The Music Man

Ali plays the santur. He gives concerts, has students and has earned a name. But his family finds the profession degrading and has shut him out. He falls in love with one of his students and they marry; for a while it goes well. Then the work stops, the invitations end, the money runs out and Ali starts using. Before long he is on the street. Dariush Mehrjui directs. Bahram Radan plays Ali and Golshifteh Farahani plays his wife. The santur is one of the traditional stringed instruments of Iran; the title and the character's profession come from it. Its release in Iran was put off for years. Because of its content about the profession of music and about addiction the permission process dragged, and it reached audiences long after it was shot. The subject is where an artist is placed in society. Ali's family rejects him for being a musician, and the film argues with that view itself. Mehrjui is one of the founding figures of the Iranian new wave; the director known for The Cow turns here to a current social matter. The passages about addiction are direct and unadorned; treating the subject this openly is unusual in Iranian cinema. Who it is for: viewers who like Iranian cinema and stories about musicians. Who it is not for: the second half is heavy, the narrative approaches melodrama, and the ending is too corrective.