Truly Dreadful Film

Fantastic!

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

This movie is a Jewel, some won't get it and that is their loss. It is thought provoking, every scene is a unique canvas painted with the realism of common people who, like people all over the world have their own problems and must make decisions on priorities. The contrast between the two Characters is so NON Hollywood. A simple soldier that is going to be taught and have his world expanded. A young woman who is educated, and believes in the process of elections, is the election agent her job is to collect votes, qualified and valid votes. Simple right? Wrong, she is also going to learn also. The great thing I loved about this movie is the extreme effort they ( the Iranian government) made to collect these votes from this extremely remote and isolated island. This is a must see movie for anyone interested in learning about the Iran, the people and especially the culture. WELL DONE. You could never go on a trip there and see what you see in this movie. This movie has so much love in it; the work is a master piece, of observation without getting in the way or polluting the subject matter. I would love to own their car, even without a windshield.

Last week, my daughter and I viewed Osama and tonight Secret Ballot. Both impressed us greatly. Secret Ballot is a sweet movie about two people fulfilling a duty—one eagerly, the other reluctantly—and growing to know and appreciate each other in the process. Reminds me a bit of The African Queen. The cinematography is breath-taking and I just wish I could have viewed it on a large screen. The social commentary vis a vis the place of women—e.g. not in a cemetery—is presented sympathetically. I liked the scene where the soldier tells the girl to pour water for his hand washing and she does so without question—like automatically. The old man choosing to vote for God and the soldier, in the end, choosing to vote for the girl were delightful. My daughter is a middle school teacher and plans to show this film to her students. That is a high accolade for a sensitive film.

Films that have new ideas to put on the table are always welcomed. So many filmmakers today feel like the only way they can express their sincere views and emotions is to format these ideas and emotions into a cliché structure. It is good to know, however, that a relatively new filmmaker named Babak Payami can express his thoughts in a story that has never been told before. The film Secret Ballot is a about 'a girl' (Nassim Abdi) who travels through some islands off the coast of Iran with a guide (Cyrus Abidi) meeting random people and marking down their votes for election day. Half the people she meets do not even know who the candidates are; she has to explain their tell them about the candidates for five minutes before they vote. Payami uses the girl's quest for votes as a jumping off point for the greater question of the value of democracy and uses the relationship between the girl and the guide as a jumping off points for questions about feminism in Iran. The commentary on feminism is funny and so are the scenes where the girl is collecting random peoples' votes but to use such a terrible voting system as a way to question the value of democracy is a bit like using the characters from Lord of the Flies as a way of questioning the value of children-the excellent story in this film really doesn't make up for the phony message. I'm unimpressed by Payami's terribly indulgent visual style; if a film is going to have self-indulgent visuals, their should at least be something to indulge in, but I can't say that this is the case for Payami's images. This is the kind of mildly entertaining film that might be not be worth seeing at the movie theatre, but, if you're bored, you could catch on television one day (billions of years from now when they decide to put Iranian films on television.)

Comments to be checked and sent for approval Possible spelling mistakes: Raye makhfi Babak Payami Abidi Nassim Abdi Please return to the edit window (or use the BACK option if this isn't a new window) to return to the previous page in order to make corrections.Your comments will be displayed as follows: Please remember to hit the button below to actually send the comments!Red-125 Upstate New YorkDate: 12 May 2003 Summary: Not really a comedy--democracy starts here.Secret Ballot [Raye makhfi (2001)]is another Iranian film about a strong, determined young woman. As written and directed by Babak Payami, the film is far more than a comedy. This movie takes us through a day on an almost- deserted island, where two bored soldiers are stationed on the beach to watch for smugglers.Suddenly a large box is dropped by parachute. Inside are a ballot box and orders directing the soldiers to accompany and assist an election agent. The soldier--played well by Cyrus Abidi--is astonished when he learns the agent is a woman. Nassim Abdi, who plays the agent, has a difficult part, made more difficult by the fact that she must communicate her emotions to the viewer while swathed in the forbidding garments required for women--even election agents-- in this Muslim land.The plot of the film involves the interaction between the agent and the potential voters she meets on the island, as well as her interaction with the young soldier.The Secret Ballot is an intensely moving, sometimes humorous, sometimes sad movie. Secret Ballot is not your lightweight Hollywood road movie. It is a glimpse into another culture, and into the hearts and minds of two people who are doing their best to lead moral and productive lives in a situation where this goal is not easy to accomplish.