"Two & Two" is an 8-minute British short film, but the dialogue is in Persian, so make sure you get subtitles. Writer and director Babak Anvari made a couple more short films before this one, but so far this is still his most recent work, even if it is already 4 years old. However, next year he will have his first full feature film come out. But back to this one. It stars Bijan Daneshman, who you may have seen in Spielberg's "Munich", and it was BAFTA-nominated, but lost to a Michael Fassbender short film, which I actually found inferior to this one. In here we have a class who learns that 2+2 is not 4, but actually 5. When one of the students won't accept it, harsh punishment awaits. However, as harsh as this little movie may see, there is also hope in the last shot as the truth does not vanish, even if it is not spoken out loudly. This film is a really nice metaphor in terms of politics and how to deal with right and wrong and what the consequences may be. I certainly recommend the watch and I hope Anvari can keep things up in his next projects.
5 Reviews
Two & Two
CinemaSerf8 April 2024
In a schoolroom populated by identically clad young students, the teacher arrives at 8am precisely to make quite a startling announcement. 2 + 2 = 5!! He then proceeds to ram that home, despite protestations from the children that this is just plain wrong! As they become more emphatic, a mini-rebellion broods and the teacher drafts in some moral support from older pupils who trot out the desired answer parrot-fashion before presenting a firing squad to the pupil who still insists it's four not five. This short film demonstrates quite an interesting concept. That of indoctrination, especially when driven by fear. It also, though, shows us a little of a defiant human spirit and that works quite well from the boys in the face of their oppressive teacher in public or surreptitiously. As a piece of cinema it's unremarkably filmed, somewhat implausible and repetitive - maybe the latter criticism helps it prove it's point, but when you're watching you get the gist way before the end. Interesting, though.
Set in Iran this short film is a chilling and powerful allegory
irishsounds21 March 2014
This short film, so simple in its construct and content, pulls a very powerful punch. I personally found it chilling, and it deeply affected me for some time after.
The story-line and the drab classroom setting connect so effectively with the blind, rigid fundamentalism and totalitarianism that so much of our world is plagued with. It brings into sharp relief the dilemmas faced by those in similar positions, and it made me question just how would I react in a similar situation.
Simple as is the setting, the story line, the techniques etc., the impact and effect far outweigh the perceived simplicity. Haunting, and morally jolting are, I think, apt terms to use in respect of this movie.
I would highly recommend this movie, and especially to parents and to teachers of ethics and religion.
The story-line and the drab classroom setting connect so effectively with the blind, rigid fundamentalism and totalitarianism that so much of our world is plagued with. It brings into sharp relief the dilemmas faced by those in similar positions, and it made me question just how would I react in a similar situation.
Simple as is the setting, the story line, the techniques etc., the impact and effect far outweigh the perceived simplicity. Haunting, and morally jolting are, I think, apt terms to use in respect of this movie.
I would highly recommend this movie, and especially to parents and to teachers of ethics and religion.
2+2
Kirpianuscus22 October 2017
impressive for its simplicity. and for its bitter realism. because, it is a film about school. in same measure, it is a film about society. and, for people knowing the life under Communism, sure, it reminds the essence of dictatorship. but it has the virtue to put front to us the question - what is the reaction of us ? what is the price of resistance? what is the right way to say the truth ? what is the value of truth ? the virtue of film - an Iranian film speaks, so clear and loud, about a reality who becomes more and more present in old democracies. it is a simple interrogation. 2 + 2 = ? the answer change everything. at the each level.
protect and defend the classroom
BridgeBuilder200621 October 2013
Warning: Spoilers
This review is aimed mostly at teachers and parents.
Here is a video about the dark side of education. This reminds me of how tyrants, cults and extremist have used learning to contaminate a generation. Physical death is portrayed here but other forms of punishment have been used historically to force children to believe lies.
One of the huge responsibilities of educators is to protect and defend the classroom from such abuses.
Teaching is an honorable profession that is too often undervalued. But historically those with a sinister agenda have attempted to leverage it for their ends. Never forget the great responsibility of touching impressionable lives.
Others in society may have a larger income. But at the end of the day all they did was make or market disposable widgets. They did not have the privilege to touch the wet clay of learners.
The classroom is in some ways sacred ground for transmitting knowledge and teaching thinking skills.
This video amplifies the importance of education by dramatizing the extreme misuse.
Here is a video about the dark side of education. This reminds me of how tyrants, cults and extremist have used learning to contaminate a generation. Physical death is portrayed here but other forms of punishment have been used historically to force children to believe lies.
One of the huge responsibilities of educators is to protect and defend the classroom from such abuses.
Teaching is an honorable profession that is too often undervalued. But historically those with a sinister agenda have attempted to leverage it for their ends. Never forget the great responsibility of touching impressionable lives.
Others in society may have a larger income. But at the end of the day all they did was make or market disposable widgets. They did not have the privilege to touch the wet clay of learners.
The classroom is in some ways sacred ground for transmitting knowledge and teaching thinking skills.
This video amplifies the importance of education by dramatizing the extreme misuse.
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