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'The Willow Tree' offers cautions about what we see
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Iranian director Majid Majidi's sad, soulful film is his second to explore blindness and sight on multiple levels. His heartbreaking 1999 film, "The Color of Paradise," focused on the desperately lonely but strangely happy existence of a blind 8-year-old. "The Willow Tree" (★★★ 1/2 out of four stars; not rated) examines the traumatic shocks experienced by a blind professor of literature whose eyesight is miraculously restored.
Youssef (Parvis Parastui, pictured), the 45-year-old protagonist, reads and types in Braille, and teaches the poetry of Rumi at a university in Tehran. Since losing his sight in a fireworks accident at age 7, Youssef has remained an innocent who considers his limited life heavenly. Once his inner vision is snatched away, when he can actually see, he remembers it as a fool's paradise and views himself as a buffoon. His rage is boundless. "The Willow Tree" recognizes that for the blind, what is seen and unseen can be equally real, and offers a cautionary tale about unanswered prayers. (7 p.m. today, Sun.-Thu., plus 5 p.m. Sat.-Sun. Oak Street Cinema, 309 SE. Oak St., Mpls. 612-331-3134.)
Youssef (Parvis Parastui, pictured), the 45-year-old protagonist, reads and types in Braille, and teaches the poetry of Rumi at a university in Tehran. Since losing his sight in a fireworks accident at age 7, Youssef has remained an innocent who considers his limited life heavenly. Once his inner vision is snatched away, when he can actually see, he remembers it as a fool's paradise and views himself as a buffoon. His rage is boundless. "The Willow Tree" recognizes that for the blind, what is seen and unseen can be equally real, and offers a cautionary tale about unanswered prayers. (7 p.m. today, Sun.-Thu., plus 5 p.m. Sat.-Sun. Oak Street Cinema, 309 SE. Oak St., Mpls. 612-331-3134.)
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