Doc Ali

Dick is a great movie. In my opinion it is a whisker away from being a classic. It captures the whole seventies era better than any other movie that I can recollect. I particularly likes its great use of seventies music to advance or highlight the storyline. Its use of young comedy actors (such as Harry Shearer) to portray Nixon's cronies was a master stroke. Dan Hedaya also gives a very funny and infectious performance as Nixon. The script and direction are great and the film contains many highlights, my favourite being the scene where Woodward and Bernstein first get involved in the Watergate story. The "explanations" that the screen writers have put in the film for some of the famous Watergate events are hilarious and inspired. It's a pity that Dick didn't do well at the box office. Catch it on Video if you can.

The Blue Veieled (Rusari Abi) is made by Iran's leading woman film director, Rakhshan Bani-Etemad. The subject itself, that of a love between an old widowed man and a young unmarried woman, is quite daring for Iranian cinema. The film dares even more by suggesting a relationship between the two whilest they are not married; although it is hinted that they have taken the Sighe (temporary marriage) vows.

The film is full of little observations, masterfully played by the two leads, which quietly and yet effectively convey the hidden desires within these two adult lovers. The Blue Veiled'sc main message seems to be that love knows no boundaries and can break many social taboos such as love between different ages and different social classes. It is a quiet gem which should be sought out and seen.

I saw a 4 hour version of this movie (the version released in Iranian cinemas was 95 minutes). It appears that it may have been made as a TV series which was later edited down for a theatrical release.

Leily is With Me is a very funny movie. Since it deals with a long,bloody and holy war, it is no mean achievement for director Tabrizi to walk a very narrow tightrope between what could have been termed offensive and what would be acceptable. He has, however, succeeded and Leily is a funny, touching movie.

The main character, Sadegh, is a Woody Allen type guy who is a video camera man. Through a series of misunderstandings and mishaps, he ends up (much against his will) at the front in the war. The reason the movie works is that it is easy to sympathize with Sadegh and his efforts to dodge the trip to the front and escape back to his city. The first half of the movie, which takes place in the city, is the less successful. The second half is the funnier section and the main source for the theatrical released version. The whole film is a throwback to the Norman Wisdom/Jerry Lewis comedies and came as a breath of fresh air to the cinema going public in Iran. It was no surprise that it became a major hit. Parviz Parastui, who plays Sadegh, shines in a role in total contrast to the one he played, with same degree of success, in The Glass Agency.