Terrestrial Verses

Oct 5, 2023

1h 17m

★ 7.5

Overview

A satirical take on the mundane absurdities of life in modern-day Iran, these nine vignettes illuminate the lighter side of enduring under authoritarian rule. Whether choosing a name for a newborn, graduating from grade school, getting a driver’s license, applying for a job, or seeking approval for a film script, if you live in Iran, you best come fluent in Orwellian discourse.

Genres

Comedy

Drama

Production Companies

Taat Films

Seven Springs Pictures

Cynefilms

Tell Tall Tale

Terrestrial Verses Trailers

Cast

Siamak

Majid Salehi

Mehri

Gohar Kheyrandish

Ali

Farzin Mohades

Sadaf

Sadaf Asgari

Farbod

Hossein Soleymani

Faezeh

Faezeh Rad

Young Father

Bahram Ark

Aram

Servin Zabetian

Selena

Arghavan Shabani

100-year-old man

Ardeshir Kazemi

(voice)

Babak Karimi

(voice)

Behnaz Jafari

Set in 1988 in Hiroshima, Japan, prior to the enactment of the anti-organized crime law. A rumor exists that Detective Shogo Ogami has ties with the yakuza. He is partnered with Detective Shuichi Hioka and they investigate a missing person case involving a financial company employee. Conflicts between opposing yakuza groups become more serious.

6.6

Bullets or Ballots

Jun 6, 1936

After Police Captain Dan McLaren becomes police commissioner, former detective Johnny Blake publicly punches him, convincing rackets boss Al Kruger that Blake is sincere in his effort to join the mob. "Bugs" Fenner, meanwhile, is certain that Blake is a police agent.

8.0

The Lives of Others

Mar 23, 2006

In 1984 East Berlin, dedicated Stasi officer Gerd Wiesler begins spying on a famous playwright and his actress-lover Christa-Maria. Wiesler becomes unexpectedly sympathetic to the couple, and faces conflicting loyalties when his superior takes a liking to Christa-Maria.

8.0

Requiem for a Dream

Oct 6, 2000

The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island residents are shattered when their addictions run deep.

7.9

On the Waterfront

Jun 22, 1954

A prizefighter-turned-longshoreman with a conscience goes up against labor leaders to expose corruption, extortion, and murder among the union ranks.

3.8

Contrainte par corps

Jun 29, 1988

A young Frenchwoman Claire, resting with her friend on an island in the Mediterranean Sea, becoms the victim of harassment by the local police commissioner Castes. Accused for disturbing public order, and then in the drug trade, she gets to the women's prison. Vacation turns into a nightmare ...

7.7

The Mongols

Oct 1, 1973

A director of a television series on the history of cinema, who has been grappling with the screenplay of his first feature film, receives an assignment to oversee the installation of a television relay station in a remote region of Zahedan province. He has already hired Turkmen tribespeople for his film and selected his filming location. Meanwhile his wife, who is working on her Ph.D. dissertation about the Mongol invasion of Iran, attempts to dissuade him from accepting the assignment. One night, while working on his history of the cinema series, the director fantasizes a diegetic world that consists of clever juxtapositions of his different worlds: the history of cinema, the history of the mongol invasion, his own film idea and his imminent assignment to the desert.

7.4

The Long Goodbye

Mar 8, 1973

In 1970s Hollywood, Detective Philip Marlowe tries to help a friend who is accused of murdering his wife.

5.0

The Good, the Bad, and the Pretty

Aug 29, 1994

Adel is an honest secretary at the prosecutor office, while raising his son Ahmad after the death of his wife. When Tamer, the son of a millionaire is arrested for drug addiction, Tamer's lawyer tries bribe Adel to find a way to get him out, but to no avail. In order to change his mind, he uses all ways possible.

8.3

Ikiru

Oct 9, 1952

Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.

6.4

The Bricklayers

Dec 23, 1976

When a worker is found murdered on the construction side, the investigation swiftly turns from things criminal to the political circumstances surrounding the building itself. Widespread corruption and neglect by the builder himself are seen to have brought the situation about. Much of the movie is filmed using hand-held cameras, and the majority of the dialogue is in the difficult-to-understand and very slangy Spanish dialect of Mexico City's bricklayers.

7.0

Bad Lieutenant

Nov 20, 1992

While investigating a young nun's rape, a corrupt New York City police detective, with a serious drug and gambling addiction, tries to change his ways and find forgiveness.

5.3

Torque

Jan 16, 2004

Biker Cary Ford is framed by an old rival and biker gang leader for the murder of another gang member who happens to be the brother of Trey, leader of the most feared biker gang in the country. Ford is now on the run trying to clear his name from the murder with Trey and his gang looking for his blood.

0.0

Nobody Asked

Oct 13, 2023

Yahya is a middle-aged man who lives in a small town, a place where he can hide and forget his past, connected to the repression in Iran. One day, his son Nima leaves the house and disappears. Gradually, he distanced himself from Marta, his lover, and sought refuge alone. So, the police department calls and informs that a body that cannot be identified has been found, and Yahya is convinced that his son ran away because he found out his secret. To find him, Yahya will have to face his memories.

6.6

Big Stan

Nov 3, 2007

A weak con man panics when he learns he's going to prison for fraud. He hires a mysterious martial arts guru who helps transform him into a martial arts expert who can fight off inmates who want to hurt or love him.

6.6

Walking Tall

Feb 22, 1973

Ex-wrestler and Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser walks tall and carries a big stick as he tussles with county-wide corruption and moonshining thugs.

7.1

Scum

Sep 12, 1979

Powerful, uncompromising drama about two boys' struggle for survival in the nightmare world of Britain's notorious Borstal Reformatory.

5.5

The Sellout

May 30, 1952

A small-town newspaper editor risks everything to expose a corrupt sheriff.

5.7

1st Born

Feb 18, 2019

Tucker and Hamid are going to be grandfathers for the first time, but only if they can come together long enough to save their first-born grandchild.

6.2

Beyond the Law

Apr 22, 1993

Dan Saxon is an undercover cop who infiltrates a biker gang to nail the scum behind a drug-smuggling operation. In order to maintain the trust of the gang's leader, he must commit ever more dangerous and heinous crimes. Just how far 'beyond the law' will Saxon go?