The social bitter drama 'Lantouri' (literally meaning ineffectual) written and directed by the Iranian young filmmaker Reza Dormishian has started screening since August 3, and has been enthusiastically received by the viewers.
As a huge number of filmgoers rushed to see the movie over the opening weekend (first three days), the film grossed $160,000. Considering the average ticket price of $1.85, it indicates that over 86,500 people watched the film in Tehran, cinetmag.com reported.
The film has been rated -16, which bars any person under the age of 16 to watch the movie as violent scenes inappropriate for the younger audience have been included. 'Lantouri' is made in a pseudo-documentary form centering on real cases of acid attacks and retribution.
It debuted at the 34th Fajr International Film Festival in February and came as a surprise because due to the huge reception by the audience lots of extra showings were dedicated to it.
In the movie, a young journalist Maryam spurns a boy, Pasha, who expresses his love for her. Pasha takes revenge by splashing acid on Maryam‘s face causing her to lose her sight. Maryam seeks retribution and asks for the "eye for eye" punishment according to the sharia laws.
The movie has so far been chosen for Berlinale’s Panorama section and the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in Czech Republic. The cast includes Navid Mohammadzadeh, Maryam Palizban, Baran Kosari, Mehdi Kooshki, Bahram Afshari and Behnaz Jafari among others.
Born in Tehran, Dormishian, 35, has made three feature films so far, all dealing with social issues, especially matters regarding the youth.
Prior to filmmaking, he worked with a variety of top Iranian directors as screenwriter and assistant, including Dariush Mehrjui and Alireza Davoudnejad.
In 2002 he began shooting his own shorts and documentaries. His critically acclaimed feature debut 'Hatred' (2012) was screened at the Montreal and Warsaw festivals. His sophomore effort 'I’m Not Angry!' (2014) premiered in Panorama at the Berlinale but is still having screening problems locally.
If the trend of ticket sales continues in the coming weeks, 'Lantouri' will end up as one of the top five bestseller movies of the year. Interestingly, it is the second drama this year which has attracted a mass audience.
The first bitter drama this year was 'Life+1Day' which also featured Navid Mohammadzadeh who has proved his acting abilities in the few films he has appeared in. The movie has grossed $3.3 million in the country and is currently ranked fourth in the top 10 movies.
