Marmoulak

Summary: One of the best Iranian movies ever made, but for an Iranian audience only.

Marmoulak is a political/social satire, but its comedy is subtle and better understood by an Iranian audience. I'd like to compare it to "Blazing Saddles", often cited by American movie watchers as one of the funniest movies ever made, while a non-American audience is only mildly amused by it. Cultural differences play a big role.

Marmoulak's power of humor lies in the comments, words, situations and overall behaviour of the characters, which are not always understandable to the non-Iranian crowd. For instance, many of the seemingly innocent comments in the movie are copied or distorted very cleverly from the political/religious slogans, speeches and actions of Iran's religious clergy. Those parts are easily identifiable and enjoyable by Iranians, while non-Iranians may not quite understand the subtlety of it.

That said, the movie is powerful, enjoyable and with brilliant acting. The story is quite simple and has been repeated in many forms before. A jailed thief seizes upon a chance encounter to escape from prison using the stolen clothes of a clergyman. With Prison's warden (depicted as a despotic maniac) after him, he escapes to a border village where the local people think he has been sent for preaching in their mosque. The rest of the movie depicts the thief's efforts to find a way across the border, while playing the role of an unconventional preachers who actually plays a huge role in the life of the villagers.

Parviz Parastooi plays the lead role in a breathtakingly magnificent way, and this fact is again only obvious to an Iranian audience who know exactly the class of people he is trying to portrait. The movie has a good pace; in contrast with other well known Iranian movies such as Kiarostami's and Panahi's works that are typically very slow. Dialogues are extremely clever.

Given 9 out of 10 by this reviewer.

I had the chance of watching this excellent movie yesterday at the Montreal World Film Festival. This is the second Iranian film that I've seen (the first was 'Taste of Cherry') and I'm enchanted.

This is the story of a thief who has an extraordinary agility at climbing walls just like a lizard (Marmoulak), his escape from prison, and his redemption. To hide his identity, he becomes a mullah (Muslim religious scholar) and improvises as best as he can. The dialogs on theology and Muslim daily life are funny, yet very powerful. This excellent movie is not only a slap to the ruling clergy in Iran, but also a slap to religious fundamentalism of any faith.

The acting is very good. The 'Mullah' role is performed beautifully and the Lizard gives the Mullah the right dose of authority and charisma while remaining a very down-to-earth person. I enjoyed every minute. This is a movie that I'll be delighted to watch again.

Highly recommended. 9/10

Just saw this film at its American debut (?) at the Neptune Theater as part of the Seattle Int'l Film Festival. Marmoulak (The Lizard) is a heartwarming and saddening tale about a man on the run who disguises himself as a Mullah while trying to sneak across the border to get out of Iran. A comedic satire in the tradition of La Ley de Herodes, Marmoulak is full of gentle humanist irony which becomes sadly evident but never too overt. Parvis Parastui gives an outstanding performance in the lead, and all the supporting roles are also acted at a highly competent level. The story and cinematography are quite professional as well. After a very successful run, Marmoulak was banned in Iran as sacrilegious. It's definitely worth checking out. Every American who thinks about the nuclear option when the Middle East is discussed should certainly be forced to watch this film.

I have seen this movie over 10 times. As an Iranian I found that the movie was very funny yet very thoughtful. I think Mr. Kamal Tabrizi (director) is trying to distinguish between true believers and the ones that use religion in a negative way to control the masses. Here is a felon who escapes from prison using some cleric's clothing. That same cleric tells "Maroulak', before his escape, that there an as many ways to reach God as there is people on Earth. The cleric uses a proverb in Persian witch means almost the same as the one in English, You can't judge a book by its cover, after Reza (maroulak) curses mullahs and finds out that he is one also. He also reads him a paragraph from the book called "The Little Prince". After his escape, Reza ends up in a small town that has an almost unfrequented mosque but slowly people start coming back to see who this new cleric is. For me this movie is very symbolic of the way Iranian live today with there religion and leaders. There are some people that can't differentiate between the good ones and the "evil" ones. Most of them judge a cleric as soon as the see he is dress like one therefore Mr. Tabrizi tries to tell us to hold our judgements until we are sure of them. We also see a little boy throughout the movie that never talks witch is the same little prince, in my opinion, from that famous book. I find that this was one of the best movies I have ever seen and a great contribution to Persian cinema. But sadly many Iranians that I have talked to don't understand the movie for what it is. So if you going to see the movies remember that this movie is mainly based on one sentence: YOU CAN'T JUDGE A BOOK BY IT'S COVER. I also suggest that one read the mentioned book before watching the movie.

First, I need to thank the Seattle International Film Festival for locating a copy of this movie and screening it. They went to enormous lengths to make sure a few hundred Americans saw The Lizard, but it was worth it.

The film focuses on Reza "The Lizard," a robber doing time in a prison run by a warden who plans to make him go on a "diet for the soul," so that Reza can enter heaven. Reza has obviously had some negative experiences with religion in the past, and this doesn't do anything to change his view. When he sees an opportunity to escape by dressing as a Mullah, Reza, fearless of the religious implications, takes it. Hilarity ensues.

He ends up in a small town where he must pose as the new leader of their mosque. In so doing, Reza is given a unique opportunity: to create a religion built not on the hypocrisy of others and all the negative things he sees other religious people doing, but one that truly represents the positive possibilities of his faith.

I am firmly agnostic and my study of religion is and always has been one born of curiosity rather than personal belief. This movie was inspiring and moving in a way that few others are, not only for its eventual embracement of the good aspects of all faiths but as a simple parable that religion is unique to each person rather than a reflection of the negativity of some of its practitioners.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like this movie will ever be on DVD, and except for the one copy screened at SIFF 2005 it will probably never make it outside of Iran (where it was banned for being sacrilegious). If you ever get an opportunity to see The Lizard, don't pass it up.