'Rosewater' offers a sincere, intriguing portrayal of a political prisoner

In a powerful scene from the second act of "Rosewater," where the film’s protagonist, from within his solitary confinement cell, imagines a Leonard Cohen song and finds himself dancing. At this point, he has been imprisoned for months and interrogated relentlessly for a confession. He is routinely deprived of his senses, blindfolded whenever taken out of his cell and only ever given small amounts of tasteless food. But, in that one moment, he enjoys a brief respite of resistance, finding music within himself even when he is allowed none. There are a few hopeful, joyous moments like this one scattered throughout "Rosewater" that demonstrate how powerful it can be to tell meaningful stories through film, even in a film that often feels lightweight.

The story at hand is that of Maziar Bahari (Gael Garcia Bernal), an Iranian-Canadian journalist who was imprisoned while covering the protests that unfolded after the controversial 2009 presidential election in Iran for Newsweek. Bahari was held largely in solitary confinement in a state prison in Tehran for 118 days, accused of being an American spy. As one would expect, the subject of "Rosewater" is in many ways the strength and resilience that Bahari displayed, but the film is just as much about how much he falters and stumbles. It is also, in part, about the people that he meets -- the young activists who encourage him to scratch under the surface, the interrogator whose rosewater perfume gives the film its name and dead family members who return to him as ghostly and hallucinatory guardians.

"Rosewater" is Jon Stewart’s first film as a director and writer, yielding a sincere, earnest and narrow treatment of this powerful story. The film’s 103 minutes go by quickly, as it has a very clear structure: the first act focuses on Bahari’s interactions with the local activists that he meets as the post-election protests unfold, and the second and third take us into the depths of his days in prison. While the source material, Bahari’s 2011 book "Then They Came for Me," weaves his account with the stories of his late father and sister’s experiences as political prisoners, Stewart focuses the film on Bahari’s individual perspective and experiences throughout.

This narrow focus can sometimes make the weight of the story feel inconsequential, but more often it reflects a sense of humility on both Stewart and Bahari’s parts. While Bahari’s experience is representative of much broader issues -- the Ayatollah’s regime, youth activism in Iran, political imprisonment of journalists worldwide -- Stewart and Bahari understand that they are both, to varying degrees, outsiders with access to only a slice of the story. Truly, the two minds behind this film are journalists: "Rosewater" often feels more like an emphatic account of a single set of experiences, designed to alert its audience of greater issues but never claiming authority over them.

Stewart and Bahari first encountered each other when a correspondent for "The Daily Show" interviewed Bahari for a parody segment about American spies in Iran. The interview was played for Bahari during his imprisonment and was used to interrogate him further. These events unfold in the film as well, signaling a refreshing humor. Stewart’s eye as a filmmaker is particularly suited to capturing and portraying how Bahari found humor out of the absurdity of his imprisonment and used it to withstand isolation and sensory deprivation. The comedic moments of "Rosewater" are flashes of genius in an eloquent but restrained film.

While this is a political film that has a clear agenda, it does not aspire to educate its audience about its wider political context in the way that English-language films set in foreign countries, such as "Argo" (2012) or "The Last King of Scotland" (2006), often do. The ideology of the film is easily digestible but also very narrow, openly and clearly crafted to use Bahari’s work to support imprisoned journalists worldwide. While an effort to better elucidate the complex politics of Iran would have contextualized and deepened this story, it is refreshing to see a film that is aware of its limits. Perhaps Bahari’s story will be retold on a wider canvas someday, but "Rosewater" is not that film, nor does it try to be.

In Stewart’s hands, Bahari’s story is distilled to a straightforward narrative, one that is ultimately powerful enough to carry "Rosewater," and the sense of humility and humor that push the movie forward. This may not be a revolutionary or ambitious film, but it is an admirably and refreshingly sincere one.