Beautiful young widow Tara returns to her village with her two children from the country. On her way home, she learns that her grandfather has died, and distributes his belongings among her neighbours. But there remains an old sword that no one will accept. One day, on the road, Tara meets an ancient warrior, who claims that his clan have sent him to take the old sword back.

Based on a short story by Houshang Golshiri, this film centers on mysterious and chilling events that take place in a village. A group of superstitious inhabitants have erected a scarecrow for protection but soon find themselves terrorized by it. Made at the end of the Shah’s reign, the film offers a metaphorical reflection on power relations — how people create their own idols who turn around to terrorize them.

"The Stranger and the Fog" which runs for nearly two-and -a-half hours and was some years in preparation, is an epic that owes allegiance to the Japanese cinema of Kurosawa.
It is set in some distant historical epoch (unfamiliar even to Iranians), and centres on intolerance in a small seaside Village. A stranger arrives in a boat. No one knows why or whence he comes. After an intial period of sucpicion, he is accepted by the villagers and marries a young widow. But there is always the feeling that he is being pursued, and the climax of the film describes a running fight between the villagers and five mysterious armed men who come in search of the stranger.
The film is shot in color with an arrogant ease; the camera travels swiftly and fluently alongside running figures, and prowls unerringly through the village huts. This is a grandiose achievement, as successful in its depiction of a primitive life-style as Paradjanov's "Shadow of Our Forgotten Ancestors". It marks Bahram Beizai as one of his country's most gifted directors. (Film Guide 1975)