THE INSANE FLEW AWAY / ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST

Iran, 2002, 120 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Ahmed Raza Motamedi.

This is a very complex and serious film. However, the plot is so complicated, the ideas discussed so dense, that it makes great demands on its audience simply to understand the characters and follow the plot.

It opens with a young woman, Yalda, wanting to get a divorce from her husband who has been injured in the war with Iraq and has only one leg. He is accused of bursting into blind fury which he cannot remember. Yalda's step-uncle pressurises her to get the divorce. The judge allows them ten days before making his decision. The injured man makes an appeal to the lawyer and they begin to investigate documents concerning family deals, property, Yalda's ailing father, the role of her step-uncle, and a doctor who becomes more and more sinister as the film goes on.

The film shows crime in Iran, using some of the techniques of the thriller as well as of the romance. The central character, the injured man, is a victim, while trying to use his friends to seek the truth. This involves scenes in an asylum, in offices, violence on the streets. Ultimately those who wield evil power conquer and the central character is beaten and rendered brain-dead. Yalda, who has attempted suicide, is able to get her father overseas for an operation, sees through the people plotting against her, comes to the aid of her husband - but finding him mentally dead, shoots him.

The film is an exploration of power in an Iranian context - and is grim entertainment.