Mark Reviews Movies: A MAN OF INTEGRITY

A Man of Integrity, Big World Pictures

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Review by Mark Dujsik | June 23, 2022

Reza (Reza Akhlaghirad), the main and ostensibly the eponymous character of A Man of Integrity, just wants to be left alone to be a husband to his wife, raise his son, and do his work in peace. That's why he came to this village in Iran, after some years of living, studying, and working Tehran. He breeds goldfish in a large, manmade pond outside his farmhouse, and that's more than enough for the kind of life he wants.

Then, a private company decides that it wants Reza's land. That's the end of Reza's quiet life and, on account of just how corrupt so many parts of the society around him are, any hope for the peace he desires.

That's the simple setup of writer/director Mohammad Rasoulof's film, which plays as a low-key thriller about an ordinary man being cornered by forces beyond his influence and, on a more human level, a tragedy about what fear, helplessness, and hopelessness can do to a person. Like other Iranian filmmakers, Rasoulof clearly has little patience for institutions that exert so much control and contain any hint of opposition (Even though this story is primarily about the malfeasance of a private enterprise and exclusively about corruption on a local level, his film was banned within his homeland, by the way).

The twist of sorts here is that those institutions are not faceless, encroaching entities of bureaucratic, authoritarian, and moralistic power. They have representatives with names, simple motives, and even families. If one looks at them and their deeds long enough, the act of fighting that power can become akin to looking in a mirror.

Reza doesn't think much of his decision not to bribe the officials at a local bank to delay payments on a loan—so much so that he goes about his business as if nothing has changed. He and his wife Hadis (Soudabeh Beizaee), the head teacher at a local school, are financially struggling, but Reza is convinced that will change, as it always has, once he starts selling the next batch of fish.

Soon, he notices a dead fish in the pond, and then, there are a few dead ones. Someone has cut off the river flow, where Reza pumps water into the pond. When he tries to raise the dam blocking it, he's confronted by representative of the company. A fight ensues off-screen, and Reza's troubles become legal ones, as well.

The rest of the plot involves the company's goons making physical threats against, creating financial difficulties for, and escalating the legal problems for Reza, who is defiant against corruption. That stubbornness combined with desperation, though, leads him, as well as his wife and son, toward threats, schemes, and actions that increasingly reflect those of his opponents.

This could easily come across as empty cynicism, but Rasoulof, with much help from Akhlaghirad's performance, creates a deep sense of sympathy for Reza. A Man of Integrity understands him, cares about his plight, and mourns what he must become.

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