Willow Tree, The

(96 minutes) After years of refusing to let his handicap get in the way of his success, a blind professor whose vision is restored experiences a dramatic shift in personality in this drama from director Majid Majidi. A renowned professor of poetry at a Tehran university, Youssef (Parvis Parastui) has been blessed with a loving wife, a beautiful daughter, and a picturesque suburban home. Despite being blinded in a childhood accident, Youssef has successfully overcome his disability to live a happy and rewarding life. When the threat of a terminal disease finds Youssef hastily departing to Paris to seek the care of a highly-regarded specialist, the subsequent relief of discovering that he is not in danger after all is made even more joyous by the revelation that he is now eligible for the cornea transplant that promises to restore his sight. Soon returning to Iran and experiencing the world around him in a whole new light, Youssef begins to resent the years that he spent in darkness and, after forsaking the love of his devoted wife for the beauty of a stranger he barely knows, finds his bitterness evolving into aggression that threatens to destroy both himself and those who love him most.