Holy Spider

Langreview English Version Fakten & Credits

Similar to how the Basic Law determines jurisdiction in Germany, Sharia law applies in many northern and eastern African states as well as in western and southern Asia. This is based on the religious principles of Islam, whereby the Islamic god Allah is declared to be the supreme legislator and defines the behaviour and norms. Criticism is voiced time and again, especially from Europe and America, because people in the countries concerned are denied many rights of freedom. After the death of Jina Mahsa Amini, who was arrested and mistreated by the morality police because her headscarf was not put on according to the Iranian dress code, massive protests developed worldwide against the women’s rights situation on the ground. According to recent figures, the resistance led to the deaths of 574 people.^[1] Just hours before this review was published, many Hollywood stars such as Bryan Cranston, Cate Blanchett, Jason Momoa, Jurnee Smollett and Olivia Wilde spoke out for an end to the brutal crackdown under the hashtag #StopExecutionsInIran.

These dramas only emerged after the completion of Ali Abbasi’s HOLY SPIDER, which feeds into the issue based on a real-life case from the 00s and deals with the prohibition of prostitution in its broadest sense. After the film was screened and acclaimed at the Cannes Film Festival, lead actress Zar Amir-Ebrahimi and director Ali Abbasi were labelled blasphemous by Iranian officials, calling the work shameless obscenity. This happened especially because Abbasi has now lived in Europe for more than 20 years and started his film career here. Known for the extremely bizarre film BORDER, Abbasi had developed a desire to develop a feature film about the mass murderer Saeed Hanaei based on the documentary AND ALONG CAME A SPIDER. Unusually, the film is on the Oscar® shortlist for Denmark, as the work was developed from there, even though it could otherwise be considered an entirely Iranian film.

Here’s what it’s about

Iranian journalist Rahimi becomes aware of a series of murders in which the victims are all prostitutes in the second most populous city in Iran. She immediately starts investigating and soon finds out that she is more or less alone. The local police are not very interested in catching the murderer, and local residents are more inclined to celebrate the perpetrator as a hero. Meanwhile, the serial killer Saeed is not particularly anxious to cover his tracks in a perfectionist way and enjoys the sudden reputation he now enjoys, unbeknownst to him. Titled as a kind of saviour who frees the city from the “filth of society” and is thus on a divine mission, it becomes more and more Saeed’s mission in life to clean up the city. Under these circumstances, can Rahimi even succeed in arresting him and ensuring that he receives his appropriate punishment?

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Review

HOLY SPIDER is an absolute surprise hit of Danish cinema and proves once again that directors practising in Scandinavia have a knack for exciting and hard-to-digest crime thrillers. If we look at this work independently of the aforementioned real basis, we experience a multi-faceted and shocking story that can even be attributed to neo-noir in some respects. With a rather dignified narrative style, Abbasi manages to create a unifying feeling for perpetrator and victim, so that incomprehension and comprehensibility are surprisingly close to each other. The plot is told equally from the perspective of the murderer Saeed as well as that of the journalist Rahimi, creating a constantly interesting manhunt.

The complexity of the film is distinguished by the fact that it functions both as an independent crime thriller and as a historical reappraisal. Unfortunately, however, it is not made clear that the series of murders actually existed in this way and did not originate in fiction. A corresponding reference or an appropriate context would therefore have been very pleasant. At the same time, a comprehensive critique of the Iranian women’s rights situation is formulated, which, at least from a Western point of view, seems absolutely important and appropriate and, in view of the protests there, will probably also make people sit up and take notice. According to Abbasi, however, this work was not intended to make a political statement against the Iranian government, even though such an association can hardly be avoided. Rather, he wants to draw attention to the fact that there is a “dehumanisation of entire groups of people […] in varying degrees” throughout the world.

Challenges of our time

Religious fanaticism is taken to extremes in this example and human cruelty is presented in all its abysses. In addition to the witch hunt, we also have to endure the corruption of the judiciary. Even though it is questionable for a long time how the title is supposed to relate to what is shown, a clear meaning develops over time: all levels of a disgusting society are interwoven and supported by a reactionary system. Away from this interpretation, only a bird’s-eye camera shot points out that the holy city is also constructed in a cobweb-like structure.

Why does he have to play the hero?Holy Spider

Most notable is the acting of Zar Amir-Ebrahimi, who was not supposed to be in this film at all and was now even given the lead role. She was originally responsible for casting and had chosen another woman as the protagonist in this capacity, but had to step in at short notice when the actress withdrew for fear of taking off her hijab. This unplanned change is not felt in the film, however, and she manages not only to create an authentic image of an Iranian journalist, but also to paint a misanthropic picture vis-à-vis the misogynistic society of the holy city of Mashhad. It is wonderful to see that Sara Fazilat, who was last seen as a journalist in TAUSEND ZEILEN and also has an Iranian background, also got a role in this film, even if it is rather small.

Conclusion

With HOLY SPIDER, Iranian-Danish director Ali Abbasi skilfully dances back and forth between a conventional but effective crime thriller and a historical, slightly documentary drama. In doing so, he not only succeeds in creating an interesting and gripping story structure, which is of course based on a real-life model, but above all in opening up a comprehensive level of meaning that brings with it plenty of material for discussion and thematically could hardly be more topical. In the process, one really overlooks the fact that lead actress Zar Amir-Ebrahimi was merely a stopgap. European cinema has never been as West Asian as it is here, and at the same time it reopens the debate as to whether it is appropriate for Western values to judge Islamic social orders. In any case, HOLY SPIDER belongs on every watchlist and, given the subject matter, is a serious contender in the race for this year’s Oscar®.

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