Here is renewed proof (if any were needed) that Iran punches above its weight in the international arthouse cinema stakes.

The male protagonist here is Khosro (Navid Mohammadzadeh), a widely venerated pop star who’s a crabby curmudgeon with a long-suffering wife and a five-year-old son. Initially, the dialogue is funny (though nervy), but it’s giving nothing away to say that there is a troubling undercurrent. The film’s title may well allude to William Faulkner’s novel, The Sound And The Fury, and it begins with a quote from him – “Life has taught me that many things may not be what they appear to be” – which makes us anticipate complexity. We know that something goes horribly wrong because we see Khosro being interviewed by the police. He has a particularly admiring female fan called Hanna (Tannaz Tabatabayi). Beyond that, the less you know about this story going in the better.

Sound And Fury just gets more impressive and compelling as it goes on. It’s well acted, the script is clever and sardonic, the mood is measured, the suspense is Hitchcockian, and the major characters are all interesting. As if those qualities were not enough to recommend it, the painterly cinematography and composition – part muted colours, part black-and-white – are exquisitely conceived and realised. And the sombre music (both vocal and instrumental) is marvelously apt and evocative. Just once the tone and style arguably become too histrionic, but overall it’s a stunner.

Sound And Fury will screen at The Iranian Film Festival Australia, which will play in Brisbane (October 20-23), Melbourne (October 27-November 1), Adelaide (November 3-6), Sydney (November 10-13), Canberra (November 11-13) and Perth (November 17-20). For more on Sound And Fury and to buy tickets, head to the official site.

Share: