The Report

Abbas Kiarostami's 1977 Iranian film follows a tax official accused of taking bribes. While Firuzkuhi deals with the investigation, things at home also come apart and the tension with his wife rises. The film does not hold the two lines apart. The humiliation at work and the violence at home are shown as parts of the same helplessness; the narrative does not defend the official and leaves the viewer no room for sympathy. It is Kiarostami's first feature and markedly unlike his later work: urban, set in closed interiors and directly harsh. Shohreh Aghdashloo appears in one of her first roles. Who it's for: those curious about pre-revolutionary Iranian cinema and early Kiarostami. Who it's not for: viewers for whom domestic violence and an attempted suicide would sit heavily.