Persian Lessons

Persian Lessons

2020 · 127 min · DE · 7.7 (334 votes)
Dir. Vadim Perelman · Starring Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Lars Eidinger, Jonas Nay, Leonie Benesch, Alexander Beyer, David Schütter · Music Sacha Galperine
WarDrama

Occupied France, 1942. Gilles is arrested by SS soldiers alongside other Jews and sent to a camp in Germany. He narrowly avoids sudden execution by swearing to the guards that he is not Jewish, but Persian. This lie temporarily saves him, but Gilles gets assigned a life-or-death mission: to teach Farsi to Head of Camp Koch, who dreams of opening a restaurant in Iran once the war is over. Through an ingenious trick, Gilles manages to survive by inventing words of "Farsi" every day and teaching them to Koch.

VIBE

A harrowing, tense experience where the weight of survival hinges on a fragile linguistic deception. The film masterfully explores the psychological toll of extreme circumstances, creating an unsettling atmosphere of dread and desperation.

tensedesperatesomberunsettlingslow-burnclaustrophobiccharacter-drivenhistorical dramasurvivallanguagedeceptionhumanity
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naziconcentration campworld war iiconcentration camp prisonergerman officerexhaustionfictional languagejewish