The Mission (1983)

An Iranian assassin is sent to the United States to kill a former Iranian official who served under the Shah of Iran. The night before the assassination he find out that his target (Mr. ... See full summary »

Director:

Parviz Sayyad

Writers:

Hesam Kowsar (story), Parviz Sayyad

Stars:

Parviz Sayyad, Mary Apick, Houshang Touzie

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Parviz Sayyad	...	The Colonel
Mary Apick	...	Maliheh
Houshang Touzie	...	Agent From Teheran
Saeed Rajai	...	Agent From Teheran
Kamran Nozad	...	Ghaffar
Mohammed Ghaffari	...	His Eminence
Hatam Anvar	...	Maziar
Hedia Anvar	...	Farzaneh
Soraya Shayesteh	...	The Woman
Richard Mansfield	...	Mugger
David Filinni	...	Mugger
Liz Jones	...	Passerby
John Neil	...	Passerby
Frank Oddo	...	Cabbie
Murie Alcid	...	Cleaning Lady

Storyline

An Iranian assassin is sent to the United States to kill a former Iranian official who served under the Shah of Iran. The night before the assassination he find out that his target (Mr. Tabataie) has already been killed by a Muslim American Hassan Tantai (aka David Theodore Belfield). A prominent mullah residing in the U.S. find him a new assassination target.

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Plot Keywords:

iranian | mullah | assassin | iran | life and death | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA West Germany

Language:

Persian English

Release Date:

30 March 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Mission

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aria, N.Y. Film Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

User Reviews

The moral struggle of figuring out for yourself how to tread the path of righteousness

Parviz Sayyad, a popular comic director in Iran before the revolution, had to leave his homeland and wound up in America with no funds to pursue his cinematic art. Somehow he scraped together the shoestring to get this one filmed, fortunately. It's a brilliant, compelling examination of what it means to follow your ideals, after you find out that everything you thought was wrong.

A young Iranian arrives in New York. He is a quiet, serious, pious Muslim. His orders: find the ex-SAVAK officer and kill him. While trailing the ex-SAVAK officer in New York's subway, he accidentally meets him face to face while helping him escape muggers. From his pocket falls the Qur'an with Persian translation. The ex-SAVAK officer picks it up and sees the Persian writing. Hey! You're from Iran too, what a coincidence, we must become friends! They do, in fact, become friends. The pious young Muslim assassin finds out that the ex-SAVAK officer is a nice guy, not a bad guy after all. He has two cute kids, and they love their new uncle from Iran (the assassin). How he can find it in his heart to kill this nice guy? Meanwhile he makes ablution and prays in his cockroachy apartment. The assassination commander tries to call him on the phone, but he does not answer so as not to interrupt his prayer. The assassination commander comes to see him, saying "Why don't you answer the phone? Praying? Oh, you are so pious" -- while he guzzles beer! So the young assassin faces a dilemma: he wanted to serve Islam, but he is forced to confront the question of where is real Islam -- in the revolution? Or in his heart? Then he is not sure what he should really do. The tragic ending is wrenching indeed.

This movie is made with heart and sympathy, about discovering moral ambiguity in one's own soul. An excellent view of the spiritual problems with the Iranian revolution made by an expatriate with no resources but his wit and his heart. If you ever get a chance to see it, don't miss it.