Rating: NN
Cultural Void (Babak Payami) Rating: NN
To a Western eye, Secret Ballot seems less a film from another culture than a film from another planet. A ballot box is parachuted into a remote military outpost that has two soldiers and one rifle. A while later an imperious yet insecure woman shows up and orders one of the soldiers to drive her to the various villages in the area so she can collect the vote. Along the way there are lectures on the need for people to vote and dialogues on the role of women in Islam. It’s like The African Queen, only there are no Germans or boats. Or it’s one of those Iranian movies that feel like travelogues, but actors keep wandering into the frame. 95 minutes.
