Dir: Reza Mir-Karimi. Iran. 2001. 96mins.

The accessible face of Iranian cinema, Reza Mir-Karimi's second feature Under The Moonlight (Zir-E Nour-E Mah) tells the involving story of a young seminary student's crisis of vocation. Less austere and forbidding than many of the most critically lauded Iranian features of late, it is therefore more likely to connect with a wider audience drawn in by its humanity, humour and uncharacteristically hopeful resolution. It still casts a critical gaze over some of the country's most sacred institutions, which suggests its broader appeal can be successfully marketed without losing the hardcore audiences and critics who supported the international exposure of such titles as Through The Olive Trees, The White Balloon and Blackboards. Certainly winning the Grand Prix at Critics' Week has dealt its chances of wider exposure no harm.

A neo-realist drama with a sprinkling of feel good sentiment, the film is successfully carried by the understated simplicity of the central performance from Hossein Parastar as seminary student Seyyed Hassan. Nearing the completion of his studies, he has a marked reluctance to acquire the turban and robes that signal his final readiness to accept his calling as a mullah. Family traditions and expectations weigh heavily on his mind and he shrinks from the legacy of a grandfather whose spiritual influence was considerable. Hassan's doubts and uncertainties are contrasted with the total faith and commitment of a devout novice who wishes to do everything by the book.

His hesitation is underlined when a boy from the streets steals the fabric meant for his turban and robes. His search for the boy leads him to a bridge in the city that provides shelter for a boisterous, rag tag collection of lost souls and down-and-outs who he befriends. Bringing food and compassion, he finds a far greater sense of his vocation on the streets of the city than he was ever able to discover in the rigid teachings and cloistered comfort of the seminary.

Interesting enough in its own right, Hassan's story has diversions and deviations that allow Reza Mir-Karimi to comment on a variety of issues in Iranian society. These include everything from signs of the influence of Western culture on a younger generation (children scoff crisps on the subway and sell chewing gum on the streets) to the lack of respect accorded members of the clergy and the satirical jibes at a self-regarding religious establishment that seems unconcerned by its inability to connect with the common people. In its own deceptively simple way, the film is as critical and questioning as many films with a more overtly political agenda.

In an upbeat ending, Hassan embraces his newfound perspective on the world and accepts his commitment to a religious life. This may seem like an act of appeasement to the forces of censorship almost like the last minute punishment of the bad guys that forgave Hollywood its sins of violence and mayhem under the old Hays Code. However, it is defensible within the structure of the story, and is an acceptable decision by a character who has reached a crossroads and found his own way to the path taken by his forefathers.

The upbeat ending also seems to more fairly reflect the director's stated intention to tell "simple and humane stories" that offer "a hopeful look to the future". Although it might benefit from a little trimming, particularly in the lengthy scenes with the bridge dwellers, this is otherwise nicely judged and should secure the director the same extensive Festival exposure that greeted his 2000 debut The Child And The Soldier.

Prod co Farabi Cinema Foundation, Tehran

Int'l SalesFarabi Cinema Foundation

ProdManouchehr Mohammadi

ScrReza Mir-Karimi

CinematographyHamid Khozouee-Abyaneh

Prod Des Reza Torabi

Ed Nazanin Mofakham

MusMohammad Reza Aligholi

Main Cast Hossein Parastar, Hamed Rajabali, Mehran Rajabi.