“When I was nine, my sister took me to the Shrine of Masumeh. It was beautiful. But I’ll never forget the smell. A mix of sweat, and the rosewater they showered down on the faithful. I used to think only the most pious carried that scent.”

In June of 2009, Iran held its tenth presidential election, where hardline incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was being challenged by more-moderate Independent Reformist candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi. London-based Newsweek correspondent Maziar Bahari (Gael García Bernal) decided to head back home to Tehran for a few days to visit his mother (Shohreh Aghdashloo) and cover the election. His cabbie, Davood (Dimitri Leonidas), is a Mousavi supporter, and Bahari is surprised by the young man’s candor and openness to be on camera proclaiming his displeasure with the current administration.

Riots break out after Ahmadinejad is declared the winner by a landslide—before the polls are even closed, and with Mousavi supporters seeming to be leading in the votes. During the chaos, Bahari catches unarmed rioters being shot on his camera, and sends this footage back to London. Soon after, he finds himself blindfolded, arrested and put in solitary confinement, accused of being a foreign spy on Iranian soil. For months he is mentally tortured by a man named Javadi (Kim Bodnia), who demands that Bahari sign a document admitting to being a spy. Bahari refers to the man as “Rosewater”, due to his scent.

Bahari just wants to get home to his pregnant wife (Claire Foy), but also wants to honor the memory of his dead father and sister, who both spent time in prison standing up for what they believed. Bahari’s father Baba Akbar (Haluk Bilginer) was tortured and died in the same prison years earlier, never giving in to the demands of his captors. Bahari tries to find the strength to make it through his ordeal by having conversations with his father, who tells him to never give in and stay his course. Bahari soon realizes that his captors are more afraid of him, than he is of them, and uses this to his advantage.

Rosewater is an inspiring, thought-provoking film about one man finding the inner-strength and courage to overcome adversity and injustice. Gael García Bernal gives an excellent, emotional performance. You really get a sense of Bahari’s inner-strength as he first finds inspiration from the “Dish University” folks and then from his father and sister, all of whom are willing to give up their lives for what they believe is right.

The film is visually stunning, capturing the atmosphere of Tehran at the time. The way the interrogation scenes are filmed give both drama, but also add a touch of humor as needed. And even the scenes with Bahari spending time in his stark white cell are both entertaining and captivating. Jon Stewart has done an excellent job in his directorial debut!

The Blu-ray looks really good, save for the scenes of seemingly-original footage mixed in. These don’t match the quality and clarity of the rest of the film.—it is unclear if this was stylistic choice to make the film seem more realistic, or if this is actual footage from 6 years ago. The audio track is more than sufficient, delivering clear dialogue, a beautiful score, and bringing the viewer into the chaos of the riots. The bonus features are really the only negative part of this Blu-ray presentation. All that is included are 5 under-a-minute publicity promos for the film. This being Jon Stewart’s directorial debut, I was shocked that there was no director’s commentary, or even interviews with Maziar Bahari himself. I would have liked to see some behind-the-scenes material, or some discussion of the political atmosphere surrounding the events of film.
 

What’s Included:

Film: (1:43:34)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

DVD:

• 480p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

Digital Copy (For redemption deadline see NBCUcodes.com):

• UltraViolet DigitalHD Copy redeemable via Universal, Flixster, Vudu or Target Ticket
• Digital Copy redeemable via iTunes or Windows Media

Extras:
Al collect of 5 extremely short promo pieces used to market the film:

• Iran’s Controversial Election (:48)
  Author/journalist Maziar Bahari and director/screenwriter Jon Stewart talk briefly about the controversy surrounding the results of the 2009 election in Iran.
• The Story of Maziar Bahari (:49)
  Director/screenwriter Jon Stewart talks about the premise of the film.
• Real Spies Have TV Shows (:49)
  Director/screenwriter Jon Stewart talks about how his Daily Show correspondent joking about being an American spy was used against Maziar.
• What Happens in New Jersey… (:51)
  Author/journalist Maziar Bahari talks about using the “massage” discussions to distract his interrogator.
• A Director’s Perspective (:51)
  Director/screenwriter Jon Stewart talks about what drew him to make the film, and his favorite moment.

Final Thoughts:

Rosewater is a well-acted, thought-provoking film based on the true story of a man who is unjustly imprisoned and mentally tortured, and must find the strength and resolve within himself to make it through the ordeal. The audio and visual presentation of the Blu-ray is well done, but the lack of bonus features may have viewers opting for a rental or lower-priced digital option. Either way, the film itself is certainly worth checking out.