The novel was apparently written in 1999. The Iranian Revolution was in 1979(?)
I thought I heard a remark somewhere in the film that they had been in the USA 4 years.
This ocean view property was $174k? And it's somewhere close to San Francisco? I remember the real estate downturn in the early 1990s in Los Angeles and $174k circa 1995 would get you a house in an upper-working class neighborhood nowhere near the ocean...
The Behranis fled Iran right after the revolution, and 4 years later would make it 1983. In 1978 I bought a house in Cupertino, CA, in the Bay Area where this house is situated. It was a much nicer house than this in a middle-class neighborhood, had a two-car garage and was located in one of the best school districts in California, and I only paid $78K for it. It was appraised in 1987 at $160K. It wasn't until ten years later, 1997, that the market had gone nuts. I finally sold the house then for $395K.
And the house in the movie didn't really have an ocean view until he added the deck on the roof.
Thanks for the reply. Was there anything in the film that gave a 1983/1984 vibe? I didn't pay too close attention to the cars...
shareNot sure what you mean by an 1983/1984 vibe, but the film did show everything I noticed begin from the period -- the houses, the cars, the attitudes of people. Of course, the attitude of the cop was so over the top, so I would exclude him. Never met anybody like him, and hope I never do.
shareI understand the "date" of the story isn't really that important to this story (like it would be for films like American Graffiti, Hot Tub Time Machine, Boogie Nights, etc.) When I watch those other films I tend to look for things that shouldn't be there (cars, fashion, music, etc) or are missing.
I'm thinking if I watched this movie again (I won't) I would see they didn't really make an effort to make sure this was supposed to be 1983/1984.