The Frog (TV series)

The Frog (Persian: قورباغه, romanized: Ghoorbāgheh) is an Iranian crime and mystery TV series written, edited and directed by Houman Seyyedi and produced by Ali Asadzadeh, produced in 2020–2021. It is Houman Seyyedi's first episodic project, the first episode of which was supposed to be released on December 15, 2020, but was delayed by a court order. Eventually, the first episode aired on December 23, 2020.[2][3]

The Frog
Persianقورباغه
Genre
Created byHouman Seyyedi
Based onLa Haine (only first episode)
Written byHouman Seyyedi
Directed byHouman Seyyedi[1]
Starring
Narrated bySaber Abar
Music byBamdad Afshar
ComposerBamdad Afshar
Country of originIran
Original languagePersian
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes15
Production
ProducerAli Asadzadeh
Production locationsIran
Thailand
CinematographyPeyman Shadman far
EditorHouman Seyyedi
Running time50 minutes
Release
Original networkHome video
Original releaseDecember 23, 2020 (2020-12-23) –
March 29, 2021 (2021-03-29)

Plot

In The world is a small place for me, I feel closed everywhere and I can not breathe. It's as if I've seen all these moments before, the trees, the sound of the waterfall, the frogs, I see them when I'm dying.[4]

On Chaharshanbe Suri, three friends named Ramin (Saber Abr), Farid (Ashkan Hassanpour), and Javad (Shahrooz Del Afkar) after stealing the weapon of a wounded officer, rob Noori (Navid Mohammadzadeh), Ramin's childhood classmate, who has become a rich and mysterious man...

Cast
Actor Character Details
Saber Abar[5] Ramin Fayazi Javad and Farid's friend
Navid Mohammadzadeh Noori Zarnegar Ramin's childhood classmate, gang leader
Sahar Dolatshahi Faranak Bahrami Ramin University colleague, material producer, laboratory employee, Ramin's past mistress
Fereshteh Hosseini Leila Noori's sister, Soroush's love interest
Houman Seyyedi Amirali Shamsabadi
Mohammad Amin Sherbaf Soroush Gholipour Abad and Nouri's friend, In love with Leila
Nima Mazaheri Abad Soroush's friend
Mehran Ghafourian Kian
Anahita Afshar Negar Amirali's wife
Shahrooz Delafkar Javad Azizi Ramin and Farid's friend
Ashkan Hassanpour Farid Ramin and Javad's friend
Maneli Rasouli Young Leila
Esmaeel Soltanian Nasser Fayazi Ramin's father
Ehsan Amani
Yadollah Shademani Abolfazl Zarnegar Noori's father
Omid Mohammadzadeh Young Nasser Ramin's father in young
Samaneh Moniri Young Shahin Ramin's mother in young
Peyman Mirzaei Hassan Aunt Ramin's husband
Ali, Pianist Piano player in the movie
Youna Tadin Young Ramin
Moein Shahcheraghi Saeed Ramin's sister husband
Peyman Pazoki
Hadi Taslimi[6] Farhad Javad's addicted brother
Amirparviz Tabrizchi Foaad Leila’s ex
Fatemeh Mortazi
Vehid Abdullahi
Nafas Mohammadi Nafas,Zari Foaad’s sister
Alireza vatan parast Ali v Piano player in the movie
Sepehr Sepi Ali Piano player in the movie

Production

The Frog is the first series directed by Houman Seyyedi and is also Navid Mohammadzadeh's first series. Filming started in 2019 and was stopped due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus, filming finished in the summer of 2020 and 15 episodes were produced. The filming of the Frog took about two years.

Distribution

Negotiations were held for the release of the series on Netflix, but no agreement was reached, and the series was finally released on Namava (an Iranian streaming service).[7][8] The first episode of the series is an open interpretation of La Haine.[9] 48 hours after the release of the first episode, the series set a record with 40 million views in Iranian home video.[10][11]

Episodes
Episode number Episode title[12] Episode time Date of Release
1 Africa 48 minutes 23 December 2020
2 Kill the dogs 52 minutes 28 December 2020
3 The despicable sticking to the column 49 minutes 4 January 2021
4 The smell of rotten bitter orange 45 minutes 11 January 2021
5 Red balloon 45 minutes 18 January 2021
6 Find your seat 50 minutes 25 January 2021
7 I found my seat 53 minutes 1 February 2021
8 As a reminder, you have a meeting today 47 minutes 8 February 2021
9 The cut finger 45 minutes 15 February 2021
10 Devil's breath 48 minutes 22 February 2021
11 Burn him in fire 43 minutes 1 March 2021
12 Private 54 minutes 8 March 2021
13 Conspiracy theory 53 minutes 15 March 2021
14 Red tears 44 minutes 22 March 2021
15 (The Final Episode) The Frog 72 minutes 29 March 2021

Reception

Critical response

Massoud Farasati criticized the series in Haft program and said:

In my opinion, The Frog is not so bad. I think we can talk about this series and especially about directing. I think Seyyedi is ahead of his previous film, but its script is weak.[13]

Brian O’Shea, CEO of The Exchange:

Houman is an undeniable talent and rising star. His award-winning features honed his incredible eye and ability to pace a suspenseful story and build a complex world filled that entertains audiences that love all genres. We are incredibly happy to bring this amazing series to the rest of the world. Much like Fauda, Elite, and others, this foreign language series is primed to take the world by storm.[14]

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Recipient Result Ref.
2021 21st Hafez Awards Best Television Series The Frog resigned [15]
Best Director – Television Series Houman Seyyedi resigned
Best Screenplay – Television Series Houman Seyyedi resigned
Best Actor – Television Series Drama Saber Abar resigned
Navid Mohammadzadeh resigned
Best Actress – Television Series Drama Fereshteh Hosseini resigned
Sahar Dolatshahi resigned
2022 1st Iranian Cinema Directors' Great Celebration Best Home Video Director Houman Seyyedi Nominated

References
  1. "دربارهٔ سریال قورباغه". ghoorbaghe.com (in Persian). 2018-08-25. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  2. "دانلود سریال قورباغه - سایت". سایت سریال قورباغه (in Persian). Retrieved 2021-03-06.
  3. "پخش سریال "قورباغه" با دستور قضایی متوقف شد". مشرق نیوز (in Persian). 2020-12-14. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
  4. "The Frog". www.namava.ir. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
  5. "چگونه قسمت سوم سریال قورباغه را دانلود کنیم - ایسنا". www.isna.ir.
  6. "هادی تسلیمی بازیگر نقش فرهاد در سریال قورباغه". پایگاه خبری هنر نوشت (in Persian). Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  7. "احتمال حضور سریال ایرانی قورباغه روی نتفلیکس". ویجیاتو (in Persian). 2020-06-23. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
  8. "دانلود سریال قورباغه". ایسنا (in Persian). 2020-12-12. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
  9. Behnegarsoft.com (2021-03-01). "آشنایی کامل با سریال قورباغه". جهان نيوز (in Persian). Retrieved 2021-03-06.
  10. "رکوردشکنی سریال "قورباغه"". مملکت‌آنلاین (in Persian). Retrieved 2021-03-06.
  11. "سریال قورباغه با ۴۰ میلیون دقیقه تماشا در ۴۸ ساعت رکورد زد". ویجیاتو (in Persian). 2020-12-27. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
  12. The Frog (TV Series 2020– ) - IMDb, retrieved 2021-02-08
  13. "نقد مسعود فراستی بر سریال "قورباغه"". خبرآنلاین (in Persian). 2021-03-13. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
  14. Wiseman, Andreas (2021-06-11). "The Exchange To Sell Hit Iranian TV Series 'The Frog' During Cannes Market". Deadline. Retrieved 2021-06-13.
  15. "نامزدهای بخش تلویزیون بیست و یکمین جشن حافظ چه کسانی هستند؟". خبرگزاری برنا (in Persian). Retrieved 2021-11-14.
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