A Man of Integrity

By Benjamin Lutz

The short:

Reza (35), having distanced himself from the urban quagmire, leads a simple life along with his wife and sole child, somewhere in a remote village in Northern Iran. He spends his days working on his goldfish farm.

The long:

Nearby, a private company with close links to the government and local authorities has taken control of nearly every aspect of regional life. Its shareholders, accumulating wealth, power, and economic rents, have been pushing local farmers and small owners to dilapidate their belongings, farms, and estates, to the benefit of the Company's influential network and its monopoly. It is under their pressure that many villagers have themselves become local rings of the larger network of corruption. Meanwhile, Reza strives to resist coercion and preserve his farm. Soon though, he will realize that he can no longer stand up to this powerful, yet the hidden, coercive web of corruption. Giving up, he decides to sell his property and move away. The Company, however, decides to raise the stakes.

To watch or not to watch?

This is an interesting and engaging movie but what this movie is best known for is that Director Mohammad Rasoulof was served by the government of Iran with a lifetime ban on filmmaking in 2017 following the premiere of A Man of Integrity.