The Deer

This is a very powerful film about a lifelong friendship that endures even in the worst of times. It is also has a revolutionary message decrying the inequities of life in pre-revolutionary Iran as exemplified by Behrouz Vossoughi's convincing and moving portrayal of the former leader of all his classmates whose life had been ruined by drugs, but who still retains a flicker of his former self..

According to the credits of the showing of this film as part of the National Museum of Asian Art's annual Festival of Iranian films, after its premiere at the Tehran International Film festival in November 1974, SAVAK, the notorious pre-revolution secret police, detained the director and forced him to change the ending. He was also ordered to add new dialogue, changing the identity of the man on the run from an urban guerilla to a bank robber. The museum's showing restored the original ending. Apparently it is still banned in Iran---i.e., it's too revolutionary even for the revolutionaries.

The film's atmosphere reminded me of Andrzej Wajda's "Ashes and Diamonds."