The Lizard (2004)

A recently jailed petty thief disguises as a Mullah and succeeds in escaping; but has to stay in the Mullah' role longer than he expected to.

Director:

Kamal Tabrizi

Writer:

Peyman Ghassemkhani

Stars:

Parviz Parastui, Bahram Ebrahimi, Shahrokh Foroutanian

4 wins.

Cast

Credited cast:
Parviz Parastui	...	Reza Marmoulak
Bahram Ebrahimi	...	(as Bahram Ibrahimi)
Shahrokh Foroutanian	...	Hajji Reza Ahmadi
Farideh Sepah Mansour	...	Motazedi's Mother
Maedeh Tahmasebi	...	Ozra
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ali Abedini	...	Jackson
Ra'na Azadivar	...	Fayezeh (as Rana Azadvar)
Cyrus Hemati	...	Mojtaba
Farzin Mohades	...	The Soldier with Sunglasses
Mehran Rajabi	...	Shojaei
Soheyla Razavi	...	Fayezeh's Mother
Sepehr Rezanoor	...	The boy
Reza Saeedi	...	Atef
Naqi Seif-Jamali	...	Mr. Fazli
Hossein Soleimani	...	Gholamali

Storyline

Satirical commentary on clergymen in post-revolutionary Iran. While in prison, petty criminal Reza (Parviz Parastui) comes across a clergyman, sparking a plan for escape. Reza dons his new acquaintance's clerical robes and makes a bid for freedom. He soon learns that being a clergyman brings little respect from the public. Reza travels to the outlying villages, from where he plots to escape the country. However, his plans must be put on hold when the villagers accept him into their community and expect him to perform religious duties. Will Reza's prison break transform him into an unlikely pillar of the community?

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Plot Keywords:

disguise | mullah | mosque | black comedy | assumed identity | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

IMVBox.com sourehcinema

Country:

Iran

Language:

Persian

Release Date:

24 February 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Lizard

Filming Locations:

Tehran, Iran

Company Credits

Production Co:

Faradis

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film satirizes the clergy, religion, Iranian society, and life in general.

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Quotes

Reza Marmoulak: There is no one in this world who doesn't have a path to reach God

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Connections

References Pulp Fiction (1994)

User Reviews

what a great movie.bravo!!!!

I have seen this movie over 10 times. As an Iranian I found that the movie was very funny yet very thoughtful. I think Mr. Kamal Tabrizi (director) is trying to distinguish between true believers and the ones that use religion in a negative way to control the masses. Here is a felon who escapes from prison using some cleric's clothing. That same cleric tells "Maroulak', before his escape, that there an as many ways to reach God as there is people on Earth. The cleric uses a proverb in Persian witch means almost the same as the one in English, You can't judge a book by its cover, after Reza (maroulak) curses mullahs and finds out that he is one also. He also reads him a paragraph from the book called "The Little Prince". After his escape, Reza ends up in a small town that has an almost unfrequented mosque but slowly people start coming back to see who this new cleric is. For me this movie is very symbolic of the way Iranian live today with there religion and leaders. There are some people that can't differentiate between the good ones and the "evil" ones. Most of them judge a cleric as soon as the see he is dress like one therefore Mr. Tabrizi tries to tell us to hold our judgements until we are sure of them. We also see a little boy throughout the movie that never talks witch is the same little prince, in my opinion, from that famous book. I find that this was one of the best movies I have ever seen and a great contribution to Persian cinema. But sadly many Iranians that I have talked to don't understand the movie for what it is. So if you going to see the movies remember that this movie is mainly based on one sentence: YOU CAN'T JUDGE A BOOK BY IT'S COVER. I also suggest that one read the mentioned book before watching the movie.