Not Without My Daughter Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.5

Not Without My Daughter Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 4, 2019

We live in a sometimes extremely “PC sensitive” culture where even good intentions in various depictions in media of all types get pilloried for not toeing whatever line any given critic feels is necessary. Some may feel that this is a new situation, but Not Without My Daughter, a “ripped from the headlines” story based on what had been at the time of the film's release an international best seller, perhaps proves that this situation has been around for a while (and probably a lot longer than merely a while). Not Without My Daughter began as a rather harrowing autobiography by Betty Mahmoody, an American who had married an Iranian doctor and who returned to her husband’s native land for what was assumed to be a short visit with his family. The good (?) doctor evidently had other plans, however, and informed Betty that she, and their young daughter, were now in Iran permanently, and that Betty could do nothing about it. It’s a troubling story by any standard, one that has elements of spousal abuse running pretty rampant in it, but one that also kind of unavoidably brings up the culture clash between a more liberal (in the general sense of that term) American culture and what both the book and subsequent film depict as a rather radical religious element in Iran. A number of people found Not Without My Daughter to be actually anti-Muslim when it was originally released, and it’s easy to see how that case could be made, but it’s also perhaps salient to note that the book and film obviously featured Betty’s perspective, which probably was skewed negatively toward both Iran and Islam for any number of reasons. The film is kind of an interesting historical curio in a variety of ways, and it does manage to create considerable tension, but for at least some members of the “PC police” it may well remain highly problematic.

In terms of “PC sensitivities”, and without wishing to raise anyone’s hackles, I kind of wondered while watching Not Without My Daughter whether Alfred Molina would even be “permitted” to play the part of Iranian doctor “Moody” Mahmoody if this film were to be made today in a climate that often demands that ethnicities or even nationalities not be depicted by anyone other than someone sharing those traits. Molina nonetheless is a riveting presence throughout the film, beginning as a seemingly “westernized” Iranian who is completely at home with the “decadent” United States, only to reveal a somewhat more sinister mien once he gets his wife Betty (Sally Field) and daughter Mahtob (Sheila Rosenthal) to Iran. In fact, it’s Moody’s transformation that provides a lot of the “chill” in Not Without My Daughter, and it’s interesting that Molina is able to somehow make Moody at least relatively sympathetic — some of the time, anyway.

The upshot of the early plot dynamics is that Betty finds herself more or less a prisoner after a while, with Moody just out and out informing her she’s staying put (something Iranian law evidently supports, or at least supported back in its “Revolutionary” phase). Betty’s attempts to get help fall on deaf ears in the early going, and she’s distressed to learn that Iranian law also makes her pretty much a second class “citizen”, without even any clear parental rights concerning her daughter.

The film depicts the pretty precarious path Betty has to take, somehow keeping Moody placated even as she plans privately to escape with Mahtob. There’s considerable tension in the film, despite the fact that (due to the mere existence of the real life Betty Mahmoody’s autobiography, if nothing else) she’s going to get out with her daughter somehow, someway. Performances are generally well modulated here, but it’s impossible not to notice how Iranian culture is painted with a rather broad brushstroke, with what amounts to almost an assumption that fanaticism is the norm rather than the exception. It may be this element which chafes most alarmingly against some people’s sensitivities, whether or not they happen to be Muslim and/or Iranian.

Not Without My Daughter Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Not Without My Daughter is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Visual's MVD Marquee Collection imprint with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. As with several other recent releases by MVD, this comes from the MGM catalog and it's another kind of middling looking release that features a somewhat worn and faded element that is also at least occasionally plagued by pretty coarse and chunky looking grain resolution. The palette is kind of intermittently anemic, though that said, there are certainly moments, mostly outdoor shots, where things pop at least relatively well. But fleshtones tend toward brown, and even the bright colors of Iran's flag don't look especially vivid. There are occasional if slight signs of age related wear and tear throughout the presentation. As can perhaps be made out in some of the screenshots accompanying this review, grain can be kind of brown-yellowish a lot of the time, adding a mottled look, especially when brighter backgrounds are prevalent.

Not Without My Daughter Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Not Without My Daughter features an LPCM 2.0 track that offers more than capable support for the film's dialogue, sometimes boisterous sound effects (the "Iranian revolution" reaches out and touches Betty at certain moments) and an interesting ethnically tinged score by Jerry Goldsmith, that I was kind of shocked to discover evidently created some "PC sensitivities" of its own back in the day, when I was reading up on the film in preparation for writing this review. (I found Goldsmith's score to be quite effective a lot of the time.) There's surprising dynamic range here for this kind of drama, and there are no problems with distortion, dropouts or damage.

Not Without My Daughter Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Behind the Scenes Featurette (480i; 6:02) is an archival EPK that has some interviews and looks at scenes being filmed.


• Trailers includes Not Without My Daughter (480i; 2:38) along with trailers for several other MVD releases.

Not Without My Daughter Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

My background research in preparing for this review also uncovered the fact that Dr. Mahmoody evidently disputed a lot of his ex-wife's Betty's account of what happened, and there is evidently a "responsive" documentary that was made after Betty's book and this film appeared (Mahmoody himself passed away some years ago). That said, it's patently obvious that the film is told from Betty's point of view, and so some slack has to be accorded in terms of how a "foreign" culture is portrayed. That said, there is a kind of weirdly uniform portrayal of many of the "true believers" in Iran in this film that may bother those who want more nuance. Technical merits are decent (video) to very good (audio) for those considering a purchase.