SALMA & THE APPLE is a strange and beautiful film. It is a fable in the tradition of the Russian filmmaker Sergei Paradjanov and it deals in familiar currency: morality, good, evil and – in this specifically Islamic context – the dichotomy between what is halal (‘permissible’ according to Sharia law) and what is haram (‘sinful’). However, the film rubs up against the contemporary world, and contemporary attitudes in Iran, by focusing the issue of morality onto a minor infraction. Sadegh, a young Islamic scholar who has just graduated as a sheikh, is praying in a garden as he journeys home to his parents’ house when an apple falls out of a tree. He takes a bite, and immediately realises he has stolen someone else’s property.
Sadegh is a throwback. Having returned home with the express purpose of proposing to Narges, a woman from his hometown, he gives up this opportunity when he sees that Hamed, an old acquaintance who has been told he may marry Narges if Sadegh does not return, is distraught. Now acutely aware of the effect his actions have on others, Sadegh feels immediate guilt for taking the apple. He tries to find the owner of the orchard but is confronted by indifference and amusement. What does it matter that he has taken one small apple? Yet, carrying around the half-eaten apple, the flesh of which is starting to bruise, the depth of his personal moral code intrigues people.
Finally, he comes to the house of Salma, the beautiful niece of a mechanic who has helped Sadegh. There is a spark between them – and she is the true owner of the garden. Sadegh seeks her forgiveness, but she refuses to give it unreservedly. Salma understands that if she validates his convoluted moral system, whereby he penalises himself for a minor transgression of desire, then what chance does she have of seducing him? Instead she asks him to sing the Qu’ran aloud to the household from start to finish. In the morning Salma understands that she must forgive Sadegh and allow him to leave. It hurts them both to part; but Sheikh Sadegh has overcome his desire.
httpvh://youtu.be/Jmg_sFJexng
I saw it a couple hour ago, and as I read this review I realized more about the codes that both the writer and director have made in this movie, Also I wonder about the beauty of the house of Salma,which is an old castle-like building, with thick masonry Walls, and big yard with a great pool that I kind of sensed that it is a spring right in front of the house that made that smal lake.
Anyway I hope l could see the place in reality, but l even don’t know where the location was?!
Hello Ehsan, many thanks for your thoughts. We had trouble researching this film as there isn’t much coverage in the English language! Do let us know if you find any information on the beautiful location.