Kiarostami's final film "24 Frames" , made in the last 3 years before his death in 2016, is, uh, something. He took a photo of a Pieter Bruegel the Elder's 1565 painting The Hunters in the Snow and 23 of his own photos (many of them of snow-covered fields, or waves crashing on the shore) and imagined what happened before and after. He via computer tools added 4 minutes or so of action to each of the 24 shots. Some are wearying and repetitious with little happening, but others are special.
― curmudgeon, Monday, 29 January 2018 15:16 (six years ago) link
I keep missing Fest films... Maybe I can make it this weekend
― curmudgeon, Friday, 9 February 2018 17:38 (six years ago) link
Two years later the 25th anniversary DC Film Festival of Iranian Films is virtual and free, but you have to live in the DC area to see the movies through February 7th.
I liked Bandar Band and Dance with Me.
https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/507554/city-lights-the-25th-dc-festival-of-films-from-iran-goes-on-virtually/
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 4 February 2021 01:13 (three years ago) link
Come back other ilxor fans of Iranian film
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 4 February 2021 05:05 (three years ago) link
I tried, but can't watch the films outside DC/Maryland/Virginia.
― Adoration of the Mogwai (Deflatormouse), Friday, 5 February 2021 01:55 (three years ago) link
Is the entire thread about Abbas Kiarostami and Jafar Panahi
― Adoration of the Mogwai (Deflatormouse), Friday, 5 February 2021 02:00 (three years ago) link
Well, ok. I took my mom to see Closed Curtain at IFC years ago and she complained the entire time that it was insufferably boring and repeatedly urged me to walk out with her.
― Adoration of the Mogwai (Deflatormouse), Friday, 5 February 2021 02:07 (three years ago) link
Oh well. I think the DC Film Fest offerings may also be available for viewers in Houston, Texas and Boston, Mass via museums there. Bandar Band , although flawed, is worth seeing as is Dance w/ Me.
I still have lots of old Iranian new wave films to see.
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 6 February 2021 20:40 (three years ago) link
Just watched Crimson Gold as it was expiring from Criterion and really glad I did. Here is some discussion, including a great Morbius take:Briefly talk about what you've seen recentlyIs the entire thread about Abbas Kiarostami and Jafar PanahiSo it would seem. Apologies for continuing the trend.
― Gary Gets His Tonsure Out (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 1 March 2022 18:50 (two years ago) link
Really enjoyed this, and impressed by implicit political implications, although also, there are a lot of times and places in which you really, really wouldn't want to call the cops, no matter what:The Salesman (Persian: فروشنده, romanized: Forušande, released in France as Le Client) is a 2016 drama film written and directed by Asghar Farhadi and starring Taraneh Alidoosti and Shahab Hosseini. It is about a married couple who perform Arthur Miller's 1949 play Death of a Salesman on stage. When the wife is assaulted, her husband attempts to determine the identity of the attacker, while she struggles to cope with post-trauma stress. Farhadi chose Miller's play as his story within a story based on shared themes. A co-production between Iran and France, the film was shot in Tehran, beginning in 2015.
The film premiered in competition in the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, where it won two awards—Best Screenplay for Farhadi and Best Actor for Hosseini. The Salesman was very well-received by film critics, who mainly praised Farhadi's direction and writing, and won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. However, Farhadi did not attend the 89th Academy Awards ceremony in protest of the U.S. Executive Order 13769.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Salesman_(2016_film)
― dow, Tuesday, 1 March 2022 21:18 (two years ago) link
implicit implications OK!
― dow, Tuesday, 1 March 2022 21:19 (two years ago) link
Been meaning to watch that one. Recently watched this Israeli Apple TV+ production called Tehran, in which the Iranian characters are pretty sympathetic so now have been inspired to (re)watch some actual Iranian movies.
― Gary Gets His Tonsure Out (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 1 March 2022 21:24 (two years ago) link
Tbh I kind of got used to Athens doubling as Tehran so interesting to see how the real place looks. Which is not totally different.
― Gary Gets His Tonsure Out (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 1 March 2022 21:25 (two years ago) link
― Wile E. Is President (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 4 May 2022 01:18 (two years ago) link
Lots about Farhadi upthread already.
― Wile E. Is President (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 4 May 2022 01:20 (two years ago) link
Anyway, HIT THE ROAD lived up to its trailer and poster.
― Wile E. Is President (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 5 May 2022 11:08 (two years ago) link
Watched About Elly and The Salesman over the weekend. I suppose either The Hero or Fireworks Wednesday is next.
― Don't Renege On (Our Dub) (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 16 May 2022 16:19 (two years ago) link
I have lots of catching up to do
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 17 May 2022 13:16 (two years ago) link
The Hero another nail-biter.
― Apollo and the Aqueducts (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 22 May 2022 20:27 (two years ago) link
And there’s a story behind the story: https://www.indiewire.com/2022/04/asghar-farhadi-found-guilty-plagiarism-a-hero-1234714331/
― Apollo and the Aqueducts (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 22 May 2022 20:36 (two years ago) link
https://www.vulture.com/2022/04/asghar-farhadi-sued-plagiarism-a-hero.html
Masihzadeh claimed Farhadi made her sign a document in 2019, before he began production on A Hero, stating that he owned the idea for All Winners, All Losers, which she did “under great pressure.” Farhadi’s lawyer does not dispute the document, saying it clarified that “he was the one who proposed the idea and the plot of the documentary.” His lawyer said he researched the story on his own, based on media coverage; Masihzadeh claims there was little coverage of the incident that inspired her documentary. Relatedly, Farhadi claimed the main character of A Hero, Rahim, is dissimilar to the real-life subject of All Winners, All Losers. One former student from 2011 additionally told The Hollywood Reporter he believed Farhadi made a film based off one of his projects, but did not plan to sue because he “is a genius filmmaker.”
― Apollo and the Aqueducts (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 23 May 2022 14:33 (two years ago) link
An interview with Farhadi also on Vulture links to this interesting article: https://www.latimes.com/local/great-reads/la-me-c1-tarof-20150706-story.html
― Apollo and the Aqueducts (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 23 May 2022 14:44 (two years ago) link
It seems that the star of About Elly, Golshifteh Farahani, is mostly making films in exile in France these days, including a really terrible love triangle thing I recently tried to watch called Two Friends directed by Alfred's crush Louis Garrel.
― Apollo and the Aqueducts (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 23 May 2022 15:23 (two years ago) link
Not the same film, butNever Coming to a Theater Near You - Arthouse Cinema 2016
Louis Garrel's directorial debut may be the worst feature i've endured in the last several years― we can be heroes just for about 3.6 seconds (Dr Morbius), Monday, March 7, 2016 2:18 PM (six years ago)
― Apollo and the Aqueducts (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 23 May 2022 15:25 (two years ago) link
Think my take on Farhadi is close to Bilge Ebiri’s.
― Apollo and the Aqueducts (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 24 May 2022 01:43 (two years ago) link
really liked About Elly
― Dan S, Tuesday, 24 May 2022 01:53 (two years ago) link
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/11/07/did-the-oscar-winning-director-asghar-farhadi-steal-ideas
― Regex Dwight (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 31 October 2022 21:40 (one year ago) link
Also this: https://www.indiewire.com/2022/10/jafar-panahi-and-mohammad-rasoulof-tear-gassed-in-iran-prison-fire-1234772987/
― Regex Dwight (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 31 October 2022 22:04 (one year ago) link
Search: The Runner!
― Me and the Major on the Moon (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 14 November 2022 00:48 (one year ago) link
I hadn't heard about the plagiarism case prior to reading that article, but it seemed quite damning. Although this quote from an erstwhile collaborator makes sense:
"If you ask me—as a person who hasn’t seen either ‘A Hero’ or the documentary but just knows the guy extremely well—this is not plagiarism. Asghar is far too intelligent and interesting as an artist, as a writer, to do something like that. This is him wanting control over authorship. It’s a character flaw.”
Everyone in the article is just like "Look, I don't care that you took my idea, just acknowledge that you did it." And he won't.
― jaymc, Monday, 14 November 2022 00:55 (one year ago) link
Found that article totally fascinating for the same reason, the fact that other figures in the industry were so willing to go on the record to basically say, "Haha, yeah, of course he passed off her work as 100% his creation, that's just how he is."
― intheblanks, Monday, 14 November 2022 03:26 (one year ago) link
Didn’t really read that article until just now and it was indeed fascinating and kind of painful to read. To me it is as if the hero with the “broken smile” of The Hero is kind of an obvious DO U SEE? shadow self for Farhadi.
― Me and the Major on the Moon (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 14 November 2022 06:05 (one year ago) link
Bahram Beyzaeie's Downpour, on the third World Cinema Project box, is a really excellent comedy.
― Daniel_Rf, Monday, 14 November 2022 11:23 (one year ago) link
Are you saying that because you know he edited The Runner?
― Me and the Major on the Moon (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 14 November 2022 11:56 (one year ago) link
New Jafar Panahi is good, believe the hype!
― A Kestrel for a Neve (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 1 January 2023 05:12 (one year ago) link
Panahi on hunger strike. This is sickening!
― xyzzzz__, Friday, 3 February 2023 15:27 (one year ago) link
it's pretty horrible.
― And Your Borad Can Zing (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 3 February 2023 15:33 (one year ago) link
Apparently he's just been released from jail?
― Halfway there but for you, Friday, 3 February 2023 18:25 (one year ago) link
Great news!
― And Your Borad Can Zing (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 3 February 2023 18:27 (one year ago) link
Now what about Mohammad Rasoulof?
― And Your Borad Can Zing (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 3 February 2023 18:28 (one year ago) link
Rasoulof has apparently been out for a month: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/feb/03/iranian-film-maker-jafar-panahi-released-on-bail-after-hunger-strike
― Frederik B, Friday, 3 February 2023 19:19 (one year ago) link
About to watch Samira Makhmalbaf’s THE APPLE and came across this about her dad’s little film school which she attended:https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2002/filmmaker-profiles/makhmalbaf/
― The Windows of the URL (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 12 February 2023 20:40 (one year ago) link
Not an Iranian film, but Golshifteh Farahani is really good in the film known in English as ARAB BLUES.
― after the pinefox (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 15 February 2023 00:39 (one year ago) link
Movie is kind of broad and she plays a French-Tunisian rather thn a French-Irani but her perfomance is still good.
― after the pinefox (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 15 February 2023 00:59 (one year ago) link
Just finally watched Rasoulof’s There Is No Evil before it leaves MUBI. It is indeed very long but the first and last sections both make it worth your time.
― Think Fast, Mr. Mojo Risin’ (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 11 March 2023 06:10 (one year ago) link