rhorton3 After sitting through this film, I have to wonder if the many accolades and awards this movie has received are a case of the Emperor's New Clothes; i.e., it's Iranian, so it must be good no matter what it really looks like. The film plods along at an agonizingly slow pace. Many shots are several minutes in length with little movement. But instead of making a point, these scenes just feel as if the Director was trying to find a way to stretch out the film. (The filmaker's equivalent of using 14 point font on a term paper.) At one point a scene with significance for future scenes is shot from such a distance that the people are mere specks and you are left spending the next ten minutes trying to figure the major plot hole this long distance scene just created.Nearly all the scenes amount to obvious, and vaguely preachy metaphors about the importance of voting. Instead of letting a scene speak for itself, the woman vote collector has to make some preachy statement every time. Even more grating, the soldier accompanying the vote collector speaks ever single line in a monotone as if he is reading his lines off a cue card. This film is billed as a comedy, yet there is nothing remotely funny in the 100 minutes of the film.Perhaps much of the humor and nuances of language are lost in a poor translation from Farsi. However, after seeing and being highly impressed by "Kandahar", I tend to think this is just not a good film.Save your money and 100 minutes of your life for something more worthwhile than this film.

tonebone I thought I'd add another comment to the mix of comments made about this film, which is that this film also tackles the issue of Iran's treatment of its Arab minority. This minority lives primarily in a western province called khuzestan (borders w/iraq), and along the western coastline, where the island portrayed in the movie happens to lie.Most of the local inhabitants that the election official meets speak Arabic, some dont even speak Farsi (like the man in Granny Naghoo's compound). Being semitic, they have different physical appearances from the iranians, who are indo-european. And their customs are more similar to the arabs on the arab side of the persian gulf.In addition to making points about democracy and about gender issues, Secret Ballot is also about the distance of Iran's central government from its Arab minority, seeming to be out of touch with their customs, their concerns, and their issues.Incidentally, this theme of how Iran deals with its minorities is also addressed in Baran (Majid Majidi), but in that case it's about Iran's Afghan minority.Congratulations to Babak Payami for a wonderful little gem of a movie.

Red-125 Comments to be checked and sent for approval Possible spelling mistakes: Raye makhfi Babak Payami Abidi Nassim Abdi Please return to the edit window (or use the BACK option if this isn't a new window) to return to the previous page in order to make corrections.Your comments will be displayed as follows: Please remember to hit the button below to actually send the comments!Red-125 Upstate New YorkDate: 12 May 2003 Summary: Not really a comedy--democracy starts here.Secret Ballot [Raye makhfi (2001)]is another Iranian film about a strong, determined young woman. As written and directed by Babak Payami, the film is far more than a comedy. This movie takes us through a day on an almost- deserted island, where two bored soldiers are stationed on the beach to watch for smugglers.Suddenly a large box is dropped by parachute. Inside are a ballot box and orders directing the soldiers to accompany and assist an election agent. The soldier--played well by Cyrus Abidi--is astonished when he learns the agent is a woman. Nassim Abdi, who plays the agent, has a difficult part, made more difficult by the fact that she must communicate her emotions to the viewer while swathed in the forbidding garments required for women--even election agents-- in this Muslim land.The plot of the film involves the interaction between the agent and the potential voters she meets on the island, as well as her interaction with the young soldier.The Secret Ballot is an intensely moving, sometimes humorous, sometimes sad movie. Secret Ballot is not your lightweight Hollywood road movie. It is a glimpse into another culture, and into the hearts and minds of two people who are doing their best to lead moral and productive lives in a situation where this goal is not easy to accomplish.

CineRobot I liked Secret ballot. It's similar to most Iranian films (even though it was written/directed by an Iranian/Canadian from Toronto) as it takes this wildly simplistic idea and then forms a story around it.Secret Ballot is about a lot of things: the chaotic election process in Iran, the women/men relationships there, the isolation of rural areas and the role of women in Iranian society. That's four, you could probably find more if you wanted. A woman college age shows up at an outpost remote from cities and people and takes a sloth like soldier along looking for people willing to vote. It's harder to find voters than she thinks it might be as a lot of folks just don't want anything to do w/ the woman or casting a vote for the democracy that she touts ceaselessly. Secret Ballot has a good deal of sly, quiet moments and its this intelligent astuteness that I liked the most about it. I also enjoyed the harsh, remote terrain the film is set. The entire cast is full of non-pros who have never acted before and they do a fine job and are natural throughout. I especially liked the soldier who seems almost catatonic he's so slow talking. This is a very typical Iranian film: simple, slowish, extremely long and drawn out takes and full of non actors and real people. Plus it's a sly satire that has its own charms.