''Leily Is with Me'' ( fa, لیلی با من است, italic=yes) is a 1996

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war fi ...

directed by

Kamal Tabrizi Kamal Tabrizi ( fa, کمال تبریزی, born 28 October 1959) is an Iranian film director. He was born in Tehran, with his parents having moved there from Tabriz. A newly released picture shows that he was as a photographer and reporter among ...

. The film was also televised as a mini-series with five episodes. It was the first Iranian film to use humor in the war context. Many critics regard the film as the best Iranian war comedy.

Plot

The film depicts the story of a cameraman named Sadegh (played by

Parviz Parastui Parviz Parastui ( fa, پرویز پرستویی ; born 24 June 1955) is an Iranian actor. He has received various accolades, including four Crystal Simorgh for Best Actor–making him the only actor to have four wins in that category–four Hafez ...

) during the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Council ...

. Sadegh works for television and he has a lot of economic problems. He is in great need for a loan to solve his problems. A friends suggests him to have short visit to the war zone to prepare a report from there. This would make him a good record in terms of patriotic and ideological commitment and would gain him the loan he needs. Sadegh is scared of the war zone but for the sake of the loan he decides to go. He accompanies Mr. Kamali, another television employee but higher than him in ranking, who seems to him a loyal believer in the cause of the war. Sadegh's short plan for visiting war areas far from the front line turns into nightmare getting him closer every hour to the front line and death. While he tries to escape the situation, he still needs to prove himself to Kamali and avoid showing himself as a coward. The audience gradually finds out that Kamali is as coward as Sadegh and he wishes to leave the war zone too. It's only the audience that knows Sadegh and Kamali both have misconceptions about each other. As Sadegh designs plans to gradually get away from the front line, incidents make him closer and closer to face-to-face confrontation with the enemy. That's why Kamali thinks of him as a crazy suicidal warrior and tries to get rid of him. Meanwhile Sadegh's view towards Iranian fighters starts to change from crazy men willing to die to ordinary men loving to safeguard their country and believes. Sadegh is finally trapped in the front line and gets besieged by an army of tanks while the only living man near him is a wounded RPG shooter. He guides Sadegh how to shoot and Sadegh has to face all his fears confronting with the tanks. Sadegh shoots the tank and the same time seems to get killed by the tank's shooting. In the next scene Sadegh's family and friends go to find his dead body in the hospital. But they find out he is only wounded but not dead. To their surprise Sadegh is not the man he used to be as he expresses his willingness to go to the war zone again.http://www.sourehcinema.com/Title/Title.aspx?id=138109251827 The name Leily has its roots in

Persian poetry Persian literature ( fa, ادبیات فارسی, Adabiyâte fârsi, ) comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources h ...

and the tale of

Layla and Majnun ''Layla & Majnun'' ( ar, مجنون ليلى ; Layla's Mad Lover) is an old story of Arab origin, about the 7th-century Bedouin poet Qays ibn al-Mulawwah and his ladylove Layla bint Mahdi (later known as Layla al-Aamiriya). "The Layla ...

. Leily is a symbol of the beloved and the title of the film refers to Sadegh finding the ultimate beloved in his journey.

Cast

– Sadeq Meshkini * Mahmud Azizi – Kamali *

Shohreh Lorestani Maziar Lorestani (born October 18, 1966, Tehran) is an Iranian director and film, television, and stage actor. Early life and education Lorestani was born in Tehran. His father was a judge, and his mother was a teacher. The two were initially u ...

– Elaheh * Sahereh Matin - Sadeq's Aunt

References

External links

* 1996 films 1990s war comedy films 1990s Persian-language films Iran–Iraq War films Iranian war comedy films 1996 comedy films Films whose writer won the Best Screenplay Crystal Simorgh Films directed by Kamal Tabrizi {{Iran-film-stub