Rooftops of Tehran

Pasha dreams that he is having a conversation with Doctor about Zari and love; Pasha is asking whether Doctor loved her enough to kill or die for her. Doctor confesses that he cheated on Zari because he fell in love with books, ideas, and dreams. Doctor further explains that love does not exist in the heart, but in the brain. Then, he asks Pasha why Pasha thinks he killed Doctor, but before Pasha can answer, he wakes up. Pasha thinks he was about to confess his feelings for Zari but realizes that no one should know about his forbidden desires.

Doctor’s father suffered a heart attack upon hearing news of his son’s death, and Doctor’s mother is also severely ill. With no immediate family to reach out to, the notice regarding Doctor’s death and claiming his body for the funeral is sent to Zari’s house. The notice mentions that only Zari or her parents, and a couple of friends can attend. It also mentions that Doctor was killed in mid-September, one week before the start of school. Faheemeh tells Ahmed and Pasha that Zari wants them to go with her since they knew Doctor as a friend. Pasha’s parents are not home, and Pasha agrees to go, knowing his parents would be displeased and worried if they knew.

The evening before Doctor’s funeral, Pasha and Ahmed reminisce about him on Pasha’s rooftop. Ahmed points to a bright star and declares that it’s Doctor. Pasha wonders if Doctor is angry with him for having feelings for Zari, but Ahmed argues that Doctor is probably happy that the universe made sure Pasha was there to take care of Zari. Pasha wipes his tears and makes Ahmed promise that they won’t cry at the funeral, since the agents will be watching them.

The next morning, while Pasha and Ahmed wait in front of Zari’s house, Iraj comes by and warns them not to go to the funeral. He says the SAVAK agents will notice them and become suspicious of them too. However, they dismiss Iraj’s concern, and they, along with Faheemeh and Zari, get in a cab. Iraj chases the cab, but eventually, the cab gets away.

Inside the cemetery gates, a woman mourns the death of her brother while several burials take place around them. Pasha and his friends find the scenes of death and mourning shocking. Eventually, they notice two men watching them and assume that they are SAVAK agents. Ahmed curses at them in anger, and Pasha wants to join him. Faheemeh and Zari beg them to stay quiet, afraid that Pasha and Ahmed will be arrested too. Soon, they realize that the men are waiting for their families and are mourners themselves. Everyone feels embarrassed.

A young boy comes with a note that directs the group to Doctor’s grave. Zari and Faheemeh cry and, while Pasha and Ahmed want to cry, they manage to restrain themselves. Pasha talks to Doctor in his head, asking Doctor to show him a sign that Doctor is not angry with Pasha. Just then, a sweaty Iraj joins them; he has run there all the way from their neighborhood. A mullah comes by to read a prayer out of the Koran.

Later that night, Pasha is crying in his room when Iraj and Ahmed, also red-eyed and teary, come in through his window and join him. The three of them smoke cigarettes and Pasha—whose parents are out of town—gets his father’s vodka out of the fridge. They drink several shots until they are slightly drunk; then, they finally talk about their sad feelings. Pasha praises Iraj for joining them in the cemetery despite the threat of the SAVAK agents. Pasha and Ahmed hug Iraj, calling him their little brother.

The SAVAK will not allow Doctor’s family to mourn him by wearing black or allow friends and family to gather on the 3rd, 7th, and 40th day of his death, as is customary in Iran. Only Doctor’s family can visit his grave, which is sparsely marked with just his name; anyone else is forbidden from visiting it. In his room, Pasha comes across The Gadfly, which Doctor had given him. He finishes the book—which is about a young revolutionary killed for his beliefs—in two days, and he feels he understands Doctor better. He vows to share Doctor’s bravery with all the youngsters in the alley, along with how the SAVAK tried to stop everyone from mourning him.

Some of Doctor’s university friends are arrested on false accusations that Doctor allegedly made against them. However, despite the SAVAK trying to ruin Doctor’s reputation, tales of his bravery travel fast. No one knows why Doctor was arrested, but Pasha suspects he was friends with Golesorkhi. Pasha confesses to Ahmed that Doctor put up the posters on the night of Golesorkhi’s trial.

As Pasha wonders how he can honor Doctor, an idea comes to him. The next morning, he buys a rosebush and some fertilizer. When everyone is asleep, he goes to the spot where the agent hit Doctor and spilled his blood, and he plants the rosebush there. The next morning, everyone wonders what the rosebush symbolizes before they realize that it commemorates the place where Doctor shed his blood for his beliefs. People agree to water and take care of the rosebush in Doctor’s honor.

There is no news of Mr. Mehrbaan, who is still in prison, and Mrs. Mehrbaan, who frequently visits Pasha’s parents, is stressed about his health. Mrs. Mehrbaan doesn’t think the Shah can be overthrown and shares that Mr. Mehrbaan had previously expressed worries regarding newer prisoners in the prisons. Their political beliefs inclined toward Islamic fundamentalism, which, like the Shah’s autocracy, would also prove to be ruinous for Iranian democracy.

Pasha’s mother mentions what happened with Doctor, which causes Mrs. Mehrbaan to faint in worry for Mr. Mehrbaan. When she regains consciousness, she cries and curses the Shah’s regime and the West for supporting the regime. Pasha cannot help thinking about how badly Mr. Mehrbaan is being tortured in prison. When he finally sleeps, he dreams about the SAVAK agent who hit Doctor and then blew Pasha a kiss.

It is October, and Faheemeh, Pasha, and Ahmed have grown even closer. They talk about their hopes, dreams of travel, and about Doctor and the Shah’s evil regime. Faheemeh mentions that Zari is taking care of Doctor’s mother, who is almost insane with grief. Zari blames herself for Doctor’s death, believing she should have warned Doctor or known what he was doing.

Pasha overhears his mother and father speaking the next morning. His mother expresses concern for him and Ahmed, worried about their rebelliousness. She tells his father how she heard them speak about killing the SAVAK agent who hit Doctor, about how they went to Doctor’s grave, and about Pasha planting the rosebush. Pasha’s father assures her he will speak to them. Pasha’s father and Ahmed’s father talk for a while, and then Pasha’s father asks the boys to go on a trip with him up north.

On the way, Pasha’s father cautions them to be vigilant about their safety because there are many nokars—people blindly devoted to their masters—in Iran. To demonstrate his point, Pasha’s father tells them a story from his youth. He says he used to be a jungle guard in Manzandaran, and his job was to protect the recently nationalized forests from being cut down. However, unbeknownst to him, one of the Shah’s brothers was breaking the Shah’s decree. One day, a man named Engineer Sadeghi came to his office, explaining how Pasha’s father had been accused of taking bribes and allowing the cutting of trees, thereby disobeying the Shah’s orders.

Pasha’s father told him he never took any bribes, but Engineer Sadeghi refused to believe him. Knowing that nothing he said would absolve him in Saghedi’s eyes, Pasha’s father remained quiet while Sadeghi spoke about his family’s legacy. Just when Pasha’s father was thinking about smashing Sadeghi’s skull to escape—his imprisonment would gravely affect his family—Sadeghi asked why Pasha’s father was not pleading for his case. Pasha’s father came clean about how he almost killed Sadeghi to save his family heartbreak. To prove his innocence, Pasha’s father suggested they go and confront his accuser. Sadeghi agreed, but, when getting in the car, Pasha’s father got in the driver’s seat, pretending to be Sadeghi, while Sadeghi got in Pasha’s father’s seat, pretending to be the accused. In the town, the kad khoda—the mayor—was extremely hospitable to Pasha’s father, who was still pretending to be Sadeghi. Pasha’s father asked the accuser to come forth, and the accuser, looking at the real Sadeghi, claimed that he saw him taking a bribe. Alongside accusing Pasha’s father, the accuser also accused his own father-in-law of accepting bribes. However, by getting his father-in-law arrested, the accuser now stood to inherit his father-in-law’s house and money. Sadeghi then understood that the accuser was greedy and ready to condemn two innocent men to prison to get more money.

Pasha asks what happened next, and his father says that he punched the accuser. Pasha’s father warns him to be careful since no one cares about who is really innocent.

Pasha wakes up early in the morning, becomes disoriented, and frantically calls for Apple Face. Another nurse and a couple of orderlies sedate Pasha when he continues to scream for Apple Face. When he wakes up next, he sees Apple Face and asks for food. Pasha realizes he is in a psychiatric ward and wonders why he is there. Apple Face explains that she wasn’t there earlier because she was home. She tells Pasha she has a young daughter named Roshan and shares pictures of the girl.

Pasha asks Apple Face why he is in the ward, and she explains he will recover his memories soon and will understand. He sees an old man who keeps chanting and asks what is wrong with him, but Apple Face, who is a doctor and not a nurse, doesn’t know.

Pasha wakes up in the middle of the night and sees the old man in his doorway. He invites the old man in and tries to understand his chants but fails. Later, he hears his parents speak with Apple Face, and she confirms that when he recovers his memories, he will be devastated.

Pasha’s father, Ahmed, and Pasha continue north and finally reach the province of Mazandaran. They see the town is very small, and all the important buildings are built around a large central square. They stop in front of a big house, and Mr. Kasravi—the person Mr. Mehrbaan and Pasha’s father were talking about—comes out to greet them, along with his wife, Goli Jaan. Mr. Kasravi is a well-off landowner who owns sheep and cattle. He and Goli Jaan have a son, Mustafa, who is Pasha’s age, and a four-year-old daughter.

Mr. Kasravi tells Pasha and Ahmed that Mustafa will teach them how to ride horses. Then, he talks about the past, describing Pasha’s father as a rebel and Mr. Mehrbaan as a communist. He expresses sadness over Mr. Mehrbaan and Doctor’s fate. After tea, they all go to the stable and ride horses to the hilltop. On top of the hill, Mr. Kasravi asks if Pasha knows the importance of public squares in Iranian towns. Pasha answers that they were a public space of education, entertainment, and punishment.

Then, Mr. Kasravi talks about the Qajar regime, blaming the Qajars for holding Iran back from modernity. Pasha agrees with Mr. Kasravi. Then, Mr. Kasravi talks about how the Qajars didn’t have prisons; instead, they used the squares to publicly torture and humiliate criminals. Mr. Kasravi argues that the current Shah building prisons is good, because, at least now, prisoners have dignity while receiving punishment. Pasha realizes his father brought him and Ahmed to Mr. Kasravi so they can listen to him justify the Shah’s regime; he feels angry at his father.

At dinner, which is an elaborate affair, Pasha’s father apologizes to Pasha for how the afternoon turned out. During dinner, a man named Mr. Mohtasham, who has taken a vow of silence to enhance his gift of clairvoyance, joins them. After some drinks, Mr. Kasravi asks Mr. Mohtasham to predict everyone’s future. Mr. Mohtasham predicts happy futures for everyone. He makes two predictions for Pasha: Firstly, he says that Pasha will study filmmaking in the US, and secondly, he says that Pasha will marry Shabnam, Mr. Kasravi’s daughter. Pasha is horrified while everyone around him celebrates the news.

Weeks have passed since Doctor’s execution, and Pasha still hasn’t seen Zari. He has been reading Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment. When he is prompted to write a paper by the new composition teacher, Mr. Rostami, Pasha writes about how criminals are people who aren’t fortunate enough to pay for their crimes to be forgotten; only working-class people are punished for their crimes.

Mr. Rostami is furious with Pasha about the paper. He doesn’t want to report Pasha, admiring Pasha’s honesty; but if he doesn’t report Pasha, then he could get into trouble and be imprisoned. He says he needs to put his children and family first. Pasha accepts Mr. Rostami’s justification. However, at the last moment, Mr. Rostami burns the paper, impressing Pasha. He offers an alternate report to the principal, saying that Pasha’s paper indicated tolerance for criminals and that Pasha’s father should talk to him about morality.

At night, when Pasha is on the rooftop, his father comes up. He surmises that Pasha is still disturbed about what happened to Doctor, and Pasha asks why Doctor had to suffer the way he did. Pasha rants about the injustices of the world and asks why God does not do anything about the suffering of innocent people. He cries and his father hugs him, remaining silent.

The following night, Zari talks to Pasha on the rooftop. They still cannot see each other, since Zari hides herself, but she admits she has been on the rooftop every night, listening to Pasha read. Pasha reads to Zari, and afterward, she thanks him for planting the rosebush. Zari asks Pasha to read to her every night. After reading Hafiz, he reads The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam to her, and the two talk about God. Zari knows Pasha believes in God but is angry with Him because he loved Doctor. She mentions Doctor told her she was his candle, brightening the night for him. Pasha longs to see Zari and to hold her.

The following night, Zari doesn’t come to the rooftop and Pasha worries for her. The next day, he is tired at school, and his calculus teacher, Mr. Kermani, beats Pasha with a ruler since he cannot solve a problem. While being beaten, Pasha thinks about the agent who hit Doctor; feeling angry, he wants to punch Mr. Kermani. However, he thinks about the promise he made to his father about not abusing his fighting skills, so he holds back.

After beating Pasha, Mr. Kermani starts to insult him, his parents, and then Doctor, saying that he defecated on Doctor’s grave. Pasha loses control and chokes Mr. Kermani. However, he stops himself from punching him, spitting on him instead. Pasha leaves, and soon, his principal, Mr. Yazdi comes after him. Pasha warns Mr. Yazdi not to hit him, saying he will kill him if he tries. Scared, Mr. Yazdi tells Pasha to go to his office, and Ahmed follows. Mr. Yazdi says he must expel Pasha for assaulting a teacher, but Ahmed says something to Mr. Yazdi and Mr. Kermani alone. As a result, Pasha only gets suspended for three days. When Pasha leaves the office, students in the hallway cheer for him.

Later, Ahmed yells at Pasha, asking him why he is intent on destroying his own life, and Pasha yells back, complaining about the corrupt systems around them.