# Imam Ali (1997)

> A 22-episode Iranian historical drama that dramatizes the life of Ali ibn Abi Talib from his early years to his assassination in Kufa.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/40074

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 22
- Episode runtime: 50 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, history
- Created by: Davood Mir-Bagheri
- Network: IRIB TV1
- Cast: Sirous Gorjestani, Vishka Asayesh, Parviz Parastouei, Mohammadreza Sharifinia, Siavash Shakeri, Dariush Arjmand, Mehdi Fathi, Anoshirvan Arjmand
- TMDB rating: 7.9/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1986451/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: solemn, devotional, dignified, tragic, contemplative

## Synopsis

Imam Ali (1997-1998) is an Iranian national-television historical drama series created by Davood Mir-Bagheri for IRIB TV1. Told across a single season of twenty-two roughly fifty-minute episodes, it follows the life of Ali ibn Abi Talib from the years before his caliphate through to his assassination in Kufa, Iraq. Sirous Gorjestani plays Aba Ghotam, Vishka Asayesh appears as Ghotam, and Parviz Parastouei plays Mohammad Ben Abi Bakr, while Dariush Arjmand portrays Malek Ashtar and Behzad Farahani plays Moavie Ben Aboo Sofian, a rival whose ambitions press against Ali's rightful claim. The engine of the story is the tension between sincere faith and the political maneuvering of rival factions fighting over leadership of the early Muslim community. Each episode is built around councils, battlefield campaigns, and personal confrontations in seventh century Arabia and Iraq. Set in the early Islamic caliphate, the series carries a solemn, devotional and dignified tone, with a sense of grief and moral seriousness. Viewers drawn to religious period dramas, the historical scope of Rome, and the courtly intrigue of The Crown will find resonance here. The series is a Shia-centered portrayal, and its ending is tragic in register.

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