Ekhrajiha

Infobox Film
name = Ekhrajiha


caption = Poster of "Ekhrajiha"
director = Masoud Dehnamaki
producer = Habibollah Kasehsaz
writer = Masoud Dehnamaki
starring = Akbar Abdi
Amin Hayai
Mohamad Reza Sharifinia
Kambiz Dirbaz
music = Fereydoun Shahbazian
cinematography = Hassan Pouya
editing = Reza Baharangiz
distributor = Filmiran
released = March 7, 2007
runtime = 104 min.
language = Persian
budget =
amg_id =
imdb_id =

"Ekhrajiha" (PerB|"اخراجی ها", Lang-en|The Outcasts) is a 2007 Iranian film, written and directed by Masoud Dehnamaki, set during the Iran–Iraq War.

The film is Dehnamaki's first feature film, after he directed two documentaries about social problems in Iran. Dehnamaki is known to be one of Iran's most extreme ultra-conservatives, with his viewpoints being extremely controversial.

The film had also broken all box-office records in Iran, earning nearly 1 billion toman only twenty-eight days after its release [ [http://www.cinemaema.com/NewsArticle2074.html سينمای ما - اخراجی ها یک میلیارد را رد کرد ] ] and finishing its run with slightly more than 2 billion toman. Additionally the film is one of few Iranian war movies in which the heroes are extremely flawed and shown to commit acts often viewed as "immoral" by authorities in Iran.

Plot

The movie, set in 1988 begins when Majid (Kambiz Dirbaz), a local thug from Southern Tehran is freed from prison along with his friend Amir (Arzhang Amirfazli). To avoid embarrassment, Majid and his friends have told his family and neighborhood that Majid is returning from Hajj at Mecca. His lie though is revealed after some mistakes by Amir and his other friend Bayram (Akbar Abdi).

Majid has been attempting to show that he is an honorable man so he can marry Narges (Niousha Zeyghami), the daughter of Mirza (Manouchehr Azar); a pious man in the neighborhood. Bayram on the other hand wants to marry Majid's sister Marzieh (Negar Forouzandeh). In order to impress Narges and her father, Majid decides he must go to the front and fight against the Iraqi Army during.

Majid, Amir, Bayram, Mostafa (Alireza Osivand), Bijan (Amin Hayai) and a local musician sign up for the war and head off to training. Here they are met with opposition by Haj Saleh (Mohamad Reza Sharifinia) and Kamali (Ghasem Zareh), who question their faith as Majid and his friends don't pray, gamble, use foul language, smoke and use drugs. They are eventually kicked out of training but with the help of an acquaintance from the neighborhood named Morteza (Javad Hashemi) they are allowed to go back to training.

Morteza attempts to "reform" Majid and his friends as they go through the last days of the Iran–Iraq War.

Awards and nominations

25th Fajr Film Festival

Wins

* Viewer's Choice for Best Film

Nominations

* Best Set & Costume Design
* Best Special Effects

Cast

Main cast

* Akbar Abdi - Bayram
* Kambiz Dirbaz - Majid
* Mohamad Reza Sharifinia - Haj Saleh
* Amin Hayai - Bijan
* Arzhang Amirfazli - Amir
* Alireza Osivand - Mostafa

upporting cast

* Manouchahr Azar - Mirza
* Javad Hashemi - Morteza
* Ghasem Zareh - Kamali
* Negar Forouzandeh - Marzieh
* Niousha Zeyghami - Narges
* Mina Jafarzadeh - Bayram's mother
* Fakhreddin Sedigh Sharif - Cleric

Response

The movie was not viewed positively by most Iranian critics, and was not awarded any major prizes from festivals. "Ekhrajiha" was released nationwide in Iran on March 7, 2007, and grossed 1 billion toman in its first 28 days on screen, finishing its nationwide release with a box office take of roughly 2 billion toman. [ [http://aftab.ir/news/2007/sep/26/c5c1190795683_art_culture_cinema_cinema.php Set Cookies ] ] . This means the movie at the time was highest grossing movie in Iranian cinema, surpassing Tahmineh Milani's Atash Bas. Tofighe Ejbari is currently the highest grossing movie of all time in Iranian cinema, with Ekhrajiha in a close second.

Nearly one month after the release of the movie, high quality bootlegs of the movie were being sold in Iran, even though the movie was still playing in cinemas. [ [http://www.cinemaema.com/NewsArticle2093.html سينمای ما - مسعود ده‌نمکی: عواملی همچون خیانت در امانت یکی از سینماهای تهران در کنار دوستان دیرینم در روزنامه همشهری موجب توزیع غیر قانونی اخراجی ها شد ] ] . Dehnamaki accused Hamshahri newspaper employees of being responsible for the release of the bootlegs.

References

External links

* [http://iranact.com/cinema/Movies/showmovies.asp?id=1455 Ekhrajiha] at [http://www.iranact.com IranAct.com]
* [http://www.ekhrajiiha.blogfa.com/ Blog containing reviews and information about the movie]
* [http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_JDVTDVV A comic film about a grim subject] in The Economist 2007-04-19, p.42