Hokm

Masoud Kimiai was one of the leading Iranian directors before the 1979 revolution. His skill at writing authentic dialogue was, in particular, legendary. His movie, Gheysar, started the so-called Iranian New Wave. He made many more memorable movies such as Gavaznha (The Deer) and Dash Akol.

However, his movies after the revolution, when he became much more prolific (Hokm is his 25th movie & 18th after the revolution), have rarely, if ever, matched the ones proceeding the revolution. Instead on concentrating on his trademark of strong characterization and rich dialogue, he seems intent on dabbling in as many genres as possible. Hokm is his tribute to the golden era of film noir. This is evident from the credits where poster of film noir movies (Sunset Boulevard, The Asphalt Jungle, Scarface, etc.) roll on while the Peter Gunn theme plays in the background. The confused storyline involves a young hit-man (a la Alain Delon in The Samurai) and his flame, their young accomplice, a gangland boss and an ageing gangster (played by the best Iranian actor of any generation, Ezatollah Entezami).

Hokm succeeds neither as an Iranian film nor as a film noir. It is particularly disappointing as Kimiai is well capable of producing a decent film noir rooted in Iranian environment rather than trying to copy Melville or Fuller.