This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I read other reviews and ratings and wondered if they watched the same movie or maybe a poor pirated copy. It is a disturbing story because it portrays life under a hypocritical & corrupt regime that uses religion as an excuse to perpetuate cruel acts of violence, sadism, theft, torture and brutal murder. It does not tell the whole story but gives an insight into the impact on one family and those around them. I grew up hearing these stories and by coincidence sat across a table today from a young woman whose true story was so extraordinarily similar.

I normally don't review however, after reading some of the reviews that were poor I wanted to review this. The story is a horror story of a Jewish family escaping from the horror of an oppressive thug country. Having traveled to the Middle East and miles from Iran, having friends that went through this very scenario, this movie was hard to watch. The acting was good and I was well pleased with Adrian Brody's acting as well. Knowing what life is like there, this movie was riveting to watch and well made. Life there is a horror story for anyone that is not a zealot for the religious government. It is hard to believe that life is like this anywhere in the world today living in the west. People are treated with pure terror that are not brain washed or part of those systems. The story was well told and the acting was good. Nearly a 10 rating from me having witnessed life in that part of the world. I believe this is a good movie to watch if you don't mind suspense. I am not sure if what I have written is a spoiler but marked as such just to be safe. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to see how hard life is in that part of the world. Harsh living unless you are wealthy and part of the system. If not, life is harsh at best. Jews are not likely to live at all there let alone living well today. I have a dear friend, Jewish-Persian who fled during this period and some of the depictions are spot on. Well worth watching.

In Iran, the city of Shiraz has traditionally been associated with great cultural achievements in poetry, literature, and magnificent gardens. Set at the inception of the Iranian revolution of 1979, "Septembers of Shiraz" focuses on the tyranny of the oppressive rule of the Ayatollah Khomeini, as directed against a businessman.The focal point of the film is a Jewish merchant of precious stones and jewelry, who is summarily arrested, tortured, and extorted of his fortune in order to survive. Adrien Brody delivers another complex and moving performance as the jeweler named Isaac. Salma Hayak-Pinault is outstanding as Isaac's wife, Farnaz. The action is taut and the pacing is deliberate, as Isaac's long period in captivity and his ordeal of torture are chronicled in lurid detail.One of the best scenes in the film is the moment where Isaac's captor named Mohsen, as played by Alon Aboutboul, engages Isaac in an extended conversation. The climax of the scene is when Isaac persuasively points to the circularity of their relationship and how Mohsen's extremism has made him captive to his obsession for revenge. Mohsen is no less a prisoner than Isaac. In this area, the film could have developed more completely the background on the repressive regime of the Shah of Iran and the barbarity of the methods used by his secret police, the dreaded SAVAK.Another key relationship in the film was that of Farnaz and the household maid Habibeh, given a remarkable screen interpretation by the husky-voiced Iranian actress Shohreh Aghdashloo. In the ebb and flow of this relationship, Habibeh begins to side with the revolutionaries, yet is deeply conflicted due to the kindness shown to her by Farnaz and Isaac. In a moving scene near the end of the film, Habibeh comes around to support Issac and Farnaz, rejecting her son, who has turned informant on the family. In an ironic twist, however, the last we hear of the son is that he has been arrested by the new theocratic regime for his personal greed in looting precious stones from Isaac's business.In the DVD "Behind the Scenes" segment, it is clear that the film artists approached this film with great intelligence, including the screenwriter, director, and design team, who were all passionate about making a film that depicts not only a repressive regime at one moment in time in 1979, but for all forms of tyranny that refuse to honor reverence for life. Tragically, this story is all too familiar well into the twenty-first century.

I find this movies exhilarating , emotional and in the mean time extremely sad, as always Adrian Brody hits his target. I am an Iranian so I can make a perfect connection to this story, it is a tale of exile and forced migration, I had to go through a less severe version of exile myself. After the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the poor and illiterate that were empowered by the Islamists and mullahs have been given a power to loot, abuse and murder those in minorities,wealthy individuals and those who supported the previous regime. the story still continues till today. illiterate,bigoted Muslim thugs with beards still kidnap , murder, blackmail and ransack as they please. Mullahs still hold power in 21st century and Sharia law is the law of the land.It is very hard for me or any Iranian who lived before the revolution to even imagine the ciaos brought upon us by these Islamic vermin. I even noticed some of the regime apologist have lowered the rating here in IMDb screaming murder and demanding justice. This film is incredibly close to really, there was no propaganda involved and even today the same is happening in Iran, when country is taken over by a fascist religious ideology these kind of behaviors are normal. What is abnormal are the regime apologists residing in the west and still defending the undeniable. The story begins when a prosperous Jewish family living in North Tehran faced with horrors, a self-made business man with his family watches as his country being tore apart by fascist religious bigots. being Jewish and wealthy, his business is ransacked by his own employees and he was arrested for being in touch with Royal Family of Iran, His wife and child are being abused and constantly taunted by the notorious IRGC members.on other side his wife and child waiting for hi at home are being faced with a class indifference and illiterate lower class demanding their rights. Watching this movie is incredibility put you in touch with revolutionary Iran, it worth every second and it is an incredible accurate of what really happened.