Friday Movie Review: Unveiled – Lesbian Fiction or Real Life?

Today’s movie review is about a movie for our times…that was actually filmed in 2006.

Agree with her, like her or not (although I think most of you that are pursuing this blog at least agree with her at least partially), US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s December 10th speech at the United Nations Human Rights Programs headquartered in Geneva Switzerland sent political shock waves to those countries that persecute, imprison and even execute gays and lesbians just for being who they are. Countries that lean heavily Muslim, especially in the Arab world, are some of the biggest offenders.

So, today I have chosen to review the Wolfe Video (Germany) produced film, Unveiled starring unknown in the U.S. actors Jasmin Tabatabai and Navid Akhavan as directed by Angelina Maccarone. Yes, it’s a foreign film. Yes, it does have English subtitles. Yes, it’s very worth watching – even if you don’t speak German.

The Amazon.com official film review:

Life is extremely unfair in director Angelina Maccarone’s Unveiled, a movie exposing the flawed logic inherent in Iran’s laws against lesbians. In this sad film, Tehranian Fariba Tabrizi (Jasmin Tabatabai) is forced to flee Iran when threatened with the death penalty for loving another woman, and even then she must assume a male identity in order to live temporarily in Germany. Working menial jobs, Fariba, a.k.a. Siamak, tries in vain to save money for a legitimate passport, all the while experiencing the hardships that go along with being a “male” foreigner. When Siamak begins to date Anne (Anneke Kim Sarnau), a married woman whose growing involvement with an illegal alien causes dismay among her small-minded German friends, the plot quickly complicates. Anne discovers Fariba’s true identity once she faces return to Iran, and the two hatch a plan to ensure Fariba’s safety. Unfortunately, Fariba does return to Iran, and her female identity must forever remain a secret. Touching scenes between Fariba and Anne make the futility of Fariba’s efforts toward happiness that much more disturbing, as the viewer becomes frustrated that this highly-educated woman is isolated from her gender and culture. Unveiled transcends its focus on female relationships, since the universal nature of Fariba’s quest for a new life applies to any refugee. Maccarone’s thoughtful treatment of double-prejudice makes this unpleasant story easier to stomach, as a lesson in compassion and acceptance of those different from ourselves. —Trinie Dalton

As I said, it’s a story for our times. It’s fiction and it’s real. The term docudrama comes to mind.

I don’t want to say I “enjoyed” this movie because “enjoyed” is the wrong word. Yes, there were parts that were very touching, to answer an unasked question. Overall though, this isn’t a relax and be entertained movie. It’s a fictional film that addresses the fallout of a real world issue. It makes you sad and, perhaps, angry. Most of all, it makes you think.