Jon Stewart has had a long career as a writer and performer, almost all in the realm of comedy. When he made the jump to hosting THE DAILY SHOW on Comedy Central, Stewart became much more active in the political realm as he was also regarded as an important voice, satirical or otherwise, in the realm of news and journalism. Last year, Stewart took a hiatus from THE DAILY SHOW to make his directorial debut with the film ROSEWATER.
I did not know what to expect from Jon Stewart as a writer or filmmaker, but now that the full trailer for ROSEWATER has been released, I have to say I am very impressed. Despite the cliche on screen text and editing of the trailer, ROSEWATER looks like a damn impressive movie with a gut-wrenching performance from Gael Garcia Bernal.
Rosewater is based on the best-selling memoir by Maziar Bahari. The film is the directorial debut of Jon Stewart, and stars Gael García Bernal. Rosewater follows the Tehran-born Bahari, a journalist with Canadian citizenship. In June 2009, Bahari returned to Iran to interview Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who was the challenger to president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. As Mousavi’s supporters protested Ahmadinejad’s victory declaration hours before the polls closed, Bahari endured personal risk by sending footage of the street riots to the BBC. Bahari was arrested by police, led by a man identifying himself as “Rosewater,” who tortured and interrogated him over the next 118 days. With Bahari’s wife leading an international campaign to have her husband freed, and media outlets keeping the story alive, Iranian authorities released Bahari on bail and the promise he would act as a spy for the government.
Much of the film looks to take place in a few rooms as Bernal’s character is persecuted as a potential spy. There doesn’t look to be much new ground broken here by Stewart, but the story looks incredibly powerful and may get some recognition come awards season.
ROSEWATER will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival next week and in theaters everywhere on November 7, 2014.