Alex Heeney reviews Cannes ACID documentary Into the Jaws of the Orge, the feature debut from Mahsa Karampour.
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Not in the zeitgeist. Not pushed by streamers.
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When you’ve been separated from your sibling for decades, and you live in two different countries, how do you bridge the gap that’s opened between you?
This is the central question at the heart of Mahsa Karampour’s thoughtful directorial debut, Into the Jaws of the Orge, in which she films her younger brother over many years, trying to understand him despite years of separation. As a young adult, she left Iran for France by choice. As an adult, he was forced to leave because he played in an illegal rock band, eventually ending up in the United States. She can and does return to Iran regularly, longing to live in Tehran again. He can’t return, and says he doesn’t want to — though that meant he never got to say goodbye to his father before he died.
The gulf between the siblings isn’t merely geographical. It’s in their relationship to their homeland, their new lives, and what they don’t know about each other. Karampour begins the film assuming that the gap widened after they were separated; midway through, she realizes that it started much earlier. She lived through war; he didn’t. It left scars on her that he doesn’t even know exist.
When the film opens, they’re in a car together, taking a road trip across the United States. He’s driving, complaining about the traffic, and talking about music. The camera is closer to him here than it is throughout much of the film. Because Mahsa feels a disconnect from her brother, she often shoots him from afar, making us feel the emotional distance from him, too. He is at the centre of her story, but with her narration throughout — and her shots of the places they visit — it’s a bit of a diary of hers, too.
From childhood to present day in Into the Jaws of the Orge
Moving back and forth between home videos from their childhood, the present day, and the story of her brother since she started filming him in 2008, Karampour lovingly tells the story of her brother who is still a child in her memory — and whose life now is so different from her own. He comes off as both charismatic and abrasive, perhaps a little angry, though he, too, loves his sister and wants to connect with her. He’s just much less articulate about it than she is to us.
There’s a scene midway through Into the Jawas of the Orge when he talks about the cheap guitar he bought in Tehran, which is his favourite. The paper design pasted on it comes from the gift wrap of a gift Mahsa sent him many years ago. It’s a tender moment that — along with his enthusiastic decision to travel the country with his sister — suggests he shares his longing.
Discover one film you didn’t know you needed
Not in the zeitgeist. Not pushed by streamers.
But still easy to find — and worth sitting with.
And a guide to help you do just that.
