| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
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Parviz Shahinkhou | ... |
Bab'Aziz
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Maryam Hamid | ... |
Ishtar
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| Golshifteh Farahani | ... |
Nour
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Mohamed Graïaa | ... |
Osman
(as Mohammed Grayaa)
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Hossein Panahi | ... |
Red Dervish
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Nessim Khaloul | ... |
Zaid
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Hessam Hassanipour | ... |
Hassan
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Hamed Hassanipour | ... |
Hossein
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Morteza Zare | ... |
Ramadan
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Mohsen Ghazi Moradi | ... |
Intendant
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Ali Asghar Nejat | ... |
The Horse Rider
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Kaveh Khodashenas | ... |
Prince
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Jahan Souz Fouladi | ... |
Old Prince Dervish
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Abdelmajid Lakhal | ... |
Old Calligrapher /
Calligrapher
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Razi Amiri | ... |
The Smuggler
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Bab'Aziz - The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul is the story of a blind dervish named Bab'Aziz and his spirited granddaughter, Ishtar. Together they wander the desert in search of a great reunion of dervishes that takes place just once every thirty years. With faith as their only guide, the two journey for days through the expansive, barren landscape. To keep Ishtar entertained, Bab'Aziz relays the ancient tale of a prince who relinquished his realm in order to remain next to a small pool in the desert, staring into its depths while contemplating his soul. As the tale of the prince unfolds, the two encounter other travelers with stories of their own--including Osman, who longs for the beautiful woman he met at the bottom of a well, and Zaid, who searches for the ravishing young woman who fled from him after being seduced by his songs. A fairytale-like story of longing and belonging, filmed in the enchanting and ever-shifting sandscapes of Tunisia and Iran. Written by Anonymous
As others have said, this movie can qualify as a "best movie of my life". The person that commented about the movie not focusing exclusively on the pure/ascetic aspects of Sufi has a valid point, but it is on purpose that this is the case.
I strongly recommend watching the other two movies of the "dessert trilogy" where the very same path towards illumination, is seen from the outside (first movie), then from the point of view of the one drawn into joining in (second movie) and with Bab'aziz comes the end of the cycle.
Behind the movie and the trilogy itself, the Director (Nacer Khemir) is of course the conduit that guides to the viewers the source of the light. To dedicate all your artistic career to a single trilogy over so many years, puts Mr. Khemir in the line of the Muslim craftsmen that adorned so beautifully the buildings we see throughout the movies... He succeeded in turning a medium (cinematography) mostly used by anti-traditional messages in a veritable page of a scripture. The movie is able to lead people to "search more" and provides them a valid direction as well.
Some of Nacer's interviews one can find on the net are worth watching too...