A noble project is impaired by mediocre execution, as Ali Samadi Ahadi chronicles the unrest that surrounded the disputed 2009 Iranian election. The live-action eyewitness accounts are compelling, but they also emphasise the agit-prop nature of the inserted animated scenes and the emotive content of their voiceovers by Pegah Ferydoni and Navid Akhavan, as fictional students arrested for supporting opposition candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi. The prison testimony is harrowing, but the animators struggle to convey the horror with the same viscerality as the live action. The mawkish score reinforces this sense of manipulation, which risks dissipating the outrage Ahadi aims to provoke.
The Green Wave Review
A documentary that tells the story of Iran's contentious election and its troubling aftermath.
Release Date:
30 Sep 2011
Running Time:
80 minutes
Certificate:
Original Title:
Green Wave, The
A worthy topic that deserves a slightly better documentary.
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