Puff Puff Pass

THREE PUFFS shows a descent into misery in the manner of other contemporary Iranian films, more rewarding as a glimpse into it's society than for its melodrama entertainment content.

We start off with happy (if over worked) couple Mohsen Tanabandeh and Parinaz Izadyar in a cheerful exchange about her still wearing a head scarf at home with him, though they've been married long enough to have a growing baby to support.

Before long they are sucked into the city's sordid drug trade and meet corruption on all sides. The nurse caring for Tanabandeh is an addict stealing the hospital's morphine and amphetamines. The policeman, come to search the flat, accepts the bribe of her wedding rings to let Izadyar escape.

The film is quite suspenseful but the interest is in detail of contemporary Iranian life - the outsourced doll making, builders working in the hospital as medical work continues, drug dealing in a stable or a wrecking yard, spaced by the director's occasional striking image - long complicated trackings through the factory or the roof top entrance to the family home, the couple in a sea of motor cycle visors, the reflection in the shattered rear view mirror or electric wires outlined against the sky at sunset.

Lead Tanabandeh is in the new Asghar Farhadi film A HERO. Cast and technicians all perform to the best professional standard. The piece is shot in the desaturated colour which appears to be becoming fashionable at the moment.