“The Golden Collars” is all about how British intelligence agents fomented anti-government protests after the 2009 presidential elections. According to the film, Britain paid people to fill the streets, hence the term “golden collars.”
Producer Mohammad Khazali said the film has grossed $12 million in the few weeks since it was released on Now Ruz. But others assert that is an inflated number. The conservative Iranian Students News Agency put the film’s gross at a mere $1.4 million.
However, many Iranians say people are indeed flocking to see the movie simply because the topic is political and thus very unusual. And viewers are not necessarily all in agreement with the theme. The Economist of London reports that some of the films” outlandish twists” have been greeted in theaters with “guffaws and whistles.”
The magazine also quoted an Esfahani as saying, “It’s unusual to show a political film. That’s why people are watching it. But it’s a misfire. All it does is get everyone talking again about what a fraud the 2009 elections were.”
On the other hand, The Economist talked to a couple that had just seen the film and the husband said, “Was the film really so crazy? I didn’t vote for Ahmadi-nejad, but we know the British have done this before. Why wouldn’t they try it again?”
In the film, the streets are filled with green-clad supporters of the losing candidates who are seen throwing Molotov cocktails and creating mayhem. The scale of the protests in the film is curious since the government insists they were small and insignificant. It appears that the producers of the film and the censors forgot that or just accepted that no one believed what the government said back in 2009 about the small protests.
In the film, the mobs are just about to push the country over the edge into chaos when the Basij on their motorbikes coming charging to the rescue, looking very much like the modern version of the 7th Cavalry in US cowboy flicks.
There are dueling websites for supporters and opponents of the film. As of Sunday, the opposition Facebook page titled “Boycott the Golden Collars” had chalked up 6,949 likes while the official webpage showed only 900 supporters—neither number being especially high.
The title of the film may confuse some as “The Golden Collars” is the title of a new Hollywood gimmick of giving Oscar-style awards to dogs for film performances.