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Post by Woland on Mar 30, 2020 19:12:14 GMT -5
Iranian cinema gained hipster appeal in the 90s followed by mainstream appeal in the 2010s thanks to "A Separation" winning at the Oscars. There's no doubt the Iranian revolution and subsequent censorship changed society, the way filmmakers operate and affected attitudes towards Iranian cinema in general (Roger Ebert hated "A Taste of Cherry" and claimed it only gained critical acclaim because it's from Iran).
So what did Iranian cinema look like pre-Revolution? Finding a movie in decent film quality is hard enough let alone with English subtitles, making the task all that harder, though thanks to kind souls from the Internet, a few notable examples survive.
Forough Farrokhzad was/is a hugely revered female poet, she had a relationship with Iranian director Ibrahim Golestan until she was tragically killed in a car accident at just 32 years of age. Her poems were banned by the Islamic clerics for over a decade. In 1963 just 4 years before her death she travelled to a leper colony and made this short documentar, interspersing verses from the Koran and her own poetry as counterpoint to the sometimes upsetting images.
Note: some disturbing imagery for the squeamish.
Dariush Mehrjui put Iranian cinema on the map by winning top prize at the Venice Film Festival in 1971. "The Cow" focuses on a villager's prized cow (only one in the village) dying while he's away in the capital, the villagers try to coverup the cow's death as they fear he'll go crazy. It's sometimes called the kickstarter for the Iranian "new wave" (every country in the 60s had a cinematic wave apparently).
Compared to other major Iranian directors post-revolution, Mehrjui suffered far less censorship and intrusion from the Government, he's sometimes labelled as an apologist for the regime, although the success of "The Cow" inspired the pre-Revolutionary government to increase funding for Iranian cinema.
Abbas Kiarostami is considered the greatest Iranian filmmaker outside of Iran, inside of Iran his work doesn't overtly criticise the regime and (particularly) his later work felt more like intellectual exercise than the work which received such adoration from Akira Kurosawa. Abbas Kiarostami's early work was funded by the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults in Tehran, one of the big reasons children are often the protagonists in his early shorts and documentaries.
"Two Solutions for One problem" from 1975 was his first work in colour, one of his more accessible early works.
"Still Life" (1974) is a very slow movie about a man who's spent the last 30 years as a crossing guard at a train station in the middle of nowhere, now facing enforced retirement he's unsure what to do with himself. Sohrab Shahid-Saless was criticised by the pre-Revolutionary government for his subtle criticisms to the point he settled in West Germany, producing documentaries and TV movies until his death in 1998.
The most successful pre-Revolutionary Iranian series is the wonderfully titled "My Uncle Napoleon", based on a best selling novel. It's on youtube sans english subtitles unfortunately, might have to just settle for the book instead.
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Post by Woland on Mar 31, 2020 10:17:07 GMT -5
The 80s:
The Iranian revolution caused all the neighbouring regimes to collectively soil themselves at the fear of contagion spreading to their own countries. The fear of "western liberalism corrupting our Islamic conservatism" instigated harsh censorship across the region to consolidate power internally. Saddam Hussein saw Iranian instability as casus belli to annex some of that sweet Iranian oil, and thus began the destructive Iran-Iraq, lasting over 8 years killing hundreds of thousands on both sides. On the cinematic front some directors left Iran for more peaceful shores, others saw their work banned or cut to smithereens and some decided to work around the new censorship rules.
"Hajji Washington" is the comedic fictional re-telling of the first Iranian ambassador to the USA: a simple Iranian man gets a massive sendoff from his village before arriving in "The New World", initial optimism comes crashing down to earth, as homesickness, isolation and insanity take hold of the protagonist, nobody visits his embassy, staff are laid off, not even a visit from Grover Cleveland can lift his spirits. The film wasn't released in Iran until 1998, 15 years after it was first made.
Mohsen Makhmalbaf joined a militant group at 15 in protest of the Shah's regime, at 17 he knifed a policeman and spent 5 years in prison (had he been 1 year older he would've received the death penalty), during his time in prison he gorged on books and knowledge, after the Iranian revolution he was released from prison with a newfound goal to become a filmmaker. "The Cyclist" focuses on an Afghan immigrant who can't afford to pay his wife's medical bills, he hooks up with a con-man and has to ride a bicycle in a circle for 7 days straight, in vain hope of spectators raining pitiful cash upon him. Makhmalbaf's raw passion overcomes the somewhat unprofessional look of his early work.
"Bashu the Little Stranger" follows a young Arab boy from Southern Iran during the war with Iraq, his parents are killed in a bombing raid and he hitchhikes to Northern Iran, landing on a strange farm. The woman running the place (her husband is a war veteran who left a while ago seeking employment) is suspicious of the boy but she gradually takes him in, her two kids also warm to the lad despite the language and ethnic gap. The rest of the village is not so forgiving. It wasn't released until after the Iran-Iraq war finished.
"Where is the Friend's Home" is the first great work of Abbas Kiarostami, a deceptively simple tale of an 8 year old boy mistakenly taking his classmate's notebook, he must return it else his friend gets expelled from school the next day. The problem? His friend lives in another village. From this skeletal premise the boy goes on a journey, navigating the strict rules of adults to return his friend's book out of a sense of personal responsibility. The movie also offers a view of rural Iranian life, hinting at the change in social attitudes along with the allure of the big city. The film is considered part 1 of the unofficial "Koker" trilogy, along with "Life and Nothing More" and "Through the Olive Trees", three films shot in a documentary-style melded with fictional elements to keep the audience guessing the fictional and documentary elements. "Where is the Friend's Home" is, in my opinion, Kiarostami's greatest film.
The 90s will be next.
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Post by Woland on Mar 31, 2020 16:13:46 GMT -5
The 90s saw Iranian cinema find a large audience in Western European arthouses, Italian audiences drew contrasts with neo-realism of the 40s and 50s, French audiences saw their nouvelle vague from the 50s and 60s reflected in Iranian movies. The burgeoning careers of Kiarostami, Makhmalbaf et al. culminated with Kiarostami's "Taste of Cherry" bagging the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1997. A sudden retrospective look at how those Iranians achieved such a feat sparked new interest in Iranian cinema, the success of one was slowly redistributed down to help others up.
Hamoun was voted Greatest Iranian movie of all time by critics in the late 90s, while I wouldn't go that far it's certainly a strong film. One middle class man reflects on his failing marriage, his life and career as it disintegrates before his eyes, what turned his wife against him and whether it's a sign of just a failing marriage or a harbinger of a sick society. The Felliniesque dream sequences and lighter comedic touches balance out the dark undercurrents.
Close-Up
To say this movie is "based on a true story" doesn't do full justice. Ali Sabzian was caught impersonating a famous film director (Mohsen Makhmalbaf), convincing a wealthy family to star in his new imaginary film. Not only does Ali play himself in the story, the wealthy family also play themselves, re-enacting the actual events, while footage from Sabzian's real life trial is also shown. To further blur the line between documentary and fiction, Abbas Kiarostami films his own interviews with everyone involved, inserts his own voiceover into the real and "fictional" footage. Confusing? Kinda. Innovative? Hell yes.
Life, and Nothing More
Part 2 of the unofficial "Koker trilogy" takes place shortly after the Iranian earthquake in 1990. A film director (obvious Kiarostami surrogate) drives through destroyed rural villages, badly damaged roads to find the stars of "Where is the Friend's Home?". The movie was essentially a reconstruction of a real life journey Kiarostami took after the earthquake, only the movie was shot several months after in 2 separate segments, spliced together to give the effect of continuity. Not only does one see the devastation, lives upturned, also one sees the human drive to persevere through suffering. Kiarostami also develops his love of long scenes in cars from this point on, child protagonists of his early career slowly drift away.
The White Balloon
Jafar Panahi's directorial debut is a somewhat twee story of a little girl tasked with buying a goldfish, only she drops the money down the sewer, and now she must find a way to get the money and the goldfish. Feeling like early lite-Kiarostami (he wrote the screenplay) this is a curious debut far removed from Panahi's more politically overt movies ("The Circle" and "Crimson Gold")which would earn him a prison sentence in 2011. The movie isn't as goofy as the trailer suggests.
A Moment of Innocence
Mohsen Makhmalbaf meets the Policeman he stabbed as a teenager, prompting him to recreate that very moment with two young surrogates onscreen. Another melding of documentary and fiction as both men pick their surrogate, wishing to see their younger selves reflected in these living avatars, in a sense trying to reinflict the sins of one generation onto the younger.
The Apple
Based on a true story about a man who kept his two daughters locked up at home for 11 years, this film shows their first look at the outside world. Made from leftover filmstock from her dad's last film, Samira Makhmalbaf made this film at just 17 years of age. She'd later win big at Cannes with "Blackboards" a couple years later. Her younger sister
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