The Fish Fall in Love

This début film by the Iranian theatre director Ali Raffi looks at a subject that has often been tackled in Iranian cinema: the return of an emigrant to his fatherland after long years of absence. Raffi combines this theme with a more personal and complex story about two ex-lovers who meet up again after a long time. After 25 years, Aziz returns to the small town where he is from, somewhere on the coast of the Caspian Sea. On the way, he meets a young man who will turn up again at the end of the story to provide the answer to the confusion of emotional complications that have emerged in the meantime. In Aziz' old house, a successful restaurant is now situated that is run by Atjeh with her daughter and two of her girlfriends. The women have done good business, created fantastic and delicious dishes and seem happy and satisfied with their lives - until Aziz turns up. Atjeh is gripped by emotion and confusion: while she is filled with a reawakening of affection for Aziz, she is also afraid that he wants his house back, as a result of which the women would all lose their home and their income. This beautifully filmed and colourful work reveals a new and modern side to Iranian women from a small town. A delightful and detailed look at complex human emotions, that can be compared with a culinary delicacy. (LC)