Rosewater is a 2014 American political drama film written, directed and produced by Jon Stewart, based on the memoir Then They Came for Me by Maziar Bahari and Aimee Molloy.[8] It recounts Bahari's 2009 imprisonment by Iran, connected to an interview he participated in on The Daily Show that same year; Iranian authorities presented the interview as evidence that he was in communication with an American spy.[9] Due to the content of the film, Stewart has been accused by Iran's state TV of being funded by Zionists and working with the CIA.[10] The film was released in theaters on November 14, 2014.
Rosewater | |
---|---|
Directed by | Jon Stewart |
Screenplay by | Jon Stewart |
Based on | Then They Came for Me by Maziar Bahari and Aimee Molloy |
Produced by | Scott Rudin Jon Stewart Gigi Pritzker |
Starring | Gael García Bernal Kim Bodnia Haluk Bilginer Shohreh Aghdashloo Golshifteh Farahani |
Cinematography | Bobby Bukowski |
Edited by | Jay Rabinowitz |
Music by | Howard Shore[1] |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Open Road Films[2] |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 103 minutes[3] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $5–10 million[4][5][6][7] |
Box office | $3.2 million[5] |
The film received generally positive reviews for Bernal's performance, Stewart's direction, and its timely themes, but was criticized for its screenplay.
Plot
editIn 2009, London-based Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari is detained in Iran after he reports on violence against protesters of the country's presidential election, as well as giving a satirical interview with Jason Jones of The Daily Show.[11] While his pregnant fiancée waits for him, Bahari spends 118 days at Evin Prison being brutally interrogated.[12]
Bahari is usually blindfolded while being interrogated, and his interrogator's sole distinguishing feature is that he smells of rosewater.[12]
Cast
edit- Gael García Bernal as Maziar Bahari, a journalist who was interrogated and tortured over 118 days in Iran[8]
- Claire Foy as Paola Gourley
- Kim Bodnia as "Rosewater"[13]
- Haluk Bilginer as Baba Akbar
- Shohreh Aghdashloo as Moloojoon
- Dimitri Leonidas as Davood[14]
- Golshifteh Farahani as Maryam
- Arian Moayed as Hamid[15]
- Amir El-Masry as Alireza
- Jason Jones as himself
Production
editRosewater was filmed in Jordan, with footage from Iran,[16] between June and mid-August 2013.[8] It had a budget of $5–10 million.[4][5][6][7]
Release
editOn July 31, 2014, it was announced that the film would be released on November 7, 2014.[17] The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on August 29, 2014,[18] and it was screened in the Special Presentations section of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival in September 2014.[19]
Reception
editBox office
editRosewater grossed $3.2 million.[5]
In its opening weekend, the film grossed $1.2 million from 371 theaters, finishing 13th at the box office.[20]
Critical reception
editRosewater received mostly positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 76%, based on 155 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The site's consensus reads, "Timely, solidly acted, and unabashedly earnest, Rosewater serves as an impressive calling card for first-time director Jon Stewart."[21] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 67 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[22]
References
edit- ^ "Howard Shore Scoring Jon Stewart's 'Rosewater'". Film Music Reporter. June 10, 2014. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
- ^ Fleming, Mike (May 12, 2014). "Open Road Acquires Jon Stewart's 'Rosewater' With Fall Release Planned". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 19, 2014.
- ^ "ROSEWATER (15)". British Board of Film Classification. November 26, 2014. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
- ^ a b "Jon Stewart's 'Rosewater' underwhelms at box office". CNN Money. November 28, 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Rosewater (2014)". The Numbers. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
- ^ a b "Rosewater: everything we know so far about Jon Stewart's new movie". The Guardian. 2014-08-30. Archived from the original on 2022-12-02.
- ^ a b Siegel, Tatiana (June 12, 2013). "Jon Stewart Movie: Salary Issues Complicate Gael Garcia Bernal Casting". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
- ^ a b c McClintock, Pamela (September 3, 2013). "Toronto: Jon Stewart to Pitch 'Rosewater,' Share First Footage". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
- ^ Feldman, Josh (5 December 2013). "Iranian State TV Targets Jon Stewart for Directing Movie 'Commissioned by His Masters'". Mediaite. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
- ^ Ernst, Douglas (5 December 2013). "Jon Stewart, CIA superspy? Iranian TV creates new 'Zionist' conspiracy". Washington Times. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
- ^ "Rosewater (2014)". imdb.com. 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
- ^ a b Rothman, Lily (6 March 2013). "What Is Rosewater, the Movie Taking Jon Stewart Away from The Daily Show?". Time.
- ^ Jeffries, Stuart (January 31, 2014). "The Bridge's Kim Bodnia: 'Darkness, misery, evil – we do them best'". The Guardian. Retrieved July 19, 2014.
- ^ Snider, Eric D. (2014-09-01). "Telluride 2014: Jon Stewart's "Rosewater" Is a Fine First Film, But That's About It". Complex.
- ^ "Awards Profile: Rosewater". AwardsCircuit.com - By Clayton Davis. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
- ^ "Parts of Jon Stewart's new movie 'Rosewater' actually filmed in Iran". Archived from the original on November 17, 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
- ^ "Jon Stewart's 'Rosewater' Gets November 7 Release Date". Deadline Hollywood. July 31, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
- ^ Pete Hammond (30 August 2014). "Jon Stewart's 'Rosewater' Enters The Oscar Conversation At Telluride Film Festival - Deadline". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
- ^ "Toronto Film Festival Lineup". Variety. 22 July 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
- ^ "Weekend Box Office November 14-16, 2014 Weekend". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
- ^ "Rosewater". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
- ^ "Rosewater Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
External links
edit- Rosewater on Facebook
- Rosewater on Twitter
- Rosewater at IMDb
- Rosewater at Box Office Mojo
- Rosewater at Rotten Tomatoes
- Rosewater at Metacritic