WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
First, the Recap:
Existing within a state of control. It can be argued that we as people want to be in the proverbial driver’s seat when it comes to our lives and those elements within it. Whether amongst family, friends, or perhaps more so in context of our jobs, we carry what makes us unique as a badge of honor we desire to uphold, though it still comes down as to whether for good or ill. But, how tedious can this become when the atmosphere around us seems utterly unsupportive, genuinely understanding, or remotely within our ability to manage?
Tasked with checking passengers through the luggage scanner in order to weed out possible issues with items being brought through, firm but humbly affable, strait-laced customs officer Hassan (Kiarash Dadgar) carries out his duties by the book and in the kindest manner as he can. With caring yet building frustrations at home on his mind, this particular day will see him put through a test of will, personal beliefs, and forced perspectives that not only reveal him as an individual, but also as an involuntary pawn to much larger, tainted, bureaucratic dogma.
Next, my Mind:
The seemingly unshakable, so often corrupt rigidity of unyielding authoritarian governance collides headlong with the tangibly present potency of empathic resistance, compassion, and yearning for freedom on multiple levels throughout this stirringly impactful and highly evocative short film arriving courtesy of writer/director/producer Tara Aghdashloo, producer Michelle Koerssen, co-producer Nedda Sarshar, plus executive producers Sam Cryer, Harland Weiss, Caterina Jackman, Jason Aita, Donovan M. Boden, Isil Gilderdale, Emily Harris, and Sahar Yousefi. Candidly exploring precisely how stifling, patriarchal, and deceptively “tolerant” being under a repressive ruling regime can be, not only for those who work within its structure but also from the standpoint of other citizens as well, the film hits you squarely and powerfully with its conscious-pricking, awareness-raising, steadfastly significant messages, shining a necessary light on that which needs to CHANGE.
Captured from the reality of one man’s thankless job he’s desperately attempting to maintain, the narrative follows a newer customs officer at an airport and the day he’s having that causes him to display both restrained and absolutely opposing mentalities when encountering the people and his bosses in the manner he does. What allows this film to convey all of its adept, intelligent, and strongly fervent themes IS the setting AND circumstances through which it all unfolds. Manifesting the stormy environment of monotony and basic impatience we’d expect on the whole, the narrative then combines it with a deftly executed blend of uncertainty, sense of duty, abject submission, understandable questioning, and deeply hesitant acceptance of what’s seen as “right” vs. one’s own ideologies/ethics and search for inward and outward liberation.
The imagery utilized here, especially with repeat focus, periodically, on the steady “flow” of the airport scanner’s well-worn belt adds a depth of symbolic, weighty, influential substance to the story, this unchanging force that just keeps moving regardless of what anyone might think, which this critic felt then made the lead character’s journey stand out more due to its ultimate “challenge” to this “authority” and those who represent it under whom we works for and is quietly but then conspicuously at odds with. It is also therefore what makes his associated actions in specific interactions likewise have more emphatic ramifications given the socio-political arena he inhabits at work AND in his overall existence, which, just like the scanner belt, has him utterly worn down to the point of almost blind obedience to even the most obviously iniquitous behavior of those in power.
How the narrative ends up being driven home during the film’s very astutely presented finale leaves that indelible impression on your mind that it SHOULD, as the greater comprehension of what it is to BE living within this kind of governmental system is imperative to me. It’s a view of things that makes you consider our own realization about freedom, leadership, and exactly HOW much we should be THANKFUL for the liberties we DO have here in the U.S. and other countries, regardless of what opinions about the state of things is present. It’s countries as seen in this film that I very much hope have the opportunity to FIND that deserved emancipation from tyranny in ANY form, so perhaps we can finally see how the world is meant for ALL PEOPLE to share, value, and ideally find unity in, ACCEPTING each other rather than being prisoner to those who only use power for THEIR idea of “control” and “the good of all” to THEIR benefit while others suffer.
Total believability and underlying fervency pair with grounded, understated, expressively engaging, wholly relatable vulnerability through Dadgar’s role as Hassan, a true “everyman” whose only goal is to find the means to provide for himself and his mother in the midst of a country facing almost insurmountable economic turmoil, ruled by an uncaring totalitarian government. Saddled out of necessity with a job that he desperately needs but clearly isn’t happy with, while also under the admonishing scrutiny of his superiors, Hassan’s day takes a myriad of turns that thrust him into situations his own sympathetic nature and sensibilities cause clashes with those above him, threatening to upend all he’s wanting to achieve while still being at the mercy of men possessing little soul, much less scruples.
How Hassan makes his way through this hurricane of apathy and enforced obedience while also wanting to just be the individual he really is both inspired yet heart-wrenching, and Dadgar’s performance encompasses the ebb and flow of emotional volatility beautifully and with utter credibility as indicated earlier. Primary supporting roles arrive first from
Amir Zavosh as Hassan’s immediate supervisor Reza, whose demeanor comes across as definitively uncompromising, even harsh, though he does so with SOME semblance of control yet still paints the portrait of a grander commitment to the deeply entrenched belief system he’s a part of holding himself and others to. Bahman Dadui is Bijan, an elderly man with whom Hassan has a very unique encounter with over the course of the day in question but one that impacts them both along the way. Armin Lou plays Arash, a passenger coming through Hassan’s checkpoint at the airport and who ends up under “examination” for a rather–odd– piece of insectoid artistry he’s trying to bring through. Peyman Shariati is Sarvan, Hassan’s ultimate manager who ends up showing Hassan a side of the workspace and job they’re in that will make Hassan question everything that both the job and he are about.
Leyla Shamshiri and Nikta Atapour play Nahid and Mina, a mother and daughter just trying to make their plane who get very undeserved treatment when trying to come through Hassan’s lane to save time, but get waylaid and deterred by the overtly patriarchal mindsets present, while then also being rushed when trying to HELP someone else in need. Farshideh Nasrin is Hassan’s long-suffering but so endearingly doting mother whose battle with an undisclosed illness combined with the lack of funds to refill her needed medicine drive Hassan forward to make ends meet and take care of her. Toomaj Danesh Behzadi is Qasemi, a VIP passenger who is another catalyst in Hassan’s day that illustrates the shadier side of the business affairs carried on in the job. Overall, it’s a superb ensemble cast that meshes together with well-earned chemistry and purpose, aiding in bringing all the facets and nuances of the narrative to affecting life.
Additional appearances are made by Banafsheh Taherian, Behnaz Yarkhani, Mehdi Slampoor, Kimia Kalantari, Rana Rahimpour, Camelia Ghazali, Pouya Hariri, Ashkan Vahedi, Navid Moatafaee, Reza Molaei, Morvarid Alinejad, Ali Imani, Ramin Rousta, Gita Khosronia, and Viona Moarefi. So, in total, “Empty Your Pockets” is an exposé that showcases the “Stay in line, shut up, do your job, and don’t make a fuss” autocratical mindset with unequivocal strength yet then tempers it with the seeds of personal revolution that combats the inflexible “standards” of a dictatorial leadership trying to suppress all that makes us HUMAN. May we not fail to firmly hold to our principles and have the willingness to fight, by LOGICALLY considered word and action, for what is authentically TRUE for ALL.
STAR RATING (out of 5):
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
