Film

The Long Farewell

Name: The Long Farewell
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance
Released: 2015
Cast: Saeed Aghakhani, Sareh Bayat, Mitra Hajjar, Nader Fallah, Sohibanoo Zolqadr

Drama

A Iranian textile worker's life unravels after his wife's death, caught between the loyalty of his colleagues and the vendetta of her brother. This is a intimate character study wrapped in melodrama—a film about how quickly dignity dissolves under suspicion and grief. Unflinching in its portrait of a man barely holding on.

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A Separation2011

Like The Long Farewell, this Iranian masterpiece examines how a single tragedy fractures a family and reveals the moral ambiguity beneath everyday decisions. Essential cinema about consequence and perspective.

But It's a courtroom drama that prioritizes philosophical complexity over plot momentum. Patience required; payoff is internal rather than cathartic.

The Past2013

Asghar Farhadi again, this time set in Paris. A man returns to confront his ex-wife's new relationship, and nothing is what it seems. The same precision in unpacking how people wound each other, often without malice.

But Deliberately paced and emotionally exhausting. The ambiguity might feel frustrating rather than profound depending on your mood.

Taste of Cherry1997

Abbas Kiarostami's meditation on a man in crisis, shot in long takes across Tehran's landscape. Quieter than The Long Farewell but equally haunting—about desperation, human connection, and what keeps us tethered.

But Experimental structure and minimal plot. Some find it transcendent; others find it tedious. There's no middle ground.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Long Farewell

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Dancer in the Dark2000

Both are stories of workers crushed by systems and circumstance, but told with complete honesty about suffering—no redemption arcs, no easy catharsis.

Von Trier's film about a factory worker losing everything—family, sight, freedom—to circumstances beyond her control. Like The Long Farewell, it's unsparing about how a life collapses and how little mercy the world offers.

But Deeply bleak and emotionally punishing. The musical numbers make it stranger, not lighter. Many find it unwatchable.

Winter Light1963

Bergman's portrait of a man spiritually adrift after loss. The emotional precision mirrors The Long Farewell—how isolation compounds grief, and how we fail those who depend on us.

But Black-and-white, slow, philosophically dense. Not a film that releases you easily or makes you feel better.

Branded to Kill1967

A contract killer's world collapses when a stranger targets him. Like The Long Farewell, it's about a man stripped of his identity and agency, though told through noir rather than realism.

But Surreal, deliberately disorienting, and occasionally abstract. If you want grounded emotion, this veers into dream logic.

Tokyo Story1953

Ozu's masterpiece about an aging couple visiting family and confronting loss and time. Same emotional register as The Long Farewell—unhurried, observant, devastating without drama.

But Shot in static wide angles and feels almost plotless. Contemporary audiences often find it slow, even if it's genuinely profound.

The Sacrifice1986

Tarkovsky's final film: a man grapples with catastrophe and searches for meaning through sacrifice. Shares The Long Farewell's sense of a life crumbling under the weight of circumstance and faith.

But Three hours, deliberately paced, and steeped in philosophical abstraction. Requires active engagement; it will not comfort you.

Murmur of the Heart1971

Louis Malle's portrait of a bourgeois family in 1950s France, intimate and observant. Like The Long Farewell, it captures how scandal reshapes relationships and perceptions within a tight social world.

But Contains controversial subject matter treated with nuance rather than judgment. That restraint unsettles many viewers.

The Shooting1966

Monte Hellman's minimalist western about a man hired for an ambiguous job in the desert. A stranger disrupts equilibrium, paranoia grows—structurally similar to The Long Farewell's spiral of suspicion.

But Cryptic, spare, and stubbornly refuses to clarify its own logic. You'll leave with questions, not answers.

Three Colors: White1994

Both examine how men preserve or lose dignity after catastrophe, but White finds grim humour in the abyss where The Long Farewell finds only weight.

Kieślowski's film about a man humiliated by his divorce, returning to Poland to rebuild his life. A story of masculine dignity stripped away and reclaimed through quiet determination and a dark sense of revenge.

But Darkly comic in ways that feel unseemly given the subject matter. The tone shifts might jar you if you're expecting straightforward drama.

Stalker1979

Both films are about men haunted by internal crises they cannot outrun—the setting changes, the landscape within does not.

Tarkovsky's science-fiction meditation on desire and faith: a guide escorts two men through a mysterious zone to a room that grants wishes. Structurally it's a journey, but emotionally it's about what we carry with us and what we cannot escape.

But Science fiction that refuses genre conventions. Glacially slow, deliberately philosophical, shot in muted colours. Demands surrender rather than engagement.