I’m not much of a movie buff, but I like to watch an engrossing film now and then. As a graduate student I had an exposure to film festivals and the opportunity to officiate in a couple of them. This gave me some appreciation of cinema, though not enough to be intellectual about them.
Iranian films have long been a staple of festival cinema, and are known for their understated, realistic, and sensitive storytelling. Directors like Majid Majidi, Abbas Kiarostami, Jafar Panahi and Asghar Farhadi are among the best in their craft worldwide and would rub shoulders with the Truffauts and Polanskis.
Iran places heavy restrictions on its filmmakers, especially in how women are depicted. Women are almost always in hijab (headscarves), there is little or no portrayal of intimacy on screen, and political topics attract censure. Yet, their films are essentially protest films – and often have feminist perspectives – rich in social commentary and awareness, but conveyed through stories.
This is an incomplete selection of films I’ve enjoyed over the years. I hope you enjoy watching them as much as I have:
7. Offside (Jafar Panahi) 2006
Women are barred from public sports events in Iran, but you can’t keep fanatic soccer fans from attending some of Iran’s important games. This film is about a bunch of girls who managed to get caught while trying to smuggle themselves into the Iran-Bahrain world cup qualifier match of 2006. A substantial portion of the footage is from that match at the Azadi Stadium in Teheran.
How do you film on-location and at real time during a historic event? That’s what makes Jafar Panahi such a master. Oh, and Iran won 1-0 and made it to the finals in Germany.
6. To Be or Not To Be (Kianoush Ayari) 1998
Anik Avanessian is a young woman suffering from a cardiac ailment that requires her to get a transplant. She is number 200 in the queue. Everyday, she notes, some disappear with a sordid “could not find a donor” against their names. But an equal number appear.
Director Ayari helps us join her – and her doctor’s – journey to get a heart donor. An informant lets them know about a young man who was first said to have been killed in an accident, then apparently in a brawl among relatives on the eve of his wedding. The film is about how Anik and her doctor convince the reluctant family into donating the young man’s heart. To complicate matters, Anik is from the minority Armenian community. Watch it for its depiction of life in Iran, its prejudices and idiosyncrasies.
IMVBox, requires registration https://www.imvbox.com/watch-persian-movie-iranian-movies/to-be-or-not-to-be-boodan-ya-naboodan/play-film
5. A Separation (Asghar Farhadi) 2011
She wants to leave Iran so that they could provide a better future for their child. He cannot; someone needs to take care of his paraplegic octogenarian father. So, they decide to separate. Events happen that tell us that they love each other deeply. Their early-teen daughter tries hard to get them to stay together. But both are headstrong.
This one tugs at the heartstrings. Available on Amazon Prime.
4. The Salesman (Asghar Farhadi) 2016
A theatre teacher and his actress wife leave their crumbling apartment and shift to a house previously occupied by a tenant of dubious character. A stranger invades the wife’s privacy, traumatizing her. The teacher, despite his wife’s objections and resultant strains in the marriage, tries to track down the culprit.
A bit of a whodunit, but not without the “slice of life” depiction of Iranian society and the understated rebellion of its filmmakers.
Was available on Amazon Prime.
Trailer
3. Taste of Cherry (Abbas Kiarostami) 1997
A lonely man wants to end his life but also wants a respectful burial. He’s already identified the burial spot and dug the graveyard. He rides around the outskirts of Teheran looking for an able-bodied man who will bury him for money and not ask too many questions…
They call Abbas Kiarostami the master of minimal cinema for good reason. Most of the film is shot from the passenger seat as the protagonist drives around the outskirts of Teheran, trying to persuade a soldier, a religious scholar and a taxidermist to bury him.
You’d think such a plot will have melodrama and emotionally wrought scenes? But no.
2. A Song of Sparrows (Majid Majidi) 1997
The daughter of an Ostrich farm worker loses her hearing aid. It is too far gone to repair and a fresh device is too expensive but the father is determined to replace it; her exams are a month away. In a freak accident, an Ostrich runs away from the farm, and he gets fired for it. Nevertheless, he goes to Teheran with the hearing aid. A series of providential events work in the family’s favour before another series of events work against it. Is there a happy ending? Depends on what your perception of happiness is.
If you have watched Majidi’s Children of Heaven, Color of Paradise or Baran, this is another fine example of his ability to work with children, and the sensitive portrayal of the struggles of the rural poor. As in Baran, there is an Afghanistan subtext.
1 Shirin (Abbas Kiarostami) 2008
Shirin is based on the famous epic poem Khosrow and Shirin by the ninth century Persian poet Nizam Ganjawi, who also wrote Layla Majnoun.
Shirin is the fictionalized princess of Armenia. Khosrow is the Sassanian king who is in love with her without having met her even once. They seek out each other and cross paths. When they do meet, Khosrow professes love for her, but she turns him down unless he regains his kingdom. To do that, he marries Maryam, the daughter of the ruler of Constantinople, who forbids him to marry anyone else as long as she is alive. Shirin, meanwhile, falls in love with a sculptor, Farhad. The jealous king tracks down Farhad, tortures him before killing him. Maryam also dies. Khosrow proposes to Shirin, who reluctantly consents. But Khosrow’s son (from Maryam) is also in love with Shirin.
Son murders the father and sends an ultimatum to Shirin. Shirin would rather die than agree to this union. She kills herself.
That’s the watered-down plot of this wondrous epic poem. You can hear this story on the soundtrack, alright, with kitschy music and full-blown melodramatic voices and characterization. But the visuals? I’ll leave that for you to experience. Bonus: Juliette Binoche is part of the cast.
Also, here is something about Kiarostami that I was not expecting. It’s a must-read, especially if you have seen the movie Ten. Ten is a woman who drives around Teheran and has ten conversations. All of these conversations are poignant and intimate and I wondered how Kiarostami was able to achieve that level of confidence with the subjects. It turns out he didn’t.
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