A gritty drama about a real-life Iranian serial killer titled Holy Spider, stunned the Cannes Film Festival, earning a thunderous seven-minute standing ovation and bringing a jolt of electricity to what’s been a sleepy festival so far.
The film, from Iranian-Danish director Ali Abbasi, chronicles a killing spree in the streets of the religious city of Mashhad, where 16 prostitutes were found dead from 2000 to 2001.
The film, which was shot in Jordan, will certainly provoke a response from the Iranian government for its depiction of a bare-breasted woman in an opening scene as well as featuring multiple sex scenes. In Iran, movies are not allowed to feature such images, which Abbasi alluded to in brief remarks at the premiere.
“This means a lot for us,” the director said.
“This means a lot to my fantastic team, my crew, my actors. But it’s also a great day for Iranian cinema. There’s finally at least one movie where women actually have bodies, where they don’t sleep with their headscarves on.” To loud applause from inside the Palais, he referenced how so many Iranians at the time sided with the serial killer in the case.
“And in the past 20 years, I always thought of a huge injustice that has been against the real victims of this story,” Abbasi said.
Holy Spider is one of two Iranian movies playing in competition in Cannes. The other is Saeed Roustaee’s Leila’s Brothers.—IANS
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