Downpour (, Ragbār) is a 1972 Iranian black and white movie directed by Bahram Bayzai. It follows the teacher Mr. Hekmati who moves to a new town and attempts to integrate with the new environment. It focuses on his efforts to improve the school he teaches at, his relationships with others in the community and his attempts to find love.
Plot Mr. Hekmati (Parviz Fanizadeh), a new teacher at a school in the south of the city, kicks one of his students, Musayyib (Abbas Dastaranj), out of the classroom when he first enters. Musayyib's sister, Atefeh (Parvaneh Masoumi), goes to Mr. Hekmati to protest, and Hekmati expresses his interest in her. Mr. Rahim (Manouchehr Farid), the local butcher, also has a crush on Musayyib's sister. On the other hand, Mr. Modir (Mohammad Ali Keshavarz) and his wife (Parvin Soleimani) want to marry their daughter (Farkhundeh Barvar) to Mr. Hekmati; but Hekmati does not pay attention to the director's daughter. To fill his free time, Hekmati decides to renovate the school's dilapidated and abandoned theater alone. Mr. Rahim threatens him several times to get Mr. Hekmati out of the love arena, but Hekmati's relationship with Atefeh deepens. The school's theater opens with a theatrical program, after which the order to transfer Hekmati is communicated to him, and he is forced to leave the school and the neighborhood.
Cast Parviz Fannizadeh – Hekmati Parvaneh Massoumi – Atefeh Mohammad-Ali Keshavarz – Nazem Manuchehr Farid – Rahim
About the film Although the film circulated in various VHS and digital formats, mostly in poor quality, the only known surviving original copy of the film was a positive print with English subtitles in possession of the film maker; badly damaged with scratches, perforation tears and mid-frame splices. Restoration required a considerable amount of both physical and digital repair.
Restored in 2011 by Cineteca di Bologna/L'Immagine Ritrovata laboratory, in association with The Film Foundation's World Cinema Project and Bahram Beyzai, the film drew quite some international attention and was shown in Italy and the US. Martin Scorsese remarked:
And Bahram Beyzai noted about his revisionist attitude that,
References
External links
Downpour: Furtive Glances an essay by Hamid Naficy at the Criterion Collection