
Language subtitles: English
Cast: Mohsen Tanabandeh, Mahsa Hejazi, Neda Jebreili, Navid Nosrati
Director: Houman Seyedi
Release date: 17/10/2023
Description
These screenings are with English subtitles
Houman Seyedi’s extraordinary and absolutely unique drama won Best Film in the Horizons section of the Venice Film Festival last year. A poor day labourer (Mohsen Tanabandeh, terrific) named Shakib is bewildered to find himself promoted from a lowly extra to the role of Adolf Hitler on the set of an (obviously bad) Iranian Holocaust thriller. Until now, Shakib has lived hand to mouth, with his only pleasure coming from his relationship with a deaf prostitute (Neda Jebreili). But the tables seem to have turned. Or have they?
‘With the urgency of a good thriller and the clarity of a fable, World War III is the gruelling but compelling tale of how one of life’s victims learns to imitate his oppressors… Seyedi’s sixth feature starts out as jet-black comedy before darkening still further into tragedy, a journey embodied in an absorbing and extraordinary central performance by Mohsen Tanabandeh as the film’s downtrodden hero.’—Jonathan Holland, Screen
Houman Seyedi’s extraordinary and absolutely unique drama won Best Film in the Horizons section of the Venice Film Festival last year. A poor day labourer (Mohsen Tanabandeh, terrific) named Shakib is bewildered to find himself promoted from a lowly extra to the role of Adolf Hitler on the set of an (obviously bad) Iranian Holocaust thriller. Until now, Shakib has lived hand to mouth, with his only pleasure coming from his relationship with a deaf prostitute (Neda Jebreili). But the tables seem to have turned. Or have they?
‘With the urgency of a good thriller and the clarity of a fable, World War III is the gruelling but compelling tale of how one of life’s victims learns to imitate his oppressors… Seyedi’s sixth feature starts out as jet-black comedy before darkening still further into tragedy, a journey embodied in an absorbing and extraordinary central performance by Mohsen Tanabandeh as the film’s downtrodden hero.’—Jonathan Holland, Screen
