{ "id": "epv21wkdrb", "slug": "qeysar", "title": "Qeysar (قیصر)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "label": "Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.1960s-films", "label": "1960s films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.1960s-films" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "label": "Asia (other) · 1946 to 2000: Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "path": [ { "id": "geo.asia", "label": "Asia (other)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946", "label": "Asia (other) · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "label": "Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Qeysar (قیصر, Gheisar/Qaysar) is Masoud Kimiai's 1969 Iranian black-and-white crime drama starring Behrouz Vossoughi, about a man avenging his sister's rape-suicide and brother's murder; a Sepas award winner and, with The Cow, a founding film of the Iranian New Wave.", "snippet": "Qeysar (قیصر, Gheisar/Qaysar) is Masoud Kimiai's 1969 Iranian black-and-white crime drama starring Behrouz Vossoughi, about a man avenging his sister's rape-suicide and brother's murder; a Sepas award winner and, with The Cow, a founding film of the Iranian New Wave.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.1960s-films", "markdown": "# Qeysar (قیصر)\n\n**Qeysar** (قیصر, also romanized Gheisar or Qaysar) is a 1969 Iranian black-and-white crime drama written and directed by Masoud Kimiai, in which a young man avenges the rape-driven suicide of his sister and the killing of his brother by hunting down the perpetrators one by one, before being shot dead by police in the final scene.[1](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/qeysar) • [2](https://www.manzoom.ir/title/tt5618427/%D9%81%DB%8C%D9%84%D9%85-%D8%B3%DB%8C%D9%86%D9%85%D8%A7%DB%8C%DB%8C-%D9%82%DB%8C%D8%B5%D8%B1-1348) Produced by Abbas Shabaviz for Aryana Film, it premiered in Tehran on 10 Dey 1348 (31 December 1969) and became a landmark of Iranian cinema, commonly cited, together with Dariush Mehrjui's *The Cow* from the same year, as the instigator of the Iranian New Wave.[3](https://cinemaghods.com/Ar_Articles/1396/10/Note-In-1396-10-10.html) • [4](https://cinema.iranicaonline.org/article/the-morning-of-the-fourth-day-the-iranian-new-wave-and-its-a-bout-de-souffle/)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | Premiered 10 Dey 1348 (31 December 1969) in Iran; 100 minutes, black and white, Persian language[3](https://cinemaghods.com/Ar_Articles/1396/10/Note-In-1396-10-10.html) • [5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064368/) |\n| Director and writer | Masoud Kimiai, his second feature after *Come Stranger* (1967)[1](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/qeysar) • [6](https://shmi.ir/%D9%82%DB%8C%D8%B5%D8%B1%D8%9B-%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A2%D8%A8%E2%80%8C%D9%85%D9%86%DA%AF%D9%84%E2%80%8C%D9%87/) |\n| Key crew | Cinematography and editing by Maziar Partow, score by Esfandiar Monfaredzadeh, title sequence by Abbas Kiarostami, stills by Amir Naderi[7](https://www.lacinetek.com/at-en/film/qeysar-massoud-kimiai-vod) |\n| Principal cast | Behrouz Vossoughi (Qeysar), Naser Malek Motiee (Farman), Pouri Banaei (Azam), Jamshid Mashayekhi (the uncle), Iran Daftari (the mother), Bahman Mofid, Jalal Pishvaian[1](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/qeysar) |\n| Box office | Production cost 210,000 tomans; first-run Tehran sales reported at over 1,800,000 tomans; producer Shabaviz later claimed 200 million tomans and more than 65 million admissions over nine years of re-releases[3](https://cinemaghods.com/Ar_Articles/1396/10/Note-In-1396-10-10.html) • [8](https://iranianuk.com/amp/20060514160000027/%D9%82%DB%8C%D8%B5%D8%B1-%D9%82%DB%8C%D8%B5%D8%B1-%DA%A9%D9%87-%D9%85%DB%8C-%DA%AF%D9%81%D8%AA%D9%86-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D9%86-%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%AF) |\n| Awards | Best film, best director, best actor (Vossoughi), best supporting actress (Iran Daftari), and best score at the second Sepas Film Festival[9](https://wikijoo.ir/index.php/%D9%82%DB%8C%D8%B5%D8%B1_%28%D8%B3%DB%8C%D9%86%D9%85%D8%A7%29) |\n| Ratings | IMDb 7.5/10 from about 4,100 votes; not currently available on streaming services in the United States[1](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/qeysar) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Story\n\nQeysar returns to Tehran from Abadan, where he works, and learns that his sister Fati has killed herself after being raped by the Ab-Mangol brothers. His brother Farman, who tried to confront the perpetrators, is killed by them. Qeysar then takes justice into his own hands, killing the Ab-Mangol brothers one after another, and is finally shot by the police while severely injured.[10](https://cinema.iranicaonline.org/article/a-reflection-on-irans-cinema-in-pursuit-of-happiness-part-i-1951-1971/) • [2](https://www.manzoom.ir/title/tt5618427/%D9%81%DB%8C%D9%84%D9%85-%D8%B3%DB%8C%D9%86%D9%85%D8%A7%DB%8C%DB%8C-%D9%82%DB%8C%D8%B5%D8%B1-1348)\n\nThe ending broke with the conventions of the commercial *filmfarsi* (low-budget formulaic commercial Iranian film genre of the era) cinema of the day. According to Euronews, it was the first Iranian film without a happy ending, with its hero dying from a police bullet rather than triumphing.[11](https://parsi.euronews.com/2015/12/03/iran-masoud-kimiai-commemoration-week) The film's dialogue entered popular memory; the monologue in which Bahman Mofid's character speaks in the coffeehouse, and Qeysar's bitter lines about \"mardounegi\" (manliness), are still quoted by viewers.[2](https://www.manzoom.ir/title/tt5618427/%D9%81%DB%8C%D9%84%D9%85-%D8%B3%DB%8C%D9%86%D9%85%D8%A7%DB%8C%DB%8C-%D9%82%DB%8C%D8%B5%D8%B1-1348)\n\n## Production\n\nKimiai was a young director whose first film, *Come Stranger* (1967), had failed at the box office. No producer wanted the *Qeysar* script until Aryana Film and Abbas Shabaviz agreed to back it.[6](https://shmi.ir/%D9%82%DB%8C%D8%B5%D8%B1%D8%9B-%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A2%D8%A8%E2%80%8C%D9%85%D9%86%DA%AF%D9%84%E2%80%8C%D9%87/) Filming began in late [Farvardin](https://www.edgepedia.org/farvardin) 1348 (spring 1969), and Behrouz Vossoughi, who had starred in *Come Stranger*, invested in the film himself when no producer would take it.[12](https://khodaazad.blogfa.com/post/12036)\n\nKimiai shot in real locations in south Tehran, including the narrow alleys, bazaars, and traditional bathhouse around the Emamzadeh Yahya district, and the black-and-white cinematography of Maziar Partow, especially in the slaughterhouse and bathhouse murder scenes, was widely credited as a reason for the film's success.[11](https://parsi.euronews.com/2015/12/03/iran-masoud-kimiai-commemoration-week) The Encyclopaedia Iranica judges that Kimiai's directorial skill shows most clearly in the bathhouse and slaughterhouse murder scenes and the final chase at an abandoned railway station.[13](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/cinema-ii/)\n\n## Reception and box office\n\nThe film was a phenomenon. First-week sales in Tehran passed one million tomans, and magazines across the political and cultural spectrum devoted special issues to it.[14](https://www.cinscreen.com/?id=6770) One account states it became the highest-grossing film in the history of Iranian cinema.[14](https://www.cinscreen.com/?id=6770) Producer Abbas Shabaviz claimed that from its first screening until the closure of cinemas in Aban 1357 (1978), the film sold a total of 200 million tomans, which he calculated as more than 65 million admissions over nine years of exhibition; by another account it was screened 54 times in Shiraz alone.[8](https://iranianuk.com/amp/20060514160000027/%D9%82%DB%8C%D8%B5%D8%B1-%D9%82%DB%8C%D8%B5%D8%B1-%DA%A9%D9%87-%D9%85%DB%8C-%DA%AF%D9%81%D8%AA%D9%86-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D9%86-%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%AF) • [3](https://cinemaghods.com/Ar_Articles/1396/10/Note-In-1396-10-10.html)\n\nCritical response was divided from the start. Kimiai answered critics in the weekly *Ferdowsi*, replying to Houshang Kavousi's hostile review \"From Dodge City to Nayeb Ghorban Bazaar\" and to the objection that \"Qeysar cures no pain\" by saying he saw no need to make films that cured pains his critic did not feel.[11](https://parsi.euronews.com/2015/12/03/iran-masoud-kimiai-commemoration-week) • [14](https://www.cinscreen.com/?id=6770) At the second Sepas Film Festival the film won best film, best director, best actor for Vossoughi, best supporting actress for Iran Daftari, and best score.[9](https://wikijoo.ir/index.php/%D9%82%DB%8C%D8%B5%D8%B1_%28%D8%B3%DB%8C%D9%86%D9%85%D8%A7%29) In a later poll of Iranian film critics, *Qaysar* ranked as the 11th-best film in Iranian cinema history.[15](https://cinema.iranicaonline.org/article/resistance-and-compliance-in-the-salesman-modesty-ghayrat-masculinity-and-cinematic-negotiations-with-the-state/)\n\n## Place in Iranian cinema\n\n**A hinge between two cinemas.** The Encyclopaedia Iranica calls 1348 Š./1969 the most significant turning point in the history of Persian cinema, when Kimiai's *Qeysar* and Mehrjui's *The Cow* appeared almost simultaneously; *Qeysar* was a phenomenal box-office hit that broke the commercial monopoly of cheap *filmfarsi* products.[13](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/cinema-ii/) Cinema Iranica's survey of the period describes *Qaysar* as one of the formative films of Iran's alternative cinema, drawing on *filmfarsi* tropes to address the anxieties of the Iranian underclass, and notes that it was praised for representing \"the blind rebellions and pervasive dead-ends\" of Iran's conservative lower classes.[16](https://cinema.iranicaonline.org/article/alternative-cinema-a-cinematic-revolution-before-the-1979-revolution/)\n\nThe film also energized the tough-guy genre. Hamid Naficy's social history of Iranian cinema calls *Qaisar* \"the energizer of the tough-guy genre,\" a movie that jolted the complacent commercial cinema toward industrial productivity.[17](https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv11g984q) Blake Atwood, a scholar of Iranian cinema at [Columbia University Press](https://www.edgepedia.org/columbia-university-press)'s series on reform cinema, compares *Qeysar* with Kimiai's later *Protest* (1999) and describes *Qeysar* as celebrating vigilante justice, a space in which one's moral code supersedes the rule of law.[18](https://academic.oup.com/columbia-scholarship-online/book/19948/chapter-abstract/178872780)\n\nNot every historian accepts the film's New Wave label. Parviz Jahed, author of *The New Wave Cinema in Iran: A Critical Study* ([Bloomsbury](https://www.edgepedia.org/bloomsbury), 2022), argues that *Qeysar* is wrongly remembered as the initiator of the New Wave: despite its clear differences from *filmfarsi* production and its higher technical standards, it was made within the dominant commercial cinema's accepted rules and is not, in expression or aesthetics, a modern New Wave film.[19](https://www.radiozamaneh.com/53293/) The same source credits the film with reviving a new kind of *jaheli* (lumpen) cinema and with popularizing wounded antiheroes whose deaths signal stubborn resistance against cruelty and corruption.[19](https://www.radiozamaneh.com/53293/)\n\n**Political reading.** Cinema Iranica's survey reads the film as a metaphor for popular anger toward the government of the time and calls it the first film in which the protagonist rises against injustice and seeks revenge.[10](https://cinema.iranicaonline.org/article/a-reflection-on-irans-cinema-in-pursuit-of-happiness-part-i-1951-1971/) A University of Lethbridge thesis argues that the character became a role model for Iranian youth for years and a source of inspiration for later *filmfarsi* productions, and that critics named the film \"the rebirth of Iranian cinema.\"\n\n## Legacy\n\nThe film has been repeatedly re-released and commemorated. In December 2015 it was screened at the House of Artists in Tehran with Kimiai present, as part of a retrospective of his work.[11](https://parsi.euronews.com/2015/12/03/iran-masoud-kimiai-commemoration-week) The documentary *Qeysar 40 Years Later*, directed by Masoud Nejafi, was released online in 2020 for National Cinema Day, featuring interviews with Kimiai, Shabaviz, Partow, and surviving cast members.[20](https://www.sarpoosh.com/art-cinema/iranian-movies/iranian-movies1400061626.html) Kimiai has said he will never make a remake or sequel of the film, calling that the method of other filmmakers.[21](https://www.sarpoosh.com/art-cinema/iranian-movies/iranian-movies980505979.html) As of recent listings, the film is not available on any streaming service in the United States.[1](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/qeysar)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Qeysar (1969), JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/qeysar)\n2. [فیلم قیصر، منظوم](https://www.manzoom.ir/title/tt5618427/%D9%81%DB%8C%D9%84%D9%85-%D8%B3%DB%8C%D9%86%D9%85%D8%A7%DB%8C%DB%8C-%D9%82%DB%8C%D8%B5%D8%B1-1348)\n3. [معرفی فیلم قیصر ساخته مسعود کیمیایی، سینما قدس](https://cinemaghods.com/Ar_Articles/1396/10/Note-In-1396-10-10.html)\n4. [The Morning of the Fourth Day: The Iranian New Wave and its À Bout de Souffle, Cinema Iranica](https://cinema.iranicaonline.org/article/the-morning-of-the-fourth-day-the-iranian-new-wave-and-its-a-bout-de-souffle/)\n5. [Gheisar (1969), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064368/)\n6. [قیصر؛ حمام انتقام در بازار آب‌منگل‌ها، همشهری via SHMI](https://shmi.ir/%D9%82%DB%8C%D8%B5%D8%B1%D8%9B-%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A2%D8%A8%E2%80%8C%D9%85%D9%86%DA%AF%D9%84%E2%80%8C%D9%87/)\n7. [Qeysar by Massoud Kimiai on VoD, LaCinetek](https://www.lacinetek.com/at-en/film/qeysar-massoud-kimiai-vod)\n8. [قیصر، قیصر که می‌گفتن این بود؟!، Iranian UK](https://iranianuk.com/amp/20060514160000027/%D9%82%DB%8C%D8%B5%D8%B1-%D9%82%DB%8C%D8%B5%D8%B1-%DA%A9%D9%87-%D9%85%DB%8C-%DA%AF%D9%81%D8%AA%D9%86-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D9%86-%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%AF)\n9. [قیصر (سینما)، ویکیجو](https://wikijoo.ir/index.php/%D9%82%DB%8C%D8%B5%D8%B1_%28%D8%B3%DB%8C%D9%86%D9%85%D8%A7%29)\n10. [Iran's Cinema in Pursuit of Happiness: Part I (1951–1971), Cinema Iranica](https://cinema.iranicaonline.org/article/a-reflection-on-irans-cinema-in-pursuit-of-happiness-part-i-1951-1971/)\n11. [نمایش فیلم «قیصر» با حضور مسعود کیمیایی در تهران، یورونیوز فارسی](https://parsi.euronews.com/2015/12/03/iran-masoud-kimiai-commemoration-week)\n12. [گفت‌وگوی مفصل با بهروز وثوقی پس از موفقیت در فیلم «قیصر»، زن روز ۱۳۴۹](https://khodaazad.blogfa.com/post/12036)\n13. [CINEMA ii. Feature Films, Encyclopaedia Iranica](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/cinema-ii/)\n14. [مرامنامه ی یک سینما و اصول «کالت» آن، پرده سینما](https://www.cinscreen.com/?id=6770)\n15. [Resistance and Compliance in The Salesman (2016), Cinema Iranica](https://cinema.iranicaonline.org/article/resistance-and-compliance-in-the-salesman-modesty-ghayrat-masculinity-and-cinematic-negotiations-with-the-state/)\n16. [Alternative Cinema: A Cinematic Revolution Before 1979, Cinema Iranica](https://cinema.iranicaonline.org/article/alternative-cinema-a-cinematic-revolution-before-the-1979-revolution/)\n17. [A Social History of Iranian Cinema, Volume 2, Hamid Naficy, JSTOR](https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv11g984q)\n18. [Who Killed the Tough Guy? Continuity and Rupture in the Filmfārsi Tradition, Blake Atwood, Oxford Academic](https://academic.oup.com/columbia-scholarship-online/book/19948/chapter-abstract/178872780)\n19. [«قیصر» و ظهور قهرمانان ستیزه‌جو و تیره‌بخت، رادیو زمانه](https://www.radiozamaneh.com/53293/)\n20. [قیصر ۴۰ سال بعد اکران می‌شود، سرپوش](https://www.sarpoosh.com/art-cinema/iranian-movies/iranian-movies1400061626.html)\n21. [مسعود کیمیایی، بازسازی «قیصر» را تکذیب کرد، سرپوش](https://www.sarpoosh.com/art-cinema/iranian-movies/iranian-movies980505979.html)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 1960s films*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/qeysar", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/qeysar.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Qeysar (قیصر)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/qeysar. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Qeysar (قیصر)](https://www.edgepedia.org/qeysar)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/qeysar](https://www.edgepedia.org/qeysar). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Qeysar (قیصر)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/qeysar. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Qeysar is Masoud Kimiai's 1969 Iranian black-and-white crime drama starring Behrouz Vossoughi, about a man avenging his sister's rape-suicide and brother's murder; a Sepas award winner and, with The Cow, a founding film of the Iranian New Wave." }