Qeysar (film)

Qeysar
Directed byMasoud Kimiai
Written byMasoud Kimiai
StarringBehrouz Vossoughi
Pouri Banai
Naser Malek Motiee
Jamshid Mashayekhi
Bahman Mofid
Music byEsfandiar Monfaredzadeh
Release date
  • 1969 (1969)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryIran
LanguagePersian

Qeysar (Persian: قیصر; English: Caesar; alternative titles in English include: Qaiser,[1] and Gheisar)[2] is a 1969 film by Iranian filmmaker Masoud Kimiai. The film was considered a "landmark in the Iranian cinema"[3] and led to a new trend for brooding noir dramas in which outraged family honor is avenged.[4]

Behrooz Vossoughi as the eponymous hero Qeysar, became a well known actor in Iranian cinema.[5] Sadegh Khalkhali, an Iranian Shia cleric and politician, spoke openly in 1980 about this film no longer to be shown after the Iranian Revolution.[6]

It was remade in Turkish as Alın Yazısı (1972) starring Cüneyt Arkın.[7][8][9]

Plot

Behrouz Vossoughi in Qeysar, 1969 (film still)

A young woman, Fati, dies in a hospital. Her family is devastated when they discover her death was self-inflicted. She leaves a letter revealing her suicide is a result of being raped by Mansour Ab-Mangol—the brother of a friend who did nothing to stop it.[2] Fati's older brother Farman, an ex street thug who now runs a butcher-shop, decides to confront Mansour. His uncle persuades him not to exact revenge; Farman struggles with his anger, and ultimately decides to give up his knife before confronting Mansour.

Farman's encounter with Mansour quickly degenerates into a fight, as Mansour's two younger brothers, Karim and Rahim, stand back and watch. Farman strangles Mansour, nearly killing the man. Rahim tells Karim to save their brother; Karim furiously stabs Farman, killing him. The three brothers dispose of Farman's body in a wasteland, planting the knife he was stabbed with next to him.

Qeysar, Farman's younger brother who works in Khuzestan, returns home bearing gifts for his family, only to find his siblings dead and his mother and uncle devastated. Despite his uncle's protests, Qeysar decides to take revenge, swearing to kill all three Ab-Mangol brothers one by one. He follows Karim to a public bath, where he stabs him to death in a shower cubicle.[10] He then seeks out Rahim, and finds him working in a slaughterhouse. Qeysar murders Rahim, leaving him butchered amid the cattle.

The revenge spree is set aside when Qeysar is distracted by a former lover, Azam, only until he realizes he must abandon his love to finish off the path of revenge he has started.

Mansour goes into hiding, desperately afraid for his life. By this time the police have realized that Qeysar is the primary suspect in the murders; they pursue him. Qeysar's mother dies, only aggravating matters and strengthening Qeysar's desire for revenge. The police pursue Qeysar at his mother's funeral, but he manages to elude them.

He learns that Mansour has a girlfriend, Soheila Ferdos, an erotic dancer and singer. He visits Soheila and seduces her. She takes him back to her apartment, where he discovers the location of Mansour's hideout, a railway siding. Qeysar makes his way straight for Mansour. Mansour spots him and attempts to escape; Qeysar catches him. The two men fight. Mansour stabs Qeysar, badly wounding him, and flees from the scene.

The Police arrive, forcing Mansour back in the direction he came, back towards the wounded Qeysar, who summons just enough strength to kill Mansour in a final fight.

Qeysar stands tall, but only for a moment. The police spot him and he attempts to flee but is shot in the leg. Badly wounded, he tries to hide in an old train carriage. The police move in on him.

Cast

References

  1. ^ a b c Naficy, Hamid (2011-09-16). A Social History of Iranian Cinema, Volume 2: The Industrializing Years, 1941–1978. Duke University Press. p. 299. ISBN 978-0-8223-4774-3.
  2. ^ a b Ghorbankarimi, Maryam (2015-10-13). A Colourful Presence: The Evolution of Women's Representation in Iranian Cinema. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-4438-8469-3.
  3. ^ Cinemaya: The Asian Film Magazine, Issues 22-26, A. Vasudev, 1993.
  4. ^ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Women In Islamic Cinema, Reaktion Books, 2004, pp.38-39.
  5. ^ "Iranian Cinema: Massoud Kimiaei". Iran Chamber Society. Retrieved 2022-01-27.
  6. ^ "صادق خلخالی: اگر همه سینما‌ها هم تعطیل شوند نباید فیلم قیصر را به نمایش گذاشت" [Sadegh Khalkhali: If all cinemas are closed, Qaysar should not be shown]. fa (in Persian). Entekhab.ir. July 3, 2020. Retrieved 2022-01-27.
  7. ^ "İzlemeyen Çok Şey Kaybeder! Onedio Editörleri Olarak Bu Ay İzleyip Önerdiğimiz 13 Dizi/Film".
  8. ^ "Cüneyt Arkın Filmleri | Tüm Zamanların en İyi 22 Cüneyt Arkın Filmi". 4 January 2020.
  9. ^ "Alın Yazısı (1972): Bir Zamanlar İstanbul - Cüneyt Arkın, Erol Taş". 27 January 2013.
  10. ^ a b Askari, Kaveh (2022-01-25). Relaying Cinema in Midcentury Iran: Material Cultures in Transit. University of California Press. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-520-97435-7.
  11. ^ Mathijs, Ernest; Sexton, Jamie (2019-11-22). The Routledge Companion to Cult Cinema. Routledge. p. 216. ISBN 978-1-317-36223-4.
  12. ^ Sayed, Asma (2016-02-01). Screening Motherhood in Contemporary World Cinema. Demeter Press. p. 390. ISBN 978-1-77258-046-4.
  13. ^ Seyyed Mostafa Mousavi Sabet (2020-08-17). ""Qeisar" star Bahman Mofid passes on at 78". Tehran Times. Retrieved 2022-01-26.