The Willow Tree (2005)
"Beed-e majnoon" (original title)

Youssef, a blind university professor, is suddenly diagnosed with a fatal disease and must undergo treatment in France. Back home, will he find the life he had before?

Director:

Majid Majidi

Writers:

Majid Majidi (idea), Majid Majidi (screenplay),

Stars:

Parviz Parastui, Roya Taymourian, Afarin Obeisi

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Parviz Parastui	...	Youssef
Roya Taymourian	...	Roya
Afarin Obeisi	...	Mother
Mohammad Amir Naji	...	Morteza
Melika Eslafi	...	Mariam
Leila Outadi	...	Pari
Mahmoud Behraznia	...	Mahmood
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dawlat Asadi	...	Puya
Melika Aslafi	...	Maryam
Ahmad Gavaheri	...	Cashani
Fouad Nahas	...	Dr. Roque

Storyline

Blind since childhood, Youssef has a devoted wife, loving daughter, and successful university career, but his affliction fills him with secret torment. As if in answer to his prayers, a clinic restores his sight- a miracle that is double-edged. Although this new world of sight and color floods him with ecstacy- the breathtaking images seen through his reawakened eyes include a dazzling vista of snow-blanketed hills, a shower of molten gold sparks in a jewlery foundry, an array of lollipop lights behind a rain-speckled car window- it also plunges him into a labyrinth of confusion and temptations. A pretty student begins to enclipse his previously invisible wife; he silently watches a subway pickpoket, who fixes him with a look of withering complicity. Eager to claim the lost life he feels he is owed but unable to take the next step, Youssef is inflamed with possibility and paralyzed with egoism. A resonant metaphor for life's second chances and a powerful parable of sigh and insight, ...

---

Plot Keywords:

rumi | blindness | iranian | hospital | religious propaganda | 

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Iran

Language:

Persian

Release Date:

3 August 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Willow Tree

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$6,048 (USA) (3 August 2007)

Gross:

$25,525 (USA) (7 March 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Majid Majidi Film Production (I) (II), Soureh

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min 96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

Beed e majnoon

I have been deeply moved by "The Willow Tree," which I saw this evening as part of an Iranian film series at the Freer Gallery in Washington DC. I am not sure that any Western culture could ever produce something as beautiful, but I hope all westerners see it. It has impressed positively and permanently. I was most moved by the scene of the hero coming back to Iran, and seeing his mother, and then again, when the mother comes to his house after his wife has left. The most beautiful, was our hero looking for the papers in the pond, and finding that special one. The ending is magnificent, as it allows us to ponder which is better, to continue blind, or be blessed again with sight. But in either case he seems condemned. Thank you. James