Trailers
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Description
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.
Starring
Awards
Key opinion
Persian Lessons is a Holocaust-era drama that receives praise for its unique premise and compelling central performances, though it frequently divides critics over its historical credibility and tonal choices. While some appreciate its fable-like atmosphere and psychological intrigue, others argue the script lacks emotional depth and fails to balance its historical subject matter with its more contrived narrative elements.
| Acting | Lars Eidinger delivers a brilliant, nuanced performance that effectively captures the inner world of the camp cook, Klaus Koch. | |
| Cinematography | Vladislav Opelyanets provides polished, precise, and immersive cinematography that elevates the film's visual presentation. | |
| Originality | The film's central conceit—an invented language used as a survival mechanism—is widely viewed as an intriguing, original premise. | |
| Screenplay | Opinions on the screenplay are divided: some find the dialogue-driven, fable-like structure compelling, while others criticize it as emotionally hollow, narratively incoherent, and reliant on manipulative, contrived subplots. | |
| Adaptation | The film’s historical fidelity is a point of contention, with reviewers split between appreciating the 'based on real events' fable quality and criticizing the script for its historical inaccuracies and superficial depiction of Nazi atrocities. |