Boycott
About Boycott
Valeh, a communist organizer, takes his wife Maryam to the hospital to give birth and is arrested at a team-house. After torture and interrogation he is sentenced to death and sent to the public jail. His comrades tell him to die as a hero and keep the fight going. He no longer sees the point of that death. Maryam, opposed to his clandestine work, is left outside with the child.
Cast & crew
More about Boycott
Mohsen Makhmalbaf wrote and directed. Faraj Haydari and Ebrahim Ghazizadeh photographed it. Roubik Mansouri edited. Majid Majidi plays Valeh and Zohreh Sarmadi plays Maryam. The director's filmography lists it as a 1986 color feature of 95 minutes; reference listings commonly give 114 minutes and the year 1985. It played the 4th Fajr International Film Festival in Iran in 1986.
Themes
Background
The story is set in Iran before the 1979 revolution, with a leftist cell, a security arrest, and a death sentence.
Making
The arrest happens while Valeh is at the hospital with Maryam for the birth, so the political case and the family emergency start on the same day.
Look
Faraj Haydari and Ebrahim Ghazizadeh are the directors of photography on the director's own credit list. Some reference infoboxes also list Makhmalbaf.
Notes
- The Persian title is Baykot.
- Ardalan Shoja Kaveh plays Ali. Esmat Makhmalbaf plays a nurse.
- Makhmalbaf had been imprisoned for his own political activity before the 1979 revolution. The film is widely taken to draw on that time. He has not published it as a straight autobiography.
- Set design is credited to Massoud Ghandi and Mohammad Bagher Ashtiyani. Abdollah Eskandari did the makeup.
- Makhmalbaf Film House later handled international sales.
Scenes
- Valeh is picked up at the team-house after bringing Maryam to the hospital.
- In the public jail his friends argue that he should die in a way that helps the cause.
