Beautiful City Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Beautiful City Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 29, 2024

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Film Movement's release of The Early Films of Asghar Farhadi.

Asghar Farhadi became a member of a rather exclusive club in Academy Awards history when The Salesman won for Best International Feature Film, becoming the second film by Farhadi (after A Separation) to be so feted. Only a few other legendary names like Vittorio de Sica, Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa and Federico Fellini have been able to shepherd more than one of their films to that honor (which is officially bestowed upon the country of origin, even if it's tradition for the director to receive it at the ceremony). This double feature from Film Movement's Film Movement Classics imprint offers Farhadi's first two features as writer and director (he had previously co-written a feature called Low Heights which is not yet in our database), and for those who have seen either A Separation or The Salesman, this duo probably unsurprisingly explores some of the same ideas and themes of Farhadi's later work, and they both certainly provide an absolutely visceral (if at times downright disturbing) view of contemporary Iranian culture.

Beautiful City begins with an arresting set of sounds rather than imagery, as a repeated whistle is an interstitial blast between some kind of rustling. Once the imagery does start, a panicked kid alerts Akbar (Hossein Farzi-Zadeh) to the fact another kid may have died, and only in the ensuing cacophony is it revealed that it's all been a prank to get Akbar to a surprise eighteenth birthday party. What should be a celebration is almost instantaneously undercut both by the surroundings that Akbar and the other boys are in, but in the quick revelation that not only are they all in a juvenile detention facility, the fact that Akbar has turned 18 means he's finally old enough to be put to death for a murder he committed two years previously. Once again, as in Dancing in the Dust, Farhadi manages an almost herculean amount of exposition in just a few opening minutes of his story.

If Dancing in the Dust examined some of the arcane marriage laws or at least customs in Iran, Beautiful City (one of the more intentionally ironic titles in recent memory) does much the same service for Iran's seemingly labyrinthine and kind of random judicial system. Though Akbar is slated to be executed, so called "blood money" paid to his victim's family may circumvent than outcome, which is where an unlikely partnership involving ex-con A'la (Babak Ansari) and Akbar's sister Firoozeh (Taraneh Alidoosti) comes into play, as the two attempt to convince the father of Akbar's victim, a man named Abolqasem Rahmati (Faramarz Gharibian) to agree to a "deal". The negotiations are complicated not only by Abolqasem's instransigence but by the Iranian law that a man's life is worth twice what a woman's is, so Abolqasem would supposedly have to pony the difference between what Akbar's life is worth and what his dead daughter's life was worth.

Into all of this melodrama, Farhadi is actually able to inject some actual passing (black?) humor, as well as rather incredibly a nascent love story between A'la and Firoozeh, both of whom have "issues" in their past (and probably their present). There may be just a bit too much contrivance as all these strands are interwoven, and the finale may be too open ended for some, but this is still an absolutely penetrating look at a society that few in the West know a lot about, much less understand.

Beautiful City Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Beautiful City is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Film Movement Classics, an imprint of Film Movement, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Film Movement tends not to provide a ton of technical information about their transfers, and there's only a "new 2K restoration" offered on some of the packaging of this release. This may not have quite the luster of Dancing in the Dust, with a bit of a brown-yellow undertone making things appear somewhat dowdy, though that probably only reinforces the desperate financial straits many of these characters find themselves in. If the palette seems just a bit askew at times, detail levels are generally commendable throughout, aided and abetted by Farhadi's repeated use of close-ups. Grain resolves naturally throughout. There are some very minor signs of damage, in the form of minimal nicks and the like.

Beautiful City Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Beautiful City features an LPCM 2.0 track in the original Persian. This is a largely dialogue driven entry, though Hamidreza Sadri's score provides some sonic flavor and is well represented. Ambient environmental effects are nicely done as well, in both the opening clamorous prison sequences as well as any number of outdoor scenes which follow. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Beautiful City Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Eye of the Beholder (HD; 15:33) is an engaging companion piece to the Hearts and Snakes piece on Dancing in the Dust, once again featuring Roxana Hadadi offering her thoughts.


• Beautiful City Trailer (HD; 1:56)

Beautiful City Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's an undeniably melancholic tone suffusing this piece, but there's also some remarkable and perhaps unexpected strength shown by a number of female characters in particular, including the feisty Firoozeh. Those unacquainted with the ins and out of the Iranian justice system and concept of "blood money" may be downright shocked by what goes on in this film. Technical merits are generally solid, and the supplementary visual essay very appealing. Recommended.