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A House Built on Water (2002) movie poster

Characters & Themes

A House Built on Water (2002) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

Release, runtime and language
2002 · 111 mins · Persian
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Directed by
Bahman Farmanara
Starring
Behnaz Jafari, Ezzatollah Entezami, Mohsen Ghazi Moradi, Mehran Rajabi, Reza Kianian, Bita Farrahi

After a long exile, Bahman Farmanara offers a drama about Dr. Reza Sepidbakht, a Tehran gynecologist who thinks he strikes an angel on a night drive with call girl. The next day he meets a comatose boy who memorized the Qur’an, prompting Reza to rethink strained ties with aging father, wayward son and women he has wronged, seeking guidance when the boy awakens.

On this page (7)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 Characters explained (6)
  3. 3 Where & when it takes place
  4. 4 Themes & meaning (3)
  5. 5 Character & meaning questions
  6. 6 Movie threads
  7. 7 Every angle
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6 main characters · contains spoilers

A House Built on Water Characters Explained: Who Is Who

The main characters of A House Built on Water (2002), heroes and villains: what drives them, how they change over the course of the story and what each of them reveals about the film's bigger ideas.

  • Dr. Reza Sepidbakht (Reza Kianian)

    A middle-aged gynecologist whose warmth is shadowed by past mistakes. He navigates loneliness and a fall from grace after causing infertility for his secretary-lover, a decision that haunts his professional and personal life. Throughout the story, he shows tenderness to patients and loved ones while confronting the limits of medicine in a strained society.

    • 🩺 Doctor
    • 💔 Flawed
    • 🧭 Ethical Dilemma
  • Dr. Sepidbakht's Father

    played by Ezzatollah Entezami

    A weighty paternal figure whose presence lends gravity and lineage to the drama. His relationship with his son anchors the film's exploration of responsibility and tradition within a changing society.

    • 👨‍👦 Family
    • 🗝️ Legacy
  • Mojgan Ahadi (Behnaz Jafari)

    The secretary-lover who bears the consequences of the doctor's past deed; scarred by infertility, she embodies themes of forgiveness, resilience, and the cost of mistakes within intimate relationships.

    • 💔 Lover
    • 🕊️ Forgiveness
  • Jale Tirandaz (Hedie Tehrani)

    The ex-beloved who is now a head-nurse undergoing chemotherapy. She embodies both tenderness and the fragility of life, bridging personal history with present hardship and care.

    • 💉 Nurse
    • 💪 Resilience
  • Dr. Latifian (Jamshid Mashayekhi)

    A senior physician who embodies institutional authority and long-standing medical wisdom within the hospital setting.

    • 🧭 Authority
    • 🩺 Senior Doctor
  • Shabnam Toloui as Secretary

    A hospital secretary who intersects with the doctor’s world, contributing to the intimate and procedural currents of hospital life.

    • 💼 Secretary
    • 🗨️ Intermediary

Last updated: October 03, 2025 at 10:24

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Setting

Where and When Does A House Built on Water Take Place?

The setting of A House Built on Water (2002): the year and time period, the places and locations, and how they shape the characters, the mood and the tension of the story.

Time period

Early 2000s

The narrative unfolds in contemporary Iran during the early 2000s, a period when modern medicine intersected with social taboos. It juxtaposes clinical scenes with broader societal pressures, including addiction and disease, to explore moral limits. The film's festival recognition at the 2002 Fajr Film Festival anchors its temporal and cultural moment.

Location

Tehran, Iran

Set in Tehran, Iran, the film presents a modern Iranian city at the crossroads of medicine and social strain. Much of the drama unfolds inside hospital corridors and urban neighborhoods, grounding the story in tangible reality. The backdrop engages with contemporary issues such as narcotics, prostitution, and AIDS, reflecting real-world concerns of early 2000s Iran.

  • 🇮🇷 Iran
  • 🏙️ Urban setting

Last updated: October 03, 2025 at 10:24

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3 major themes

A House Built on Water Meaning: Themes & Message Explained

What is A House Built on Water (2002) really about? The emotional, social and philosophical themes the film keeps returning to, its symbolism and the message beneath the surface.

  • Medicine & Morality

    A physician's kindness is tested by past mistakes, with consequences spilling into patient care. Dr. Sepidbakht grapples with guilt after harming his secretary-lover's fertility, complicating his duties as a healer. The story uses medical scenes to probe accountability, trust, and the limits of healing.

  • Faith & Fate

    A boy memorizes the Quran and falls into a coma, prompting questions about destiny and belief. The film ties spirituality to medicine, showing how faith can both comfort and complicate treatment. It suggests that fate may guide more than cures, shaping how characters navigate illness and mortality.

  • Societal Shadows

    The story casts a critical eye on narcotics among youths, prostitution, and AIDS, illustrating a society under strain. Through the doctor's interactions with patients and loved ones, it reveals how social ills infiltrate intimate lives. The film uses gritty realism to question institutions and collective responsibility.

Last updated: October 03, 2025 at 10:24

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Character & theme questions

A House Built on Water Characters & Meaning: Your Questions Answered

The questions people ask about A House Built on Water (2002): who the characters really are, their relationships, what the symbols mean, where it takes place and what the movie is really about. Each answer contains spoilers.

Q1

Where is the movie set?

The film is set in Tehran, the capital of Iran. The story unfolds primarily in hospital corridors and urban neighborhoods, grounding the narrative in the tangible reality of a modern Iranian city navigating contemporary social challenges.

  • tehran
  • iran
  • setting
  • hospital
  • urban
Q2

What time period does the film depict?

The narrative takes place in early 2000s Iran, during a period when modern medicine intersected with social taboos. The film was actually made and received recognition at the 2002 Fajr Film Festival, anchoring it firmly in this era.

  • early 2000s
  • iran
  • time period
  • contemporary
Q3

What does the film say about medicine and morality?

The film explores how a physician's kindness is tested by past mistakes. Dr. Sepidbakht grapples with guilt after harming his secretary-lover's fertility, which complicates his duties as a healer. The story uses medical scenes to probe accountability, trust, and the limits of healing.

  • medicine
  • morality
  • guilt
  • doctor
  • healing
Q4

How does faith and fate play into the story?

A boy who has memorized the Quran falls into a coma, prompting questions about destiny and belief. The film ties spirituality to medicine, showing how faith can both comfort and complicate treatment, suggesting that fate may guide more than cures in how characters navigate illness and mortality.

  • faith
  • fate
  • quran
  • spiritual
  • coma
Q5

What social issues does the film address?

The film casts a critical eye on narcotics among youths, prostitution, and AIDS, illustrating a society under strain. Through the doctor's interactions with patients and loved ones, it reveals how these social ills infiltrate intimate lives, using gritty realism to question institutions and collective responsibility.

  • narcotics
  • prostitution
  • aids
  • social issues
  • iran
Q6

Who is Dr. Reza Sepidbakht?

Dr. Reza Sepidbakht is a middle-aged gynecologist whose warmth is shadowed by past mistakes. He navigates loneliness and a fall from grace after causing infertility for his secretary-lover, a decision that haunts both his professional and personal life. Throughout the story, he shows tenderness to patients and loved ones while confronting the limits of medicine in a strained society.

  • dr reza sepidbakht
  • gynecologist
  • doctor
  • guilt
Q7

Who is Mojgan Ahadi and what is her connection to Dr. Sepidbakht?

Mojgan Ahadi is the secretary-lover who bears the consequences of the doctor's past deed. Scarred by infertility caused by Dr. Sepidbakht, she embodies themes of forgiveness, resilience, and the cost of mistakes within intimate relationships.

  • mojgan ahadi
  • secretary lover
  • infertility
  • forgiveness
Q8

Who is Jale Tirandaz and what role does she play?

Jale Tirandaz is the doctor's ex-beloved who is now a head-nurse undergoing chemotherapy. She embodies both tenderness and the fragility of life, bridging personal history with present hardship and care.

  • jale tirandaz
  • head nurse
  • chemotherapy
  • ex-beloved
Q9

What is Dr. Sepidbakht's relationship with his father like?

Dr. Sepidbakht's father is a weighty paternal figure whose presence lends gravity and lineage to the drama. His relationship with his son anchors the film's exploration of responsibility and tradition within a changing Iranian society.

  • father
  • tradition
  • family
  • responsibility
Q10

What is the emotional tone of the film?

The film carries a melancholic tone, focusing on a man's remorse, loneliness, and the quiet sadness permeating his attempts at connection. While it deals with heavy subject matter, its slow, contemplative pacing provides breathing room rather than constant tension.

  • melancholic
  • tone
  • slow pacing
  • remorse
Q11

How would you describe the film's complexity?

The film has moderate complexity, weaving the doctor's personal journey with broader social commentary and a layer of spiritual mystery through the comatose Quran-memorizing boy. Over 90% of the story unfolds in tangible reality, grounding the narrative in a recognizable world of human frailty.

  • complexity
  • spiritual
  • mystery
  • realism

Movie threads

More Movies Like A House Built on Water, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes A House Built on Water tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Redemptive spiritual journeys like in A House Built on Water

Flawed characters find profound change after a mysterious spiritual event. Explore movies like A House Built on Water where characters on a path of self-destruction are confronted by a spiritual mystery, forcing them to seek redemption. These films share a heavy emotional weight, a melancholic tone, and a focus on personal transformation grounded in a recognizable world.

  • spiritual
  • contemplative
  • melancholic
  • redemptive
  • serious
  • mysterious
  • Tone: melancholic, reflective, spiritually ambiguous
  • Pacing: slow, contemplative
Why these movies?

The story pattern: These narratives typically follow a protagonist who is emotionally closed-off, morally compromised, or deeply lonely. A catalyst event—often a surreal encounter, a mysterious person, or an inexplicable phenomenon—disrupts their reality, sparking a slow-burn journey of self-confrontation. The plot focuses less on solving the mystery and more on the internal upheaval and gradual attempts to mend broken relationships.

Why they belong together: Movies in this thread are grouped by their shared core of a secular character's collision with the spiritual, leading to a heavy, character-driven study of remorse and the possibility of change. They share a melancholic, reflective mood and prioritize emotional depth over plot speed.

Movies about urban loneliness like A House Built on Water

Slow, contemplative studies of isolation and regret within a city's landscape. Discover movies like A House Built on Water that capture the feeling of urban loneliness and a character's contemplative reckoning with their past. These slow-paced, serious dramas often focus on professionals navigating moral crises and strained relationships within a modern city setting.

  • lonely
  • melancholic
  • contemplative
  • urban
  • serious
  • reflective
  • Tone: melancholic, lonely, serious
  • Pacing: slow, deliberate
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative pattern is less about a traditional plot and more about an emotional and psychological landscape. A central character, often successful yet emotionally empty, moves through their city environment, which amplifies their sense of alienation. The story is built through vignettes and introspective sequences, examining the weight of their actions on themselves and those around them.

Why they belong together: These films are connected by their pervasive mood of melancholy and their focus on loneliness as a central theme. They share a slow, observational pacing that allows the audience to feel the protagonist's isolation and a heavy emotional weight derived from themes of addiction, estrangement, and social decay.

Every angle

A House Built on Water (2002) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

Everything about A House Built on Water in one place: what happens in the plot summary, the timeline in chronological order, the characters and meaning and a spoiler-free summary. What's After the Movie adds the cast, box office and post-credit scenes.

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