TOeven if the Ukrainian Russian war blurs everything else, this does not mean that everything that happens in other parts of the world should be forgotten. This is the case of Iran, the homeland of Mohammad Rasoulofdirector of the film Evil does not exist; I tell about how each company applies it death penalty need people to kill other people.
There are countries, in fact, that have lived in war for decades. Countries where i fundamental rights are constantly being trampled on. Countries where the freedom of expression was canceled. By questioning on the limits and possibilities to which individual freedom is subject, Evil does not exist impeaches a despotic regime. Raising universal moral questions that require profound reflection.
Evil does not exist: the plot
Mohammad Rasoulof it does it through four touching variations on the theme crucial to moral strength and the ability to oppose the apparently inevitable threats of a coercive political system.
Four storiesdramatically and inexorably connected, which place their protagonists in front of an unthinkable, albeit simple, choice. A choice thatin any case, it will deeply corrode their lives and, consequently, that of the people close to them.
The 40 year old Heshmat (Ehsan Mirhosseini), exemplary husband and father, he is a generous and easygoing man with everyonebut he does a mysterious job for which he leaves the house every night. Pouya (Kaveh Ahangar) has recently started military service and immediately finds himself facing a dramatic choice: how to obey an order from superiors against one’s will. Javad (Mohammad Valizadegan) is a young soldier who conquers at a high price three days’ license to go back to his fiancée’s country, and ask her in marriage. Bharam (Mohammad Seddighimehr) is a doctor banned from the profession, who finally decides to reveal to his niece a painful secret that has accompanied him for twenty years.
Amnesty International: a film that shakes the conscience
Promoted by Satine Film with the patronage of Amnesty International, Evil does not exist it is a film that shakes the conscience. And pur if the stories are set in Iranian society and originated from its ruthless repressive mechanisms, the events deeply touch the history of each of us.
«In authoritarian states, the only purpose of the law is the preservation of the state and not the facilitation of relationships between people»Explained director Mohammad Rasoulof. “I come from such a state. And so, driven by personal experiences, I wanted to tell stories who wondered: as responsible citizens we have a choice in applying the inhuman orders of despots? To what extent must we as human beings be held accountable for our fulfillment of those orders? ‘
“In a society where human rights are not protected, their violation hangs over people’s lives and relationships between people” is the comment of Riccardo Noury, Spokesperson for Amnesty International Italy. «The four stories of Evil does not exist dramatically illustrate this conditioning.
But they tell us, above all, how in the face of human rights violationsamong which, in this case, the most extreme, namely the death penalty, remains the possibility of an individual choice. You can say yes, you can say no. The consequences, in either case, will never be painless“.
The death penalty in Iran
If we exclude China, which does not provide official data on the death sentences carried out, Iran is permanently the first state in the world for the number of executions. There were over 250 in 2021 and in the first month of 2022 already at least 46. According to the non-governmental organization Iran Human Rightspartner of Amnesty International, more than 6,400 prisoners have been executed since 2010.
These numbers are frightening and, moreover, they must be considered with some caution, since not all executions are officially communicated. And for the local human rights organizationsrebuilding those that take place in secret is always a very difficult job.
Death penalty also for minors
Almost all executions involve prisoners convicted of murder or drug offenses but, in recent years, they have also been put to death political activists and members of ethnic minorities. The trials are hasty and summary, sometimes based on confessions extracted through torture in the initial phase of prison isolation immediately after arrest.
Iran remains the only state in the world to put minors to death at the time of the offense, in violation of international law which prohibits the death sentence of offenders under the age of 18: there have been 65 such executions since 2010.
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