Can a film about a desert be fast-paced? Should it be? "Secret Ballot," written and directed by Irani filmmaker Babak Payami suggest not and who can argue with a film of this quality?
Two soldiers are stationed on the coast of a remote island to keep an eye out for the smugglers who appear to run things in this deserted, well, desert. They awake one morning to find a ballot box falling from the sky attached to a parachute.
The soldier whose turn it is to be on watch is not happy to find his uneventful schedule interrupted by election day. When the election officer appears by boat, he's even less happy to discover that said official is a woman. It's his job to fire up the jeep and take her from place to place on the island to collect votes and her back to "camp" (which comprises a bed, the jeep and a jug of water) in time to get the boat back.
From the outset, the idealistic young election official (Nassim Abdi) and the jaded, stubborn soldier (Cyrus Ab) are at odds. She wants to be sure to collect a vote from every person on the remote island, even looking under rocks -- literally -- for votes. He believes it to be a waste of time and can't stop his search for smugglers, which she believes is preventing people from wanting to vote.
Grudgingly they begin their day, collecting votes from secluded farms, lone men walking in the desert and beyond. They even row out to a fishing boat to collect votes. She's a stickler for procedure and he's more realistic about the locals and their desire to vote.
Some voters search out the official only to discover that their candidates aren't on the official candidates list. Others prefer to vote for God, even though he too didn't make the cut for the list. Many others simply can't see the point as, according to the soldier, the government doesn't reach that far.
People do for themselves in the desert. One woman lords over her commune and another man uses solar panels to gather electricity. The goverment clearly has little effect on their lives.
Slowly she comes to see the truth in this and when the soldier stops the jeep at a red light in the middle of nowhere, she wants him to go through because she's late getting back to the boat. He refuses to break the law and each is now seeing the other side of their ongoing conflict.
Witty, sad, interesting and insightful, "Secret Ballot" is wonderfully evocative of a desolate place with a slow-moving lifestyle thanks in part to lovely lingering shots of barren landscapes.
Best of all, we think we know where it's all going, but Iran isn't Hollywood and you may be surprised. Watch and find out.
"Secret Ballot" opens Fri., Sept. 6 at Landmark's Downer Theatre.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
