Kimia

This is a film that begins during the Iran-Iraq war, convincingly portraying the destruction of lives and worlds wrought by it. The second part is set almost a decade after the war, and examines the long shadow of it on the lives of the protagonists. Reza Kianian and Khosro Shakibai are possibly Iran's best actors, but Shakibai by far steals the show in this film with his consistently haunted look and haunting performance. Although the latter half is quite melodramatic, as befitting the plot, there are quiet moments beautifully shown on screen, such as when Shakibai feeds the pigeons in his lonely hotel room in Mashhad, or when a character tries to save a fish from a broken aquarium in the middle of the war.