theluciferblaze Did you watch :Gasht-e ershad (2012)-Gasht-e ershad 2 (2017) this are realy good just try it !

ixta_coyotl Just saw this film at its American debut (?) at the Neptune Theater as part of the Seattle Int'l Film Festival. Marmoulak (The Lizard) is a heartwarming and saddening tale about a man on the run who disguises himself as a Mullah while trying to sneak across the border to get out of Iran. A comedic satire in the tradition of La Ley de Herodes, Marmoulak is full of gentle humanist irony which becomes sadly evident but never too overt. Parvis Parastui gives an outstanding performance in the lead, and all the supporting roles are also acted at a highly competent level. The story and cinematography are quite professional as well. After a very successful run, Marmoulak was banned in Iran as sacrilegious. It's definitely worth checking out. Every American who thinks about the nuclear option when the Middle East is discussed should certainly be forced to watch this film.

kayatdouz 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.

ahrais Being a practicing Muslim myself, hearing the storyline of the film gave me reservations. An Iranian film about a thief escaping prison by emulating and dressing as a religious scholar, I knew the film was going to deal with sensitive religious and political matters. Although not Iranian myself, I was aware of cynicism towards the Iranian government and its religious rulings on its citizens.On that basis I knew that when I had to judge the film I had to also try to understand it from the perspective of an Iranian living under the government. When I saw the film, however, I realized that it had a deeper meaning than I thought it would. I found it to be an intelligent film that had a comical plot and funny parts but with more serious implications. The thing I most like about the film is that it is quite fair and balanced. The thief, after pretending to be a religious scholar, realises that God is good and finds religion during this point, instead of criticising religion. This helps to show a distinction between the perfection of religion and the imperfection of human beings, who at times misuse religion.However whilst saying this I did find some parts of the film quite offensive to religion such as the mockery of the young boys who were inspired by the scholar.Overall I thought the film was quite deep and was made in a clever manner but the issues dealt with were too sensitive and quite offensive at times.