"Beautiful City" (A Feature Film in Farsi with English Subtitles, from Iran)

How much is a woman''s life worth in comparison to a man''s in Iran-and who pays the difference? Director-writer Asghar Farhadi melds and examination of Iran''s ancient capital punishment laws with a tender look at retribution, compassion and love. Faced with the death penalty for killing his girlfriend at age 16, Akbar is moved to an adult prison at 18 to await execution. The young man''s life can be spared, but only if the victim''s family requests clemency. Akbar''s friend and former prison mate A''la is determined to save him. Aided by Akbar''s sister, Firoozheh, A''la must persuade Rahmati, the angry, elderly father of the murdered girl to waive Akbar''s punishment. But, Rahmati is dealing with the urgent needs of his second wife and her crippled daughter, and A''la must come up with money to change Rahmati''s mind. When A''la begins to fall in love with Firoozheh, he must ultimately make a harrowing choice between loyalty to a friend and desire. Beautiful City is a piercing tale of vengeance, labyrinthine judicial procedure and the concept of blood money. (Running time: 101 minutes)