Effat tells Mahmoud her life story in order to convince him not to divorce his wife.
First steps toward realism.
I guess I watched “Reghabat dar Shahr” the censored version of this Ghaffari movie. So I already know that the happy ending is a hack and the purpose of this movie was a realistic portrayal of poverty and prostitution.
Quote: Set against the stunning landscape of rural Iran, Shirak is a symbolic rural drama centered on a young boy who lives in a small agricultural village that is being terrorized by wild boars. When his father is mauled to death by the boars during an attack on one of the village fields, Shirak suddenly finds himself the head of the household. Determined to hunt down the dangerous animals and kill them, he picks dates in order to be able to purchase a watchdog from one of the local villagers. Together, Shirak and his dog confront the beasts when they attack the village. While filming Shirak in 1988, his eleventh film, Mehrjui observed, ‘I can remark that this film is different from my other works. Read More »
Two brothers are involved in a dispute over a house in urban Tehran. It is only through a series of adventures with the tenants that they are able to settle their differences.Read More »
The School We Went To based on a story by Fereydoon Doostdar and Dariush Mehrjui and starring Ali Nassirian. Plot Summary: At the Justice on the Horizons School everything turns on bullying and threats from the school principal. The students are unhappy about this situation and they complain about it in the Wall newspaper. The principal is frightened about the opening of the eyes and ears of the students and he shuts down the Wall. The students protest and with the cooperation of the literature teacher they persuade the principal to agree to the remounting of the Wall newspaper. Some people have seen the film as an allegory for the 1978 Iranian revolution while others have criticized it as propaganda driven more by the Islamic regime than by Mehrjui.Read More »
Quote: While on the surface Mr. Gullible contains all the hallmarks of a good comedy, at its heart this movie portrays with uncommon clarity the pitfalls of love and the pain of betrayal. When the protagonist leaves his small village and travels to Tehran to find a wife, he does so with all the gusto and naivete of one who has not experienced the world. Yet even when Mr. Gullible encounters some of the harsh realities of the big city, he is not dissuaded from accomplishing his mission to find a bride. When he finally meets what he believes is the perfect woman, Mr Gullible showers her with gifts and asks her to marry him. However, his romantic visions of life with his lady love are obliterated when he discovers her true identity. Festivals/Awards: Special Jury Prize at the Moscow International Film Festival, 1971; Best film, best direction, best screenplay, best actress, best supporting actor at the Third National Film Festival Sepas, 1971.Read More »
This highly symbolic Iranian drama (shot in black-and-white) revolves around the most important figure in a remote rural village. That figure is the village’s sole cow, owned by Mashdi Hassan (Ezat Entezani). The beginning of the film makes clear just how vital the cow is to the life of the village and how much Mashdi and his neighbors cherish it. When the cow is threatened and then killed by members of a nearby clan, Mashdi becomes so distraught that he is gradually transformed into a cow himself. One highlight of this film is the glimpse it offers into a style of rural life which has gone unchanged for thousands of years.Read More »
“Che” depicts 48 hours of Mostafa Chamran’s life, who was the first post-Islamic Revolution defense minister of Iran. On August 16 and 17, 1979 he was sent by Ayatullah Khomeini to command several military operations in the civil war in the Kordestan region which was besieged by anti-revolutionary forces. The film was submitted to the 32nd Fajr International Film Festival and won two Crystal Simorghs in the fields of best editing and best visual effects. In addition to Chamran the film is also about Asghar Vesali who was killed during the war and the people of Paveh in Kermanshah province.Read More »
Synopsis The story is based on true events that took place in 1987. Sardasht, a Kurdish city in the Iran/Iraq border, along with several villages in the surrounding areas are attacked with chemical weapons by Iraqi forces. Ghader, a villager from the area and his pregnant wife, as well as his three young children, are exposed to the chemicals and suffer injuries. The situation in the village and surrounding cities is chaotic. Ghader must singlehandedly try to keep his family alive.Read More »
Quote: In a remote region of Afghanistan, underprivileged children seek shelter under an elaborate maze of abandoned sewer pipes. Mirvais is one of these children. Though Mirvais is happy to find work carrying around a disabled boy around on his back, he begins to question his duties when his young master attempts to expand his otherwise simple job description. Over time, a sado-masochistic relationship develops between the two boys.Read More »