2023-05-10 11:19:53
As The Holy Spider Killer made its way from Cannes to our theaters, the film’s director Ali Abbasi went from established festival writer to director of several episodes of The Last of Us (or the last two, to be exact). Abbasi is a cinematographer of Iranian origin, but none of the feature films in Ali’s homeland might be shot. The geographical gap in “Spider” is perceived most painfully: despite the national specifics of the subject of conversation, the picture was filmed in Jordan and released by Denmark (which, given Iranian politics, is actually natural).
In the web of real events, Abbasi places a fictitious heroine: journalist Rahini (Zara Amir Ebrahimi) comes from Tehran to Mashhad to write an investigative article regarding a series of murders of sex workers. The holy city is not happy with a stranger: even at the hotel they do not want to register an unmarried woman and nervously ask to straighten the scarf on her head. Rahini reluctantly bickers, but hides her hair and waves her editorial ID to finally get into her booked room. The settling scene acts as a kind of teaser for the progress of the subsequent work: the policeman is in no hurry to share the little that can be called evidence, the discarded bodies multiply, and even the relatives of the victims do not make contact.
Zara Amir Ebrahimi as Rahini in a scene from the movie “Holy Spider Killer”
At the beginning of the 2000s in Mashhad, 16 women were killed by a worker, a veteran and an exemplary family man Said (he played the maniac Mehdi Bedzhestani) – no evil intent, the man was driven only by good intentions and the desire to rid the shrine of the wicked. Usually a 20-year statute of limitations seems like a lot, especially when it comes to true-crimes and changing social moods. But the context of the hijab protests following the death of the 22-year-old Mahsi Amini gives an even more tragic and painful sound to Abbasi’s picture today. It was so simple and so scary to look at – every victim of Said was strangled with a handkerchief.
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Mehdi Bejestani as Said in a still from the film “Killer” Sacred Spider “”
“Spider” as a whole is distinguished by its straightforwardness, articulateness and well-cut material: social discourse is painstakingly sewn into the fabric of the genre, and each paragraph of the film exists according to certain laws. Abbasi neatly splits the narrative up and down. The disturbing vigils of a journalist and the measured everyday life of a murderer become two main lines. From time to time, the poles are broken by a brief acquaintance with future victims: the humiliated women who sell the body are most often both opium addicts and in debt. Mashhad appears to the viewer not as the domes of minarets, but as unlit dirty streets. Rahini also finds herself in the dark alleys: trying to talk potential victims or exposing herself as a bait, the heroine constantly feels a sticky sense of danger. The journalist’s attempts to get to the bottom of the truth are accompanied by chronic humiliation, obscenity from superior men and total indifference, which, however, fails to break the spirit of a woman. Ebrahimi is an outstanding artist who is often silent and waits for others to speak, but fills every pause with absolute meaningfulness (the role was awarded a prize at Cannes). Another side of the attraction of the director’s attention is Said’s methodical life, dinners with children and adrenaline night races for retribution. Abbasi does not admire either violence or a rapist (which, in general, true crimes endlessly sin): the episodes of murders are drawn with genuine disgust. But the director fails to fully bring out the inconsistency of the figure – only the inconsistency of the perception of “acts”.
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Zara Amir Ebrahimi as Rahini in a scene from the movie “Holy Spider Killer”
Detective howcatchem is only half of the web, there is another halving ahead. The film turns from a gloomy procedural led by a desperate enthusiast into the arena of a court drama. “Spider” has loyal fans who are ready to demand pardon for the hero and “sweeper” of the streets, and the contours like obvious evil blur the context.
“The Holy Spider” is an honest movie with a festival pronunciation: Abbasi consistently withstands genre transformations (in other words, it scares where it’s scary, causes tears when it’s bitter), chooses a faithful and delicate artistic addition to real events, and translates national pain into a universal language . You want to look at a woven carpet in general, from afar, taking three steps back: some patterns creep into others, square contours do not allow flowers to go beyond the frames, and it is impossible to unravel the tangles of lines, even following the moral compass correctly.
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