Doom Desire: Ali Ahmadzadeh's Atomic Heart

Iranian director Ali Ahmadzadeh's second feature thrusts viewers into a surreal Tehran – first by sweeping viewers up into seemingly meandering conversations, then by confronting them with visions both dark and dreadful. Is the film a political statement about a fractured nation, or an indulgent exercise in cinematic depictions of dreams? David Crewe contends that it could be either, or both, or neither, and investigates the film's unnerving yet compelling ambiguities.

Additional keywords: world cinema, Iran, Jim Jarmusch, David Lynch, Atom Heart Mother.