Not one of Abbas Kiarostami's best works among his 18 feature films. This was his fourth film made before the Islamic revolution. Therefore, you see women with uncovered heir, men wearing neckties, and men drinking beer and vodka in small pubs in Iran.
The film can be split into two halves. The first deals with corruption in collection of property taxes in the Shah ruled Iran's Ministry of Finance with the junior administrators demanding bribes from the public, drinking tea rather than doing productive work, with suggestions of immoral night life activity of the clerks, along with gambling dens/casinos. Was it director Dariush Mehrjui playing a slot machine at a casino smoking a cigarette without saying a word with the "The Report's" lead actor Kurosh Afsharpanah requesting a light from him? The sequence is not very short, it seemed to have been added with some reason by the director. Was Kiarostami trying to say something?
The second half of the film deals with the breaking family life of the corrupt young clerk in the Ministry of Finance. The wife is played by the beautiful and talented Shohreh Agdashloo. who left Iran to work and live in USA. She was rewarded with an Oscar nomination for her role In "The House of Sand and Fog." In many ways, the actress is the highlight of the film, representing the intelligent, morally upright and domestically abused women in many parts of the Muslim world. She plays a character opposite of what her husband represents, abusive, corrupt and irresponsible individuals who want to get easy money without working hard and adopting high and mighty attitudes towards their superiors who are just. This second half allows Kiarostami's original screenplay to discuss the problems of the elderly folks in Iranian families (during a car conversation) , The rising cost of imported cars from Europe in Iran are discussed. Also stated is the importance of being honest and being respected for money earned honestly.
A film with an open ending. But the title of the Film "The Report" is incongruous with tale of the film.
