Fremantlebiz - Paul's Letter from Australia

Secret Ballot - the movie

It is very difficult in this household for me to ever enjoy watching any TV program. It's not that I don't want to, but everyone else in the household, including my dear wife, are incapable of sitting in silence throughout an entire program, no matter what it is.

Now that we have a digital set top box the choice of programs is greater, but it's still a matter of flicking around the channels to see what's on. I have found that the TV guides which come with the newspapers not very helpful. Too much lack of detail.

There is a button on the digital remote controller which can bring up a description of a program going to air, and the one which is to follow, but all too often on SBS it seems that the person who is responsible has nipped out for a cup of coffee so that the display reads something like "No information available."

This was the case yesterday afternoon when I had the good fortune to be flicking away in the TV lounge when the 2002 Iranian film Secret Ballot started. I watched it from the first frame to the last, so I caught the title. But there was no other information by pressing the button on the hand controller. It must have been coffee time in SBS lalaland.

I had the TV lounge to myself too. It was great to watch something with almost no interruption. I say almost, because there is one thing which is guaranteed to happen in such circumstances is that someone will knock on the door about five minutes from the end. It's happened to me several times in the past. It happened again yesterday, but I ignored the summons.

I loved this beautifully photographed movie. The dialogue was mostly Farsi, but there was some Arabic, and of course subtitles which SBS are masterful at adding.

The setting was on a desert-like island, presumably near the Gulf coast of Iran. It was mostly populated by a few fishers and shepherds living an impoverished existence the same as their forebears had for generations. The film provided an insight into the traditional cultural practices which stand in the way of "progress" in such isolated communities.

The storyline revolved around the sometimes frustrating efforts of a female election officer, played by Nassim Abdi, to persuade everyone she could find on the island to participate in the national election.

An outsider, she was dropped off by boat at a two-man military watch-post on the morning of the election with a map of the island and orders for one of the soldiers to escort her and her ballot box to the places marked.

Democracy and secret ballots were alien concepts, and the anonymous soldier who fell in as her escort, played by a Cyrus Abidi, initially experienced some discomfort at taking orders from a woman. The struggle for womens' equity and civilian authority was a subtly pervading theme throughout the film.

The patriarchal dominance within the culture of those on the island was apparent, but there was also one place she visited in her ceaseless quest for votes which was matriarchal. This group of dwellings was dominated by Granny ....? a woman whom we never saw, but was obviously capable of ruling the roost.

The film used extremely long-running shots to emphasise the mostly unhappening tempo of life on the island. Sometimes these ran for several minutes, allowing the viewer to drink in all of the minute detail of the dominating arid landscape. It was a clever use of the medium which mesmerised me. Something exciting promised to happen, but usually didn't.

I was reminded yesterday by some of the scenery of a British film version of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot which I watched earlier this year. Maybe the director was a fan of Beckett? In thinking more about it now, I suspect that the two soldiers were indeed probably an Iranian version of the Waiting for Godot tramps. So were the long running shots. I think the Godot version I saw was originally released a year earlier than the Iranian film.

There was one scene yesterday where the two main characters in their vehicle came to a traffic light stuck on red in the middle of nowhere. The absurdness was intended to illustrate what life is like in so many middle eastern countries. Stuck at the lights. The progressive electoral officer had no compunction about ignoring it, but her military-uniformed chauffeur was reticent. However, after silent contemplation, eventually the soldier overcame his indoctrinated obedience and moved forward, through the red light.

There were many subtle political messages in the film, so much so that it was initially banned in Iran. There is no mention of this or the other matters I have mentioned in the feeble program description I eventually found on the SBS website.

Cyrus Abidi was perfect for her role. She wore a burqa throughout the film. I don't know what they are called in Farsi, but as a progressive Iranian woman her face was kept uncovered.

A message I gleaned was a realisation of the magnitude of the problems in imposing radical concepts such as democracy upon non-western societies. Such a process is obviously full of contradictions. Furthermore change cannot be achieved in an instant. Importantly, the representation of patient persuasion by a civilian authority is a much more sensible alternative to the the impatient force of militarism.

Perhaps it is no coincidence that the film was telecast on the eve of new elections in Iraq.

If I ever find the movie on DVD I would like to acquire it - if the price is reasonable. Unlikely on both counts in this neck of the woods.

© MMV Paul R. Weaver.

About the writer

Check out each month's subject index on the Calendar Page for my "common-man" monologues about survival in 21st century Australia – plus a little history occasionally. An original essay is added most days.

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