Rayting:
7.5/
10 7.8K votes
Language: Persian
Release date: 1 February 2007
Not being able to work because of the religious country's prejudice against music, a talented Santour player has to deal with poverty, addiction and the absence of his ex wife.
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User Reviews
I watched this movie recently, it was truly one of the best Persian movies I ever watched. I like the way it shows young loves, when you are young and deeply in love and you will do crazy things and these all are just fine, but nothing good last forever and when hard situations comes and it seems like nobody believes in you and what you do in your life, you just doubt yourself and by that you will lose everything.
this movie shows how things can get hard when you are young and immature and you've got different ideas, interests and goals than others. how things can get hard when there's nobody to support you but love of your life. but if you don't do carefully you can lose her/him too.
plus this actually shows Iran Society and young Iranian people's problems. such a shame to say there are a lot of people like Ali in Iran, losing all they got and dying in loneliness.
Fmovies: Despite being born and raised in Iran till age 12, I hate watching Iranian movies. However, The Music Man, is by far among one of my all time favorite movies both for the great story and flawless analysis on the messed up society in Iran. Don't get me wrong, I do not hate the government or anyone who is in power. I hate how people are taking advantage of the weak and unorganized rules. P.S. The sound tracks used are AMAZING.
Every now and then an Iranian film comes around that is moving, conveys a message like no other. Director, Mehrjui does a great job creating an atmosphere where one truly feels society's issues in regards to drug addiction. There has been a stereotype for some time now that young Iranians in the music industry are prone to becoming submerged in a world of drugs, alcohol and womanizing habits. Although this is a false stereotype, Mehrjui does a great job telling a story of Ali Santoori, a man, whose traditional family turns his back on him and tells him to choose between his "santoor" instrument and his family. Ali of course, chooses, his instrument, and successfully becomes Iran's top pop performer. Meanwhile, he also meets and marries a wonderful young woman, Hanieh (Farahani), and his life seems to be on a great track. But as the story goes, Ali, becomes depressed and gets more and more addicted to drugs due to the government cracking down on his music.
Both Bahram Radan (Ali Santoori character) and Golshifteh Farahani give magnificent performances. Mehrjui style of telling the story is first-rate, using great shots, flashbacks, and flawless incorporation of music. The music cooperation between composer Ardavan Kamkar, a traditional santoor player, and composer, and MOhsen Chavoshi, top pop singer, is innovative, new and very well suited. Overall, this film achieves on every level, as it carries the audience through every range of emotion its characters feel, something Iranian films rarely do. Quite possibly the best Iranian film I have ever seen
The Music Man fmovies. this film show really how is life in Iran full of sad full of way for be Addict and no way for fun and sport.shame of me this is my home town.in the park.every where you can think about it you can simply find H or everything you want or find Addict.then you can feel well this place.this film is only film i feel can show really life just has a little problem.OK i just must say maybe this film only for us(Iranian) be good and someone in out of Iran see this say its so bad for example some France people when see this actually don't interesting this cause this film just wanna say pain of Iranian. in the end of i wanna proposal every one in everywhere please see this movie and find out Iranian people have not really fault for have life like this
...........................................................from Pasto,Colombia...Via: L.A. CA., CALI, COLOMBIA...and ORLANDO, FL
Hanieh has reached the breaking point. She feels her drug addict musician husband, Ali, has become the anchor that is drowning her in a vortex of despair..."Do you think I want this?" She shrieks despondently..."I want to be FREE!" Yes, Hanieh, you and 34 million other Iranian women! Sometimes it takes a foreign gem like this one to underscore just how lucky we are here in the U.S.A.; where we can rent, view, enjoy and discuss this film with impunity. No secret police bursting down our door at 3 in the morning...No Siree!
Irony of ironies: Owning "Santoori" on DVD, or showing it, is very serious offense in Iran. Worse now, I would imagine in light of the recent police state crackdown: "Only a terrorist agent of the Great Satan would possess this propaganda!" Of course, Santoori is many things ...Subversive is not one of them! The film is a cinematic ode to Iranian music, and how sweet, lyrical and hypnotic it is! The Santour is a traditional Persian instrument. (BTW, on Wikipedia and every place else, the spelling is SANTOURI: THE MUSIC MAN...IMDb: What's Up With the Alternate Spelling?) Santouri means both player of the Santour and music man, hence, the film's title.
There is a definite dark side. Ali's pronounced slide into the most abysmal rock bottom imaginable. True, there have been numerable movies that have dealt with a musician's addiction(s), but watching a story unfold in Farsi(Persian), undeniably puts a fresh spin on this topic! Goldshifteh Farahani(Hanieh) is quite the gifted actress, displaying a versatility of range and the most fluid and natural of deliveries I have seen in any Iranian actor to date!
There is one scene, as a newlywed, where she seems to exude joy on a cellular level! Unfortunately, Santouri does have one inescapable shortcoming: The subtitles are, at times, practically impossible to follow. There are a few scenes in the film where you might want to back-skip and play at 1/2 speed to read them methodically! So outstanding, this film, that I'm planning to add it to my DVD collection. 9* dropped to 8* because of the rushed subtitles.
....ENJOY/DISFRUTELA!
Every now and then an Iranian film comes around that is moving, conveys a message like no other. Director, Mehrjui does a great job creating an atmosphere where one truly feels society's issues in regards to drug addiction. There has been a stereotype for some time now that young Iranians in the music industry are prone to becoming submerged in a world of drugs, alcohol and womanizing habits. Although this is a false stereotype, Mehrjui does a great job telling a story of Ali Santoori, a man, whose traditional family turns his back on him and tells him to choose between his "santoor" instrument and his family. Ali of course, chooses, his instrument, and successfully becomes Iran's top pop performer. Meanwhile, he also meets and marries a wonderful young woman, Hanieh (Farahani), and his life seems to be on a great track. But as the story goes, Ali, becomes depressed and gets more and more addicted to drugs due to the government cracking down on his music.
Both Bahram Radan (Ali Santoori character) and Golshifteh Farahani give magnificent performances. Mehrjui style of telling the story is first-rate, using great shots, flashbacks, and flawless incorporation of music. The music cooperation between composer Ardavan Kamkar, a traditional santoor player, and composer, and MOhsen Chavoshi, top pop singer, is innovative, new and very well suited. Overall, this film achieves on every level, as it carries the audience through every range of emotion its characters feel, something Iranian films rarely do. Quite possibly the best Iranian film I have ever seen. 10/10