As political thrillers go, Tatami represents for multiple national purviews just as a film project. It’s a U.S.-Georgia co-production because most of the money was raised by Americans (one of whom is Israeli-American) and the movie was shot and set in Georgia; and it’s co-directed by an Israeli, Guy Nattiv, and an Iranian, Zar Amir-Ebrahimi, who is also one of the main actors. Given that Israel and Iran are well-known nemeses on the world stage, one might be surprised, but the purport of the film is solidly critical of the current Iranian regime (its take on Israeli government belligerence is harder to suss). Amir-Ebrahimi, it should be noted, doesn’t live in Iran any more. Still, what the various sides bring to the production, in addition to a grounded American cinematic sensibility, is invaluable because of the dynamics on display. Genre-wise, Tatami is as much a sports movie as it is a political thriller, but transcends cliches endemic to both. More importantly, it’s relentlessly gripping, and the directors and the actors know exactly how to ratchet up the tension when the script calls for it.

Set at the World Judo Championships in Tbilisi, the movie zeroes in on the great female hope of Iran, Leila Hosseini (Arienne Mandi), who is competing in the 60-kg weight class. Headstrong and totally committed, Leila at first comes across as the stereotypical athletic obsessive. When she weighs in and is found to be 0.3 kg over she sweats it off in 20 minutes. Leila methodically works her way up in the preliminaries to cheers back home from family and fellow countrymen with the help of her coach, Maryam (Amir-Ebrahimi), a former judoka herself whose career was ended by a mysterious injury. During these opening scenes, the directors, with the help of real professional judo announcers, keep the sports movie prerogatives central with closeups of the action on the mats, but once Leila reaches a certain level it becomes apparent that she will likely have to face an Israeli rival—who happens to be her friend—something the government back in Iran does not want to happen. And so, through Maryam, they order Leila to feign an injury or throw any of her bouts before the Israeli one. She refuses, risking retribution against her family and her coach, who tries to forestall retribution by threatening to disown her. Though the standoff is mainly depicted as being between Leila and Maryam, the various layers of interested persons are handled with an almost ferocious attention to detail, as the story shifts among Leila’s husband and child in Iran, the various under-table negotiations Leila conducts with competition officials, and Maryam’s complex coming-to-terms with her own sad history, which we soon find out mirrors Leila’s current dilemma.

Even as the drama flags a bit just before the big finish, it’s still heart-pounding stuff thanks to a welcome avoidance of emotional distractions and an unobstructed view of the consciences of everyone involved. We’ve had plenty of movies that effectively stick it to the Islamic Republic of Iran, and this one is not designed to change anyone’s mind in a political sense. It’s just an exciting movie that uses politics as a big spoon to stir the pot so that its contents boil even more furiously. 

In Persian and English. Opens Feb. 28 in Tokyo at Shinjuku Piccadilly (050-6861-3011), Human Trust Cinema Yurakucho (03-6259-8608), Theater Image Forum Aoyama (03-5766-0114).

Tatami home page in Japanese

photo (c) 2023 Judo Production LLC