Hafez - 32nd HKIFF

A overall solid solo effort by Iranian film maker, Abolfazl Jalili for a poetic love story/myth set in the modern days of rural Iran, whether religions (or rather, the faith of religion) rules about everything, including love. This is really a moive about a love story between the protagonist, who is an Koran teacher/poet/artist and the beautiful, yet oddly casted Tibetian girl (which played by Japenese actress, Kumiko Aso), a love story which doesn't really go anywhere as their relationship, if any, are prohibited in so many layers.

The name, "Hafez", was the name of the male protagonist which is also the name of one of the greatest poets in the Persian world, whose works were mainly deal with love and mysticism. The film certainly tried hard to achieve that level of mystical romance, esp during the stage whether Hafez needs to find 7 virgins to clean his "mirror", it even had a sense of mythical feeling towards it. Yet, it only tight up for so long before audience becomes confused about what happened on screen, whether it is real or just some myth. The Japanese cast, despite her charm and beauty, was very uneasy to fit in such story (and the fact that everytime when she appears on screen, the same tibetian music plays along, makes her appearance even more annoying).