Reza, having distanced himself from the urban quagmire, leads a simple life along with his wife and young son, somewhere in a remote village in Northern Iran. He spends his days working on his goldfish farm. Nearby, a private company with close links to the government and local authorities, has taken control of nearly every aspect of regional life. Its shareholders, accumulating wealth, power and economic influence, have been pushing local farmers and small owners to sell off their belongings, farms and estates, to the benefit of the Company’s influential network and its monopoly. It is under their pressure that many villagers have themselves become local links in the larger network of corruption.

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Video Quality

A Man of Integrity makes its Blu-Ray debut with an exquisite 1080p video presentation that showcases the gorgeous cinematography well. The film is not overly colorful, but there is a depth to the hues on display that makes a fine impression in HD. The transfer embraces the stark color palette as it saturates the screen. The film employs some deep colors within some of the production design and costumes. The black levels are the slightest bit elevated in a few scenes, but largely they maintain their depth and sidestep banding. The flesh tones are natural with a striking amount of detail present in close-ups. Textures are abound within the intimate photography that reveals a valuable amount of depth to the frame. The everyday production design and shooting locations provide respectable textural details. This Blu-Ray is a heroic representation of this movie that will not let you down.

Audio Quality

Big World Pictures gives this Blu-Ray a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track in the original Farsi that has no obvious shortcomings. Dialogue comes through clearly without being trounced by any competing sounds. Environmental sounds of the world explore the surround speakers in a playful way. When the characters are thrust outside, some unique ambient details ground and open up the setting. This narrative goes more for cerebral and thrilling rather than intensely kinetic, but there are a few moments that add some nice personality to the proceedings. The score sounds rich and full without sacrificing fidelity. The audio track provides a well-rounded experience that brings this narrative to life with full confidence. Optional English subtitles are provided.

Special Features

Theatrical Trailer (1:35)

Booklet: A multi-page booklet featuring an essay by film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum is provided here.

Final Thoughts

A Man of Integrity is a captivating drama from the great Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof. The filmmaker has always had a fire when it comes to speaking to injustice within his art, and this narrative allows him to address numerous maddening realities that leave one feeling helpless. If you are new to his work thanks to the recently Oscar-nominated The Seed of the Sacred Fig, this is a great next step in your journey. Big World Pictures has released a Blu-Ray featuring a stellar A/V presentation but nearly nothing in the way of supplements. Recommended

A Man of Integrity is currently available to purchase on Standard Edition Blu-Ray or with a Limited Edition Slipcover exclusively through Vinegar Syndrome.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Big World Pictures and OCN Distribution have supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.