Marmoulak

Humorous, touching and profound Iranian film, I Really enjoyed it a lot : good story, good acting, excellent music...Worth the Time.

Not Iranian, nor Muslim, nor religious, all that makes I'm supposed to have a free open mind to see it, without prejudice, in any way or about... :)

What brought me to see Marmoulak ? I don't know : the ways of God are impenetrable !

Kidding, of course, with not offense to anyone...

Until now this is my first and only Persian movie I saw...

and I enjoyed it a lot : good story, good acting, excellent music...

It's a bitter-sweet comedy, about Reza the lizard, his short adventures in jail, and then a (may I call it like that ?) kind of involuntary redemption...

Don't expect, if you're like me a western European citizen, to laugh very loudly, but to have a certain smile all along the movie...

I mean, following Persian(?) commentaries it seems that depending on your national and cultural background, you will laugh more or less, very loudly....

I didn't... but nevertheless think it is an excellent movie.

It doesn't deal with all the stupid clichés one might have about religion, (any of them) but present an profound human aspect

of anyone trapped in something which was not chosen...

Touching and interesting, I'm glad it entered my library ! Opposing to some comments, I think this good movie is Not only for Iranians...

but if you are an average middle abc/nbc/cnn/fr1/ab1 television type freak, may be you better turn on your TV daily program...

who knows, be careful, it could open your mind !

***A film is never really good unless the camera is an eyes in the head of a poet Orson Welles***

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.

I, as an Iranian, think this is by far one of the greatest films I have ever seen in my life, and although you may think that I'm bias, I was actually born and raised in the United States. The move was a comedy, yes, it was funny, but that is a very minor element in this film where I think profound Iranian culture, spirituality, and decency was brilliantly portrayed. I have seen this move over 5 times, and each time I watch it, I am refreshed by the moving inspiration and profound subtleties of the film.

This movie beautifully depicts the traditional outlook of mullahs (as well as the common traditional believers in Iran), and the universal spirituality of being a true believer. If this movie is merely interpreted as a jest to put down mullahs, or as a pure comical film of the trenches of disguise and deceit, then I feel sorry for that viewer's simplistic view. Well-done to the director for making this masterful film, and I'm sorry for the non-Iranians who will probably only get 30 % of the essence and meaning of this film.

Lastly, this film IS prevalent and easily ACCESSIBLE in Iran, and it is on DVD.