The pressure state surveillance can put on people, to the point of them crumbling completely, has been a recurring theme in social dramas. Writer-director Nader Saeivar also deals with this theme in his second feature “No End”, a film that is essentially heroic considering the imprisonment of filmmakers in the country that has been happening recently, as with his frequent collaborator and editor-advisor of the movie, Jafar Panahi.
“No End” is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema
Middle-aged Ayaz is a civil servant working in a government department handling construction permits. Despite the fact that corruption is all around him, he does not receive bribes, something that both him and his wife, Negar, are proud of. The two of them live with her mother in an apartment that actually belongs to her brother, Soroush, who is about to return to Iran from Germany after 30 years. Ayaz, who has actually placed his hopes and his money in something that looks dangerously like an apartment block scheme, is quite afraid of Soroush's return, believing that he may sell the house and force him and his wife to live on rent.
In a desperate effort to prevent the “threat”, he tries to convince the two women that the house has been ransacked by security officers. It turns out, however, that his ploy is so successful, that it actually attracts the attention of real officers, in a series of events that end up with him being blackmailed and played with, by the “good cop” in their midst, Hadi. As time passes, Ayaz is forced to become an informant, while he feels the pressure coming towards him from all places, including even an official who pressures him to illegally accept his building permit.
Nader Saivar presents a movie that unfolds as a rather dramatic fable, retaining though, some elements of subtle humor and irony, mostly revolving around the naivety and overall simpleton nature of the protagonist and the way Hadi exploits it. This tactic results in a film that is quite entertaining for the larger part of its duration, while also communicating a number of interesting, if not exactly unique comments. In that fashion, the ways pressure changes people, corruption, and the despicable ways of the government particularly regarding systemic surveillance, are all presented here, in a rather courageous narrative, considering what we mentioned in the prologue.
At the same time, though, some aspects of the writing do emerge as “shortcuts”, as in the way Ayaz attracts the attention of the officers for example, while the somewhat prolonged duration 113 minutes actually makes the ending quite predictable, and the whole film somewhat repetitious.
On the other hand, Saeivar draws a great performance from Vahid Mobasseri as Ayaz, with his simpleton demeanor, the fact that he gets angry but is too scared to let his frustration surface, and even literally gets slapped when he does, being truly wondrous to look at, in a truly anchoring performance. Also quite convincing is the performance of Shahin Kazem Najad as Hadi, who emits danger with every movement, but is also not beyond using petty tricks to achieve his goals. The antithesis of the two and the chemistry they share on screen are among the best traits of the movie.
Hamid Mehrafrouz captures the suffocating setting the protagonist inhabits with artistry, with the focus on him through mid-shots for the most part working quite well here. Panahi's editing results in a fitting mid-tempo, but the movie would definitely benefit from some tightness in that regard.
“No End” is a mixed bag of a film, since its issues are pretty evident. At the same time though, the courage Saeivar showed by shooting such a movie at this time, and the acting of the protagonist deem one that is definitely worth watching.
