Films like Captain Khorshid and Wind of Jinn embody the mystique of the Persian Gulf. Wind of Jinn, in particular, explores the folk beliefs and rituals surrounding possession and healing, blending realism with ethnographic observation. This approach made him one of the earliest directors to bridge cinema and anthropology. Captain Khorshid (1987), his masterpiece, was both a tribute to southern life and a creative adaptation of Hemingway’s To Have and Have Not. Taghvai successfully translated Hemingway’s Cuban world into the Gulf, infusing it with the grit and dignity of local sailors.
The film’s visual language — sharp sunlight, wind-battered boats, and intense human faces — is now considered iconic in cinema. Taghvai was part of the generation of directors — alongside Dariush Mehrjui, Masoud Kimiai, and Bahram Beyzaie — who redefined Iranian cinema in the 1960s and 1970s. Together, they launched what came to be known as the New Wave, characterized by poetic realism, social critique, and artistic experimentation. What set Taghvai apart was his documentary sensibility. He started as a documentarian, which gave his fiction films a grounded, observational quality.
