Synopsis

An old, crumbling building is occupied by four families. Abbas Agha – a butcher who lives on the ground flor – has declared himself the legal representative of the landlord.

Encouraged by a housing agency to take over the house, Abbas Agha prevents the lodgers from repairing the house. Finally, the house crumbles and occupants are physically and financially hurt.

This barbed cinematic satire takes place in a claptrap apartment building in Tehran where the extremely unharmonious relations between landlords and tenants are meant to reflect larger national realities.

As a nasty realtor works to evict the tenants from the disintegrating low-rise in order to sell it to German developers, the rentors band together and start repairing the wreck. "The ensuing slapstick," writes Rita Kemley in the Washington Post, "affords a mostly secular look at life in the Islamic republic....

The actors, apparently disciples of Curly, Larry and Moe, give Westerners an altogether different view of the Iranian Everyman." (Commentary taken from Iran Media)

Cast: Akbar Abdi, Ezzatolah Entezami, Hamideh Kheirabadi, Farimah Farjami, Iraj Rad, Hossein Sarshar, Reza Rooygari, Ferdous Kaviani, Niaz Salimi, Siavash Tahmoures, Nasrin Ghasemzadeh, Manouchehr Hamedi, Ali Naghi Kani, Shahin Fardtombekiyan, Safar Kashkooli, Farhad Khan Mohammad, Rahman Moghaddam, Manizheh Salimi, Shapoor Shahidi, Yarta Yaran