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MOVIES / ON DVD / SECRET BALLOT
Secret Ballot

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Secret Ballot (2002)

84%
81%
100%
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84 %
Reviews Counted: 57 Fresh: 48  Rotten:9 Average Rating: 7.1/10
 
Consensus: A moderately funny comedy that will reward patient viewers. A moderately funny comedy that will reward patient viewers. more
 
Rated: G
Runtime: 2 hrs 3 mins
Theatrical Release: Aug 9, 2002 Limited
Synopsis:
Iranian-Canadian filmmaker Babak Payami (ONE MORE DAY) looks at the problems of bringing democracy to Iran in this political and cultural satire, which could almost be called "neo-surrealist" in tone. The film begins with a ballot box being dropped from an airplane onto a desert island off... [More]
Iranian-Canadian filmmaker Babak Payami (ONE MORE DAY) looks at the problems of bringing democracy to Iran in this political and cultural satire, which could almost be called "neo-surrealist" in tone. The film begins with a ballot box being dropped from an airplane onto a desert island off the coast of Iran, terrifying a soldier stationed there who thinks it's a bomb. Another soldier (Cyris Abidi) has orders to accompany the arriving agent who will collect the votes, and he's shocked to realize his charge is an educated, freethinking young woman (Nassim Abidi) from the city. During their long, argumentative day together, the pair run up against all sorts of reactions to this strange new electoral procedure, from fear, to jubilation, to utter indifference. Payami, working from an idea by Moshen Makhmalbaf (KANDAHAR), lets the action unfold in long takes, allowing Abidi to develop her character as more than just a symbol of progress as she patiently deals with the suspicious (and occasionally overexcited) island populace. A cautiously hopeful tale of democracy entering a restrictive society, SECRET BALLOT also serves as a sly commentary on the unconquerable cultural divide between Western and Middle-Eastern ways of thinking. [Less]

Genre: Foreign Films

Starring: Nassim Abdi, Cyrus Ab, Youssef Habashi, Farrokh Sho, Gholbahar Janghali

Director: Babak Payami
Screenwriter: Babak Karimi
Producer: Babak Payami, Marco Muller

DVD Info

Release:

Jan 7, 2003

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Widescreen

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - English

Additional Release Material:

  • Trailer

Interactive Features:

  • Interactive Menus
  • Scene Selection

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
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12/30/06 06:30 AM
Empire Magazine
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02/09/06 03:17 AM
Derek Adams
Time Out
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No review available.

| Comment
07/04/05 05:12 AM
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
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Long, still vistas . . . nicely surreal . . . some hard questions about faith and democracy, law and lawlessness, acting for the common good.

Full Review | Comment
12/01/03 03:50 PM
Brian Gibson
Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada)
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For those still feeling burned by the heat generated from our own presidential election, Secret Ballot may be just the thing to put it all in perspective.

Full Review | Comment
11/06/03 05:18 PM
Mike Pinsky
Daily-Reviews
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The sophistication of the Western democratic machinery seems absurd and its elaborate schemes for representation unreal by comparison.

Full Review | Comment
08/01/03 07:40 AM
Moira Sullivan
FilmFestivals.com
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Interessante filme que mostra a realidade política e social no Irã, o autoritarismo com relação às mulheres e as contradições de um país governado pela religiosidade.

| Comment
07/25/03 11:29 PM
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena
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05/14/03 05:22 PM
Jeanne Aufmuth
Palo Alto Weekly
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As in practically all Iranian films the cast here is made up of nonprofessionals, and they do themselves a good turn as genuine and marvelously well-conceived characters.

Full Review | Comment
01/15/03 12:14 PM
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
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A solid, well-formed satire.

Full Review | Comment
01/06/03 09:58 PM
David Cornelius
eFilmCritic.com
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Slow, simple, quiet and intriguing. Payami investigates possibilities, and his curiosity carries us along.

Full Review | Comment
11/05/02 06:29 AM
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
UK Critic
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10/21/02 08:10 AM
Jean Lowerison
San Diego Metropolitan
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'...[A] contemplation of the significance, absurdities and/or insignificance of the electoral process...[however] Payami gets his point across long before the film ends, with a message that can’t help but hit us over the head...'

Full Review | Comment
10/16/02 02:11 PM
Anita Schmaltz
Metro Times (Detroit, MI)
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10/11/02 08:11 AM
Arizona Republic
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The locations go from stark desert to gorgeous beaches. The story plays out slowly, but the characters are intriguing and realistic.

Full Review | Comment
10/11/02 06:46 AM
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com
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10/02/02 01:55 PM
Guardian [UK]
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A real winner -- smart, funny, subtle, and resonant.

Full Review | Comment
09/22/02 08:10 AM
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle
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Secret Ballot is a funny, puzzling movie ambiguous enough to be engaging and oddly moving.

Full Review | Comment
09/20/02 07:01 PM
Kim Morgan
Oregonian
N/R

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09/17/02 08:10 AM
FilmFour.com
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A psychic journey deep into the very fabric of Iranian ... life.

Full Review | Comment
09/13/02 02:19 PM
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
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