Persian Class

In part due to the release of the film Troy, PBS Home Video and Paramount have issued a fine three-part documentary look at The Spartans (2003), hosted by the very well spoken historian Bettany Hughes. On location, riding all over Greece, miss Hughes tells us the story in chronological order with little overlap between the three shows.

For nearly a hundred years, these steel, grey-skinned battlewagons have fought off everything from Al Qaeda to dive-bombing Kamikazes. Some returned from the hell of war to become major tourist attractions for new generations. Others continue to patrol the world's trouble-spots in America's latest war. History Classics: Hero Ships profiles the complete combat history and evolving technology of a single American ship, often through multiple conflicts.

Writer/director Asghar Farhadi offers this revealing look at the Iranian middle class by examining how one simple lie can open up a Pandora's box of problems. In the wake of his failed marriage in Germany, Ahmad (Shahab Hosseini) returns to Tehran. With the holidays approaching, Ahmad's friend Sepideh (Golshifteh Farahani) organizes a weekend getaway to the Caspian Sea with a group of old college friends. But one member of the group sticks out like a sore thumb: she's a pretty kindergarten teacher named Elly (Taraneh Alidousti), and Sepideh thought she would be a perfect match for Ahmad. The following day, however, Elly vanishes without a trace, sparking a frantic search that sours the festivities, and revealing the casual deceits that are shared amongst friends.

A group of middle-class friends travel from Tehran to spend the weekend at the seaside. Sepideh invites Elly, who is her daughter's teacher, to travel with the three families in order to introduce her to their recently divorced friend Ahmad, now living in Germany. The next morning, the two women go shopping in the town and Elly says that she has to return to Tehran because her mother has been recently submitted to hospital for heart surgery, but Sepideh asks her to stay and hides her luggage. The children are playing in the sea and one mother asks Elly to watch them. Out of the blue, Sepideh's daughter calls to some men playing volleyball to rescue one of the children from the water. After rescuing the little boy they seek out Elly, questioning whether she has drowned or returned to Tehran. What has happened to Elly?

Sina, a sixteen years old teenager from today's Tehranian middle class, experiences a new life on the verge of his parents' divorce. Added to his very real sense of having been abandoned is the threat of a local thug who believes that Sina owes him a considerable sum of money. Things become even more complicated when Sina, taking advantage of his parents' constant absence, allows an older girl, Nahid, to temporarily move in with him. Sina finds himself with the prospect of making choices that threaten his body and soul.

After living in Germany for many years, Ahmad returns to Iran. His friend Sepideh organizes a trip with him and all his friends to spend three days by the shores of the Caspian Sea. Without warning the group, she invites a stranger, Elly, her daughter’s teacher from the care center. Ahmad, having had an unhappy marriage with a German woman, wants to be with an Iranian woman. On the second day, when everything seems to be going well, something strange happens and Elly disappears. The joyful and pleasant atmosphere fades away as they try to discover the reason for the bizarre disappearance. Elly’s family is contacted but none of them know of her whereabouts. The friends start panicking and begin to blame each other for Elly’s disappearance.