Rosewater

Once again, a week has passed since my last post, but I sit at the computer feeling overwhelming sadness. Whatever I may have planned to write has been overshadowed by the news from Israel, the murder of four innocent men saying the morning prayers at a synagogue in Jerusalem. There are never many degrees of separation between traditional Jews. Even if we are not personally acquainted with the victims, it is not unusual for us to know someone who is related to or friends of the victim’s family. Last week, a young woman was killed whose family is well known to friends of ours. Today, one of the four victims of the attack was the brother of a woman who lives with her family diagonally across the street from us.  

We had been anxious to see Jon Stewart’s directorial debut, “Rosewater,” and were able to squeeze it in when we returned to New York. Given the recent events, this seemed an appropriate film to see. Although the reviews were not overwhelmingly positive (a 75% on Rotten Tomatoes), as fans of The Daily Show we just had to see it. Having said that, I have always had some trouble watching movies with violence, and at this point I generally try to completely steer clear of them. So I went into this with some trepidation, and I did have to close my eyes during some scenes.  

Rosewater is based on The New York Times best-selling memoir "Then They Came for Me: A Family's Story of Love, Captivity, and Survival," written by Maziar Bahari. Bahari was born and raised in Iran but moved to the UK as an adult, where he worked for the BBC. In 2009, he returned to Iran to interview Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who was the prime challenger to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. After sending the BBC film footage of the street riots that followed the obviously rigged election, Bahari was arrested by police. What followed was a nightmarish 118 days during which he was interrogated and tortured by a man who frequently sprayed himself with rosewater. Unbeknownst to Bahari, as well as to moviegoers until the very end, his wife lead an international campaign to have her husband freed, and Western media outlets kept the story alive. Iranian authorities finally released Bahari on $300,000 bail and the promise he would act as a spy for the government.

Although I almost assuredly would never have seen this movie if not for Jon Stewart’s role in bringing it to the screen, I thought it was extremely well done. If you are able to watch such films, I highly recommend it, but it is definitely not a fun date night.

It is not yet winter, but the way it feels outside it might as well be. So stay warm and have a good week!

Love,

Rebecca