Having been placed under a blanket restriction of not being allowed to direct any more films, For his livelihood, Sohrab is running a small cafe in Iran owned by his wife’s uncle. Behind every table hang Portrayal of the cinematographers and Sohrab’s perspective on the work is both dull and amusing as the case is with the friends who come over. His wife is in another country assisting in the earning of her geological PHd and the couple’s relationship appears in good shape there isn’t anything amiss.
Most nights, he attempts to edit a film he is working on which apparently features his estranged father. Fights over his transition from writing to film making seems irrelevant now. The introduction of a young woman interested in hosting a performance at his café is highly challenging for Sohrab, after she presses him to employ her and slowly begins to help out at the café. All this unfolds, even when Sohrab’s logic appears incoherent, like the infant he kept in a bottle at his house while filming. Though the movie progresses, all his reasons are revealed.
Even though this film takes a minimalist approach and reads like a theater performance, the dialogues, especially the humor, mockery, and wit, Navid Mihandoust presents us with makes the film interesting to watch. Sohrab’s interactions with people brings out his dramatic and politically themed verbal commentary glory to life. Along with being entertaining, his dialogues are another form of entertaining him.
Sohrab’s character possesses a strong and somewhat openly frustrated takes on his art, especially in lieu of the censorship that greatly governs it in Iran. Even as Sohrab tries to nuance restraint from fighting for change, he ultimately reveals intention and commitment to a cause. Sohrab’s characterization in its varied strands-the love-hate with his father, and his more general disdain towards people-grows out of his political goes onto his emotional aspects and is articulated well. Sohrab’s love for his fiancé as well as his peculiar decisions concerning her are tantalizing, and one gets rather curious for the backstory that directly and indirectly surrounds Sohrab’s life.
Ramin Sayar Dashti shines in the role, as he injects a measure that is difficult to define even in the moments where his emotions cut through to the audience, with his dialogues being equally effective to his monologues. DP Farhad Soleimani manages to capture the ambience of the café and some outdoor scenes rather unremarkably, although the scenes that have views are quite lovely. The editing by Parisa Parvin Nia syncs the narrative’s multiple recurring components (café scenes, the director editing, the hills scene) such that a moderate pace, which is appropriate for film, is achieved.
Not many would argue that films that place emphasis on dialogue rather than action scenes are particularly entertaining as they resemble stage plays and get boring very fast. For instance a film such as Mihandoust in which dialogue spans uninterrupted demonstrates how humor can be effective when addressing the irrationality of a system and it’s people. The film was incredible because it seemed to draw inspiration from his actual life making it remarkably rich in context.
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