| Summary: | In an old, crumbling building occupied by four families, butcher Abbas Agha declares himself the legal representative of the landlord. Tempted by a housing agency to take over the house, Abbas Agha stops the lodgers from repairing the house. In the end, the house crumbles and the lodgers are physically and financially hurt. This cinematic satire uses the unhappy relations between landlords and tenants to reflect larger national realities. As Iranian critic, Behzad Eshqi, noted: 'In 1987, Dariush Mehrjui's The Lodgers became a turning point in the Iranian comic cinema and was called the best comedy in the history of Iranian film. Mehrjui had not made a new film for a while and his return to the Iranian cinema was conditional on making a film that would attract public attention. However, The Lodgers was not solely a comedy, but a new phenomenon in the history of Iranian comedies in terms of structure and theme. Mehrjui used slapstick as well as situation comedy in his film, which was an unprecedented experience in Iranian cinema. Various characters of the film did not make people laugh through their grimaces or verbal jokes, but it was the absurd situation of those characters that made people laugh; situations that were outwardly ridiculous, but inwardly tragic and which revealed regretful conditions of a society where various classes are fighting each other due to social and economic original discrepancies.' Awards/Festivals: Golden Plaque for Best Sound-Recording 5th Fajr International Film Festival 1987.
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