A review of “Reza” by Alireza Motamedi
By: Alireza Naraghi
Dramanaghd: “Reza”, directed by Alireza Motamedi, is an individualistic film. The film follows the life story of a lonely man. The less action and tension he has in his life, the more noticeable the individualistic aspect of the film becomes. That is when the audience feels closer to the character in a more realistic manner. Reza’s character is formed among the significant and insignificant moments of his everyday life. In the midst of a romantic rollercoaster, he is writing a story and is wandering around his hometown, Isfahan. Despite the love they have for one another, Reza and Fati get a divorce, however, their separation never happens and they always remain a part of one another’s lives. In fact, Fati never leaves Reza and she is always there emotionally attached to him.
The film avoids to focus on a subject in most scenes and maybe that is why most dialogues seem to be mediocre and insignificant. However, within these mediocre, insignificant moments, Reza’s character is portrayed. Reza’s character creates the world of the film. On the one hand, Reza is portrayed as a man who wanders around the city aimlessly and on the other hand, he is put in situations in line with the story which is being written by him throughout the film. Meanwhile, the most significant point is Reza’s encounters with women and the city. Women and the city are two elements that link Reza’s mental and actual worlds to each other. In order to have a fresh start and avoid Fati, he needs to meet new women, however, the past or in other words, Fati rule his life. Reza works in an architectural firm which restores old buildings. Obviously, that is the general theme of the film which turns watching “Reza” into a pleasant experience.
As mentioned earlier, the film relies on elements like loneliness and seclusion. Nothing seems to be more important than Reza’s individuality and loneliness and anything else seems to be employed to highlight this issue. At the beginning of the film, Reza seems to be happy despite the divorce. He is popular and everyone tends to easily like him, yet what we get to see by the end of the film is Reza’s extreme loneliness and seclusion.
The last third of the film has a hallucinatory theme and the audience may even doubt the actuality of the events. However, despite the main feature of individualistic films, the main character does not go through an evolution. In other words, when the film finishes, Reza is not at a different point from where the film begins. The audience gets to explore Reza’s character and different features of his character, yet that is not due to Reza’s evolution; it is actually the result of seeing Reza. “Reza” is a film to see. Reza has a lot of things to say, however, he should be seen rather than heard. His aimless wanders around the city are more important than his mentality and internal evolution.
