Hassan, the Bald (1970)
Inspired by Iranian folk tales and reputed as the first Iranian musical movie, the film follows the story of the lazybones congenitally bald Hassan who is tricked out of the house by his mother. Then he learns about Chelgis, a girl kidnapped and kept by an ogre in his enchanted garden. Smitten by her beauty, Hassan tries to find a way to save her. In a public bathroom, he encounters his doppelganger. The doppelganger promises to fulfill his wishes in return for a fraction of his life. But when fulfilled, his wishes do not emerge the same he envisioned…
Watch Trailer
Cast
Similar titles
Reviews
Nice effects though.
Highly Overrated But Still Good
Good movie but grossly overrated
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
At first glance, this is just an old Iranian folk tale. My late grandma used to tell me the story of this lazy boy, Hassan, who was one day tricked by his mother to leave the house.As a child, I had watched this film. Naturally, being young, I could not grasp anything meaningful from this movie beyond the literal and visual representations of scenes. I watched this again, as a grown woman, and wow... Was I amazed at how much I had missed! Using the folk tale and a simpleton as the main character, this film manages to provide a very unique critique of society in general, while being entertainingly musical, rich and beautiful. It brings to the surface many issues such as single parenthood, status of women, abuse, rape, treatment of children, marital relationships, social responsibility, honesty, friendships, integrity and so much more.Not to be missed... especially if you call yourself Iranian!Enjoy! (Since it's an old film, I even found a full version, free, online.)
It is a collection of great Persian melodies. Esfandiar Monfaredzadeh and Babak Bayat have made a great memory refreshing music. It could just be sold separately as a Music piece. The only place I wish there was a different music chosen was in the scene Hassan and Chelgis got together in the wedding night and its love scene. The writing has kept the dramatic and symbolic elements ,though it has not kept its consistency through the film. Using apple as a Love-Sin symbol has given a myth face to the movie which is totally separable than the other pictures. After all it is one of best pictures of Ali Hatami. We should not forget when he has made and comparing with FilmFarsi genre is a masterpiece, and maybe if he kept his was in musical could be much more influence in the history of cinema.