UNDER THE MOONLIGHT

Iran, 2001, 96 minutes, Colour.
Hossein Parastar.
Directed by Reza Mir Karimi.

This film shows a contemporary Iran, contemporary Tehran, with its focus on a young man who has come from the country to train as a mullah. Quite some detail is shown of the young man’s life in a religious training institution as well as his learning the meaning of the Koran and who it is to be put into practice as well as preached.

He is somewhat restless, not sure of his vocation. He is criticised by the head of the theological college (who, while very loyal to the traditions of the Koran and the prophet, is not against modern change and, especially, having a mobile phone).

The young man shows some kindness to a street kid who, while the student is not looking on the underground train, steals the young man's cloth for his official garments. They have been rather costly for him and he is quite attached to them. He tries to find the boy again to get his cloth back. What happens is that his eyes are opened up to the world beyond the world of training, the world of the poor of the city, a community living under a bridge, the prostitute sister of the young boy. This transforms his whole perception on his role as a mullah. He is tempted to leave. He sells his books to buy food for the poor. However, he finally finishes the course and visits the young lad in prison. His ministry will be different.

The film offers an excellent opportunity for a dialogue between Christianity and Islam. The values of the film are also those of those of the Gospels and of the option for the poor. Interesting comparisons could be made with such film as The Nun's Story, Priest or, especially, Mass Appeal.

Director Reza Mir Karimi makes film with explicit connotations like Here, A Shining Light (2003) where the keeper of a shrine has to go away for a time and entrusts the running of the shrine to a simple man who gives everything away to the poor or explores life-meaning values.

This is a simple but fine film which crosses cultural and religious boundaries.

The city settings are important for the relevance of the film and its message. There is the college, the underground and the trains, the busy streets. This contrasts with the bridge and the marginalised community under the bridge.

Basic insights into Islam are communicated in the school sequences and the training of the young men to be mullahs, which for western audiences is very interesting for comparisons with Christian seminaries and theological colleges. The students have to work diligently, especially with the reading of the Koran. A young novice asks questions of Muslim ‘canon law’ and shows his scrupulosity? Not that life in the seminary is ultra-serious. There is some horseplay with the washing of the carpets. But, the expected sequences are also there, the classes, the interviews with the head of the school, the graduation ceremonies.

The young man has made an important journey for his vocation, coming from the country, educated religiously by his grandfather to whom he feels some debt and responsibility and the tradition of religious leadership in the village. In Tehran, he ventures outside the institution, travelling on public transport, observing people. This brings criticism from the head? Yet, he decides to spend the money and buy the cloth for his robes. Meeting the young boy selling the chewing gum is a turning point in his vocation. What starts as being upset because of being robbed, becomes a quest to find the boy. But, what he finds are the boy’s connections and his other robberies in the trains. He pursues the boy and finds him and to meet him on the bridge ‘under the moonlight’.

He discovers a group of poor men under the bridge, types a letter of appeal for help, encounters a blind man and his music as well as a mentally handicapped man who is full of joy? He delights in their presence, their interactions and their singing. They include him as one of them living under the bridge. He experiences some shocks to his religious sensibilities in his encounter with the boy's sister, a prostitute. He helps a man fix his car - and then see him pick up the woman.

He decides to sell his books and buy food for the poor. When he returns, he finds the bridge cleared, the group has disappeared, and he finds the letter still in the typewriter. However, he does rescue the sister and takes her to hospital.

Dramatically, the finale leads the audience into thinking that he would go back to his village. This is not the case. Despite his experiences and his criticisms of the limits of his training he decides to go on to be a religious leader? Symbolically, he visits the boy in prison and repeats the palm reading that the boy had done for him.

Under the Moonlight highlights the practical and pastoral dimensions of Islam.

1. The impact of the film? Teheran at the beginning of the 21st century? Iran and Islam?

2. The city settings, the college, the underground, the streets? The contrast with the bridge, the community under the bridge? The musical score?

3. The insights into Islam: the school and the training of the young men to be mullahs, their diligent study, reading of the Koran, the young novice and his questions of canon law and his scrupulosity? Life in the seminary, the rooms, study, the horseplay with the washing of the carpets, the classes, the interviews with the head of the school, the graduation ceremonies? Comparisons with Christianity and the West?

4. The journey of the young man: his coming from the country, his grandfather and the tradition of religious leadership in the village, his opportunities? His not being sure? Travelling on the transport, observing people? Being criticised by the head? His friendship with his roommate? The life of the seminary and its detail? His decision to spend the money and buying the cloth? Meeting the young boy, selling the chewing gum? His being robbed? His return, finding the boy, seeing his connections and his other robberies in the transport? Pursuing the boy - and being arrested by the police? Finding him, their discussions? His agreeing to meet him on the bridge? Discovering the group of poor men under the bridge, the typing of the letter of appeal for help, the blind man and his music, the mentally handicapped man and his joy? Their interactions, their singing? His delight in their presence? Their including him as those living under the bridge? His encounter with the boy's sister, prostitute, his helping the man fix his car - and then see him pick her up? His selling the books and buying food for the poor? His return, the clearing of the bridge, the disappearance of the group, finding the letter in the typewriter? His rescuing the sister and taking her to hospital?

5. The finale and audiences thinking he would go back to his village? His decision to go on to be a religious leader? His visiting the boy in prison and repeating the palm reading that the boy had done for him? A future?

6. The role of Islam in Iranian society? The modernisation of Iran? The dialogue between tradition and the future?