Rooftops of Tehran

Pasha has been released from the hospital for over a month, and it’s the Persian New Year. The neighborhood is filled with energy, schools are closed for the next 13 days, and even the Shah forgave some political prisoners for the occasion. However, Pasha continues to feel like he is in a state of limbo, even when he is with Ahmed and Iraj.

One evening, when he is on the roof, he hears Ahmed’s grandmother talking, saying Ahmed’s grandfather is going to take her away. Pasha sympathizes with Ahmed’s grandmother; like him, she is stuck in limbo, waiting for her beloved. Soon, she goes back inside the house, and Ahmed jokes about how her imagination is getting crazier every day.

Ahmed tells Pasha the story of how his grandparents met. His grandmother was a headstrong and determined young woman; she was one of the first women in Ghamsar to revoke the chador, and the first woman to get a high school diploma. She was also an atheist, which was unusual. Her parents married her off to Ahmed’s grandfather, and Ahmed’s grandmother didn’t want to be married to him. However, Ahmed’s grandfather appreciated his grandmother and was always patient with her. People said he couldn’t control her in bed, which is why she remained headstrong, and having heard these rumors, she had four children, one after the other, to prove people wrong. Ahmed’s grandmother always said that despite never praying, all her dreams came true through Ahmed’s grandfather.

Pasha is sleeping when he is woken up by a woman’s cry; it came from outside his window. Soon, he hears another, softer cry. It’s four in the morning, and he goes outside to investigate. His attention is inevitably drawn to Zari’s window, which is open though the curtains are drawn. Pasha wonders if the Masked Angel is crying, and if so, why. Pasha realizes that the Masked Angel is sitting where he used to sit with Zari. He wants to say something but cannot speak or move. Soon, the Masked Angel stands up and looks at him; she keeps looking at him with her blue eyes. Suddenly, a wind comes and her burqa shifts, making Pasha realize that the shadow from a few nights ago was the Masked Angel standing in silence. Pasha wonders why the Masked Angel watches him at night.

Ahmed is facing a lot of trouble in school with the autocratic rule of the new principal, Mr. Gorji, who continuously abuses his power. After Ahmed refers to Mr. Gorji as a fascist in front of him, things get worse for Ahmed. Mr. Gorji forcefully shaves Ahmed’s head one day. Ahmed is upset by this until Pasha and Faheemeh make him laugh about his new look.

Mr. Gorji also keeps disrupting Mr. Bana’s geometry class. Though Mr. Bana doesn’t like Mr. Gorji, he is forced to do his bidding. Mr. Gorji keeps asking Mr. Bana to make Ahmed solve problems they have not learned yet. When Ahmed is unable to solve the problem on the board, Mr. Bana is forced to give Ahmed a zero, and Mr. Gorji smiles and walks out. Faheemeh starts to worry for Ahmed, and unwilling to worry her, Ahmed downplays his troubles at school.

One day, Pasha notices Ahmed reading the Koran and memorizing it. He is impressed but wonders why Ahmed is memorizing the Koran. In response, Ahmed smiles and says that “Enshallah”—God willing—Pasha will soon find out.

The following day, Pasha hears the full story. That day, when Mr. Gorji went to Mr. Bana’s class, Ahmed raised his hand before Mr. Bana was forced to call on him. He recited a section of the Koran to Mr. Gorji and asked him what it meant, knowing that Mr. Gorji did not understand or read Arabic. After a few uncomfortable moments of silence, Mr. Gorji walked out of Mr. Bana’s class. Ahmed knew then that Mr. Gorji would never bother him again—he now had a weapon to curb Mr. Gorji’s sense of power. All the students and Mr. Bana cheered for Ahmed.

Ahmed’s loud scream wakes up Pasha, who rushes out to his terrace to find out what happened. From his vantage point, Pasha sees Ahmed’s grandmother’s body, bloody and still, in Ahmed’s yard; she fell from the roof. Pasha rushes over to Ahmed’s house to find him on the ground in disbelief. Iraj has his arms around Ahmed to comfort him, and all the neighbors gather to soothe and comfort Ahmed’s mother and father, who are shell-shocked by the suddenness of Ahmed’s grandmother’s death. Over the next two days, the neighborhood continues to support Ahmed’s family, and, to respect the dead and the grieving, the men don’t shave their beards and the women don’t apply makeup.

The night before Ahmed’s grandmother’s funeral, Pasha and Ahmed talk on the roof. Ahmed thinks about her fondly and questions why life must be so cruel and why loved ones must die. Pasha admits he felt a kinship with Ahmed’s grandmother because they are both mourning a loved one; he also confesses that just like she always thought she saw her husband, Pasha sometimes thinks he sees Zari at night. Ahmed changes the topic, worried about Pasha’s mental health.

The next day, Ahmed, Faheemeh, Iraj, and Pasha go to the funeral in Pasha’s father’s jeep. All the neighbors are there, too, and everyone mourns Ahmed’s grandmother and talks about her life while her body is lowered into the ground. Suddenly, Pasha becomes anxious, wondering if Zari’s body is somewhere in the cemetery in an unmarked grave. He walks towards Doctor’s grave, which has not been cleaned in a while, and sees the headstone is already chipping away.

Pasha thinks about Doctor, promising to honor him by replacing his headstone when he has a job and some money. He also promises to share the story of Doctor and Zari’s defiance against the regime until everyone knows about it. He thinks that Doctor and Zari are not dead since people with “That” never really die. He admits he is lucky to be surrounded by people who have “That”: Ahmed, Faheemeh, his parents, Iraj, and Zari.

Soon, Pasha is joined by the entire neighborhood, all of whom bring single red roses to lay down on Doctor’s grave. No one cares if the SAVAK is observing them, and they all finally grieve Doctor’s death and life.

The next day, Pasha feels lighter, having been able to mourn Doctor properly. He tells his parents that he wants to go to the US to study filmmaking. While his father is happy with his decision, his mother is unhappy, worried about how Pasha will cope being on his own. As news of Pasha’s impending departure travels, neighbors come out to congratulate him. Soon, Pasha’s father, Mr. Mehrbaan, and Mr. Kasravi work together to get Pasha to the US, getting him a passport, a fake high school diploma, fake English exam results, and fake immigration documents.

A week before his departure, Pasha decides to speak with Mr. and Mrs. Naderi to confess his love for Zari. He goes to Zari’s house and the Masked Angel leads him inside. Pasha confesses his love for Zari, and Zari’s parents assure him he didn’t do anything wrong; they tell him to live life to the fullest. The Masked Angel, hearing Pasha’s confession, begins to cry. When Pasha mourns that Zari’s family will leave the neighborhood soon, they swear on Zari’s love for him that they will find a way to contact Pasha when he comes back.

While sitting in his yard, Pasha overhears Keivan asking the Masked Angel to narrate another story for him, and she replies “Hush.” Realizing that Keivan used to ask Zari the same thing, Pasha begins to suspect that the Masked Angel is Zari herself. The more he thinks about it, the surer he is that Zari is the Masked Angel—many of her mannerisms are just like Zari’s. Pasha makes plans to confront her, but before he can do it, Iraj comes to visit him.

Iraj says his father and uncle believe the Shah will soon be ousted for his cruelties. However, Pasha is too preoccupied with thoughts of Zari to care about Iraj’s political discussions.

Pasha’s parents think he is nervous about going to America, but he is in fact preoccupied with thoughts of Zari. Unable to help himself, he mentions to his mother that he thinks Zari is alive. Concerned for his mental health, his father gives him a valium. Pasha falls asleep and wakes up at nighttime. He goes to the roof and waits for the Masked Angel to come out. When she eventually does, he observes her trying to observe him from her vantage point on her roof. Eventually, she realizes that Pasha is on her roof, and, when Pasha starts to cry, she implores him not to cry.

At first, the Masked Angel tries to deny that she is Zari; she keeps claiming that she is Soraya. She explains her interest in Pasha as curiosity, having heard Zari speak fondly of him. However, when she speaks about the night they shared on the roof the day before Zari set herself on fire, Pasha realizes it’s truly Zari under the burqa. Pasha is both overjoyed and angry at Zari, wondering why she hid herself from him, torturing him for the past couple of months. Zari apologizes for setting herself on fire in front of him. She regrets the pain it caused her loved ones, but not the act itself. She also explains that she stayed hidden because a SAVAK agent threatened Pasha’s safety if he were to find out the truth of her survival. Since her father is an ex-Olympic champion, the Shah decided to be merciful toward her family, banishing them to Bandar Abbas rather than killing them. However, her friends and Pasha would not get the same treatment.

Pasha and Zari confess their love to each other, and Pasha argues that he won’t go to the US without her. However, Zari convinces him to go for the sake of his safety. She also says that when he comes back, they can be together in the future. Zari asks Pasha not to forget her. He says that whenever she misses him, she should look to the stars—the brightest star is the two of them together.