Rosewater

2014
R
1h 43m

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

11K

YOUR RATING

A journalist covering the 2009 Iranian presidential election is captured and tortured for 118 days, believed to be a spy by his interrogator.

Play trailer2:26

14 Videos

46 Photos

Biography Drama

Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari is detained by Iranian forces who brutally interrogate him under suspicion that he is a spy.Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari is detained by Iranian forces who brutally interrogate him under suspicion that he is a spy.Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari is detained by Iranian forces who brutally interrogate him under suspicion that he is a spy.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

11K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination total

Videos14

Rosewater: Why Are You Afraid?

Clip 0:43

Rosewater: 72 Virgins

Photos46

+ 40

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Maziar Bahari was imprisoned, interrogated, and beaten in Iran for 118 days in 2009 on charges that he was attempting to stage the overthrow of the Iranian government. One of the pieces of "evidence" that Bahari's Iranian captors held against him as proof of his guilt was footage from a segment on The Daily Show (1996) in which he was interviewed by Jason Jones pretending to be a spy. During the sketch, Bahari called Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, an "idiot". After he was released, Bahari was interviewed on "The Daily Show" by Jon Stewart, who discussed the role that the show had (inadvertently) played in his imprisonment. Stewart and Bahari became friendly, and Stewart decided to adapt Bahari's 2011 book "Then They Came for Me: A Family's Story of Love, Captivity and Survival" (co-written with Aimee Molloy) into a screenplay.

Goofs
The "You're not alone" writing Maziar leaves on the wall near the end of the movie, changes when the next prisoner enters the cell.

Quotes
[last lines]
Maziar Bahari: [narrating] Finally, I was free. But my joy is tempered by those I left behind. People who did not have the advantage of international attention. Country men and women whose only crime against the state is not believing in its perfection. And the acolytes, those without imagination, those who even in my confinement were more alone and afraid than I. Because in their hearts, they know they cannot win.

Connections
Featured in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Anne Hathaway/Gael García Bernal/Madison Bumgarner/Stevie Nicks (2014)

Soundtracks
New Bloom
Written by Mahdyar Aghajani
Performed by Mahdyar Aghajani

User reviews42

Review

Featured review

7/10

Fact based story of Iranian injustice

Based on the book 'And then they came for me' by Maziar Bahari who is a London based Iranian journalist. Both his father and sister were victims of the State. First under the Shah and then the Ayatollah's both for being Communists.

He travelled to Iran to cover the elections of 2009; the results were wildly contested by the public and international media – seeing them as rigged. Bahari covered the subsequent rioting and the lethal clamp down by the Iranian forces and got the news out; this is a country where the State controls all aspects of life including access to satellite programmes, books and news. For that he was arrested and tortured; this is his story.

This film was made by Jon Stewart who interviewed Bahari for a spoof he did on his show. That footage was used to try to prove Bahari was a spy for the corrupt West. Gael Garcia Bernal stars as Bahari and as always puts in a superb performance – he is one of my favourite actors so I am a bit biased. This is a film that takes its time but it manages to still be hard hitting enough to have the impact I feel it was aiming for. It uses genuine footage as well to recreate the times and it a better watch for it. One for fans of World cinema that is easy to recommend.