Soraya (2003 TV Movie) User Reviews

Persian is right to left, not left to right!

[ddmehrabian7 · 6/10 · 28 September 2015]

In the film when the Shah signs a document in Persian, he does it from left to right, but Persian language is written from right to left! So a guf !

I do not know why the director or the screenplay writer has replaced Princess Ashraf (the real sister of Mohammad Reza Shah) by a fabricated character named Princess Samira which has been cited in the film as the cousin of Shah.

Another thing, the cloth of servants at Sadabad Palace is Turkish, not Persian.

Anyway an entertaining film! :)

More historical investigation was needed

[heydari_ps · 7/10 · 18 January 2013]

I am an Iranian. I was not born before the revolution but I guess I know about the history of my country enough. I want to start with the good points of the movie: 1. Decoration , dresses , make up was excellent. 2. Italians look like Iranians, this made things easy, especially the king character was so similar. Finding someone as beautiful as Soraya I guess is a hard task, in my eyes she was and still is the most beautiful woman God ever created. They could at least cut her hair like her or I guess even her mother was more similar to Soraya than her. 3. I appreciate the fact that they showed interference of English and US American governments in Iran and the way they exploited us and their influence in the palace.

Now the negative points

1. I wish the writer were more aware of the history, Mosadagh was not related to communist, he was one of the few great leaders we had. I wish they investigated more the history of Iran.

2. I have no idea why they replaced "Ashraf" the sister of King with Shamira. Were they afraid of her? Were they threatened? So bizarre.

3. If I were them I would asked a Mola how to tie a hat, what was that on top of their head?

4. The Italians had no role in that time unless I am not aware unless they made up a story to make the movie interesting for Italians.

5. Some scenes were so cheesy

But in Gerneral, as an Iranian, I really appreciate the production of this movie. They really paid attention to some aspects.

What A History

[lia00027 · 10/10 · 14 August 2004]

The story is not same with what I've read about Shah M. R. Pahlevi and Princess Soraya, but this movie is interesting and a good one for showing a dramatic love story with sad ending (even though I don't understand their language at all).

This movie is great, just see the actor's facial expressions and body language I can understand what they're meant. Beside Anna Valle is beautiful (just look at her eyes and her hair) and acting very good in this TV show. So was Erol Sander, he is handsome and a good actor. The director is doing such a wonderful job directed this TV show. The dresses that Anna Valle used in this show are very good and very perfect for her (similar jewelry that she wore).

In a real life Shah M.R. Pahlevi was not a handsome man he was in fact 10-year older than Soraya, but Princess Soraya was truly a beautiful lady.

Good try. But not completely accurate

[fmpour · 4/10 · 1 July 2007]

If I were to make a movie about a foreign land, culture, history, etc. I would do a bit of investigation first. The least I would do is to check my story with a native. Not one of the actors or actresses is from Iran or Iranian decent. And there are many of them available these days. The movie seems to be made out of the book by Soraya herself which does not necessarily match the historical events. For example, in Iran they did not have Emperors, they had Kings. King's palace called SADABAD is in north of Tehran and nowhere near the sea. This is a movie made for the taste of western audience and bent in a few places to make it more attractive to them. As a result, it has lost its exotic and factual touch.

Pretty good mix of history and movie making

[tim-31315 · 8/10 · 9 November 2020]

It showed that the Shah tried to pull his country into the modern world ... why he had to become more autocratic when his enemies became stronger ... something we have seen play out again and again. The Iran of today is is a prison of its people ... not too many places left of this sort anymore either. A matter of time before that country will see another overthrow ... god bless! So yes - the movie shows a thin slice of Persia's long history and is reasonably well made.

splendid hairdos and gorgeous outfits

[merisalo · 2/10 · 27 December 2004]

This sugary princess tale vies with Barbie films without beating them. Instead of using Soraya's sad personal history to give some kind of analysis of Iran's turbulent history in the 1950s, it reduces everything to changes of clothing (spoiler: mainly négligés of different colours in the second part for Soraya). Yes, we do learn that the British and the Americans - not to speak of Enrico Mattei, of Agip and then ENI - were busy in Iran, and that the Shah's regime got increasingly violent after his return to the country, but due to the general aesthetics of the film, none of this matters. The marvellously immobile face of Anna Valle (Miss Italy 1995 - she really deserved her title) beneath her impeccable hairdo (there is an involuntarily comic scene where her folkloristically clothed nanny Laila suggests brushing her hair, which really does not need it), and topping her absolutely gorgeous outfits, journeys from German student days to her exile in Switzerland without expressing anything resembling a reaction to whatever happens to her (apart from a couple of well-becoming tears). Erol Sander is much more fun as Sinan Toprak in "Der Unbestechliche", where he at least gets into tricky physical situations. Probably the most expressive element in the whole film is the wall of the Esfandiari house, very naturally peeling off. The beautiful photography makes excellent stills.

IRAN is pronounced E-Run Not EYE-RAN

[faryar · 1/10 · 18 October 2023]

Please notify the clueless idiot to learn the name of the country IRAN is pronounced E-Run Not EYE-RAN !

Makes the viewer lose respect for the film's authenticity!

Please notify the clueless idiot to learn the name of the country IRAN is pronounced E-Run Not EYE-RAN !

Makes the viewer lose respect for the film's authenticity!

Please notify the clueless idiot to learn the name of the country IRAN is pronounced E-Run Not EYE-RAN !

Makes the viewer lose respect for the film's authenticity!

Please notify the clueless idiot to learn the name of the country IRAN is pronounced E-Run Not EYE-RAN !

Makes the viewer lose respect for the film's authenticity!