The Queen and I

I have always been fascinated with the former Shah of Iran and his exotic looking wife. Farah Palevi. This does not mean that I agreed with his philosophy or manner of running the country.

I couldn’t help but recall an enormous extravagant party that he once held. All the foreign guests were flown to Iran on private planes. They were housed in magnificent tents with all the possible luxuries. All the magazines of the day were filled with photos of this event. I remember being disgusted by the lavish display of wealth knowing that so many were lingering in poverty.

The documentary was created by Nahid Persson Sarvestani. She had been a former member of the communist party and also had to flee the country after her own brother was executed by the new regime. Nahid was always an anti-monarchist and in fact many of her friends were tortured under the Shah’s regime. Nahid was in trouble with the Iranian government and was actually jailed for a while. She had to promise never to make a film about Iran again. She escaped from Iran and now lives in Sweden.

At first Farah Palavi was wary of the journalist. After all she was an anti-monarchist and had been a communist. Nahid was not sure she would be able to do justice to the film because she had been against the regime of the Shah.

Farah agreed to a meeting because she was interested in meeting this journalist who was against the new regime. Initially she liked the work done by Nahid and agreed to continue with the film.

Throughout the film we see news clippings of the Shah. We saw pictures from his wedding. We saw the splendor of his dress and his housing. We also saw the beginnings of the riots that eventually forced the royal couple to flee from Iran. They went to the United States. They lived for a while in Mexico, Panama and the Bahamas. Sadat loaned them a palatial house in Egypt and made them most welcome.

The Shah died of cancer and his wife, Farah went to live in Paris. She constantly has body guards with her and continues to live quite a lavish life style.

We are introduced to the life that Farah now leads. Every year on the anniversary of the death of the Shah a group of Iranians meet in Egypt. The film shows one of these meetings. It is the only time we see Farah’s son who is considered the as the monarch in waiting.

The two women seemed to develop a respect for one another and were able to talk freely about their past.

A daughter died of anorexia and we see her grave. The other children are never mentioned. I am very curious about this and wonder if there is family communication. We were never told where they live or what they are doing. I can’t help but wonder if that was an agreement in making the film as a security issue.

I quite liked Farah. The journalist was able to show her in a positive light. Farah seemed to understand some of the negative issues of her husband’s regime. Both Nahid and Farah agreed that Khomeni fooled the people. He promised the people that everyone would have a voice and then brought in such tight fundamental rules that have led to today’s catastrophe in Iran.

The film was fascinating and very educational. I congratulate Nahid on being able to meet with Farah and create this work.