The Stranger and the Fog

Bahram Beyzai's 1975 Iranian film is set in a village by the sea. A wounded man is found in a boat drifting ashore; he does not remember where he came from. The village takes him in while the unease continues. The film does not tie its tension to the supernatural; the narrative shows the community's behaviour toward a stranger and its own rituals, and when those pursuing him appear, the close takes the form of a ceremony. The images rest on long takes and movement close to choreography. It runs long and the pace is very slow. It is counted in the formalist vein of Iranian cinema. Who it's for: viewers of Iranian art cinema and ceremonial narrative. Who it's not for: viewers expecting explanation; the film resolves nothing.