Kaveh Mousavi’s Top 10 Iranian Films

6. Tranquility in the Presence of Others (1973) – Nasser Taghvai

This is the first of the two pre-revolution films on this list. This era was dominated either by worthless popular films or ultra-intellectual crap, and I personally feel Iranian cinema didn’t find its groove until 1997, when Khatami was elected president (on this list, 5 out of 10 films are post-1997). But there certainly are great films from this earlier time, and this is one of them. It also stands out because while most Iranian films are social and political in nature (I’m sure you have noticed poverty is the main theme of all the films in this list so far), this film is an outlier as it is more of a psychological drama.

The first film of Nasser Taghvai, the undisputed giant of Iranian cinema, its story concerns the fall from grace of a retired general, who has married a teacher much younger than himself after the death of his wife. After years of being away from Tehran, he returns to live with his daughters, whose values are now alien to him.

The film is very slow, and its themes are very depressing and dark.  Therefore, you cannot really watch it if you are in the mood for something like Zoolander. But while the film is genuinely difficult to watch, it pays off because of its penetrating story. At its heart, it’s a film about suicide, depression, and a downward spiral into insanity. It’s a dark masterpiece which captures its sad subject matter with ruthless clarity.