‘Goodbye’ at BFI London Film Festival

‘If one feels a foreigner in one own’s country, one must leave and be a foreigner in a foreign country’ – this is the sentiment that underpins Mohammad Rasoulof’s film about a lawyer whose attempts to leave her native country of Iran are thwarted at every turn by its repressive regime. The film’s message about Iran’s authoritarian stance is reinforced by an occasion of life imitating art, in that the director Rasoulof has been banned from travelling outside the country to present his own film at the festival.

For those unfamiliar with Iranian cinema, its focus on philosophical and social issues is often allied with a lyrical and poetical style. The Iranian New Wave movement, which contains such award-winning directors as Abbas Kiarostami and Mohsen Makhmalbaf, takes an unflinching look at the realities of Iranian life. This attention has not always been welcomed by the authorities and Rasoulof’s detention is one such example of the repression enacted by the theocracy.

In the film, a similar type of stranglehold is directed at Noora, a lawyer whose licence has been revoked after taking a case against the government. In addition, her husband, a journalist, has been sent to work in the desert, for making what have deemed to be anti-authoritarian statements in his writing. Added to this predicament is the fact that she is pregnant and without work or a husband.

However, there does appear a way out for Noora. A paper of hers has been accepted at a conference abroad, allowing her a means of escape. All she has to do is get a visa approved and she and her unborn child can leave.

But the process of getting everything done is held up by the regime’s view of women as second-class citizens, unable to carry out even menial duties without the approval or presence of their husband. Their situation is not Kafkesque as the bedevilling authority is not anonymous and withdrawn but is openly hostile when confronted with a woman demanding independence.

The film is demanding on its viewer with a stark visual hue and an often static frame. While the situation is compelling with engaging acting by Leyla Zareh as Noora, the story and the way it is told is a little didactic. The attitude that state interference is not just a daily intrusion but happens on an hourly basis is well borne out during the course of the film. Yet the feeling of futility gives rise to a sense of pity towards the protagonists rather than one of empathy.

Goodbye was screened at the 55th BFI London Film Festival (in partnership with American Express) as part of the Education strand on October 25.