''Rosewater'' is a 2014 American political drama film written, directed and produced by

Jon Stewart Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, political commentator, and television host. He hosted ''The Daily Show'', a satirical news program on Comedy Central, from 1999 to 2015 and now hosts ''Th ...

, based on the memoir ''

Then They Came for Me ''Then They Came for Me: A Family's Story of Love, Captivity, and Survival'' is a memoir by Iranian Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari with Aimee Molloy, chronicling Bahari's family history, and his arrest and 118-day imprisonment following the 200 ...

'' by Maziar Bahari and Aimee Molloy. 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. 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 The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

. The film was released in theaters on November 14, 2014. The film received generally positive reviews for Bernal's performance, Stewart's direction, and its timely themes, but was criticized for its screenplay.

Plot

In 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 Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

interview with Jason Jones of '' The Daily Show''. While his pregnant fiancée waits for him, Bahari spends 118 days at Evin Prison being brutally interrogated. Bahari is usually blindfolded while being interrogated, and his interrogator's sole distinguishing feature is that he smells of

rosewater Rose water ( fa, گلاب) is a flavoured water made by steeping rose petals in water. It is the hydrosol portion of the distillate of rose petals, a by-product of the production of rose oil for use in perfume. Rose water is also used to flavour ...

Cast

* Gael García Bernal as Maziar Bahari, a journalist who was interrogated and tortured over 118 days in Iran * Claire Foy as Paola Gourley * Kim Bodnia as "Rosewater" *

Haluk Bilginer Nihat Haluk Bilginer (; born 5 June 1954) is a Turkish actor. In addition to his acting career in Turkey, he has also worked in the United Kingdom and remains best known for his role as Mehmet Osman in the television soap opera ''EastEnders'' ...

as Baba Akbar * Shohreh Aghdashloo as Moloojoon *

Dimitri Leonidas Dimitri Leonidas (born 14 November 1987) is an English actor, best known for his roles in ''The Monuments Men'', '' Rosewater'' and ''Riviera''. Early life Leonidas was born on 14 November 1987 in Brent, London, the son of a Greek Cypriot fath ...

as Davood * Golshifteh Farahani as Maryam * Arian Moayed as Hamid * Amir El-Masry as Alireza * Jason Jones as himself

Production

''Rosewater'' was filmed in Jordan, with footage from Iran, between June and mid-August 2013. It had a budget of $5–10 million.The Guardian film blog
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Release

On July 31, 2014, it was announced that the film would be released on November 7, 2014. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on August 29, 2014, and it was screened in the Special Presentations section of the

2014 Toronto International Film Festival The 39th annual Toronto International Film Festival, the 39th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held in Canada from 4–14 September 2014. David Dobkin's film '' The Judge'', starring Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duv ...

in September 2014.

Reception

Box office

''Rosewater'' grossed $3.2 million. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $1.2 million from 371 theaters, finishing 13th at the box office.

Critical reception

''Rosewater'' 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." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 67 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

References

External links

* * * * * * {{The Daily Show 2014 films 2010s political drama films American political drama films 2010s English-language films Drama films based on actual events Films based on memoirs Films set in 1980 Films set in 2009 Films set in London Films set in Tehran Films shot in Jordan American independent films Political films based on actual events Open Road Films films Busboy Productions Films produced by Scott Rudin Films directed by Jon Stewart 2014 directorial debut films 2014 drama films Films scored by Howard Shore 2010s American films