A Brief Review of Babak Jalali’s film “Fremont”
By Mountain Shadow Director,
John Bennison

For a chuckle, a film society member recently sent me the cartoon shared below. It’s not an uncommon occurrence with audience members leaving one of our unique monthly selections! Recall our August film, “Unrest.” A 19th century Swiss watch factory worker gets involved in a labor dispute, while she delicately installs the ‘unrest wheel’ in a timepiece that makes the whole mechanism work. I called the whole allegorical tale a “cinematic metaphor.” A puzzle, leaving it to the viewer to sort out.

This month it’s “Fremont.” A British filmmaker, born in Northern Iran, spins the story of a female Afghan translator for the U.S. who immigrates to America. She settles in Fremont, California (the largest Afghan community in the U.S.); and ends up working in a Chinese fortune cookie factory. You might say you can’t make this stuff up. But then again, the human tale about displacement and longing of the heart for a home – this time filmed in black and white to perhaps suggest its timeless quality -- is a universal plot line that bears repeating and remembering.

In addition to my brief remarks, I’m including (with their permission) two Mountain Shadow member’s reviews of this film; who recently saw it elsewhere in the Bay Area before we’d announced booking the film for our audience:

“I would not spend one minute regretting having booked this lovely film for Mountain Shadow, despite its rather limited commercial opening in the East Bay. It’s a wonderful story about the modern immigrant experience - what it’s like to be an outsider and all of the guilt that comes with being a survivor of horrific events beyond one’s control. The film is driven more by dialogue and character study, than by any action. The cinematography is very evocative of the settings, and we loved the way they let the camera rest upon our heroine’s face as it betrayed and expressed the turmoil she was feeling within.” - Andy

“In addition to Andy’s comments - we loved the terrific acting and enjoyed the humor (the interactions with the therapist, in particular). We sent friends to see it and they loved it also.” – Susan