S & D: Iranian film

A bit late to the party, but some thoughts:

The switch from Closed Curtain to Taxi is indeed quite big, but it's also quite logical. In Closed Curtain Panahi not only depicts his suicidal thoughts, he also wins over them, and leave them in the seaside villa, while he himself drives off. So the next film opens with him more cheerful, in another car!

The lawyer at the end says that the regime is jailing people, not to punish those specific people, but to make all of Iran feel like a prison. Well, Panahi responds, not just by turning his Taxi into a place of free discussion, but also by turning all of Teheran into a playground through cinematography. At times the spiritual equivalent of this film is more something like Playtime. As in the scene where the niece is trying to film the wedding couple, while the beggar walks around as well, that's just marvelous choreography.

I don't think there's anything particularly seismic about these three films, Panahi is working in a typical Iranian form that he himself helped define. He talks in This Is Not a Film about The Mirror, about the moment of 'throwing off the cast'. Well, the new thing about these films is that Panahi is also, through circumstances, forced to throw down the gauntlet. Not so much in This is Not a Film, that's still an attempt to create art within the limitations. These other two films are fighting films, though. And while they're techniques are wellknown, from Panahi and Makhmalbaf and others, Panahi now uses them differently, and creates new things with them.

I consider this trilogy to be the most important thing in world cinema this decade. I quite simply love it. It's not a complete statement, it's a discussion, with himself, his filmmaking and now the rest of his country. There are things that might not be true, that Panahi later discards. But this discussion is so so important, in a world where questions of free speech, censorship and art continue to be important. And Taxi Teheran responds with the most triumphant and warm voice to all the inhibitions put in his way.

And while they're techniques are wellknown, from Panahi and Makhmalbaf and others, Panahi now uses them differently, and creates new things with them.

That's it - definitely a shift. Again all through a partic set of circumstances that meant he had to use techniques there are well-known in different ways.

Is this a trilogy? Just get a sense of Panahi carrying on in whatever way he can. Closed Curtain felt like it was filmed a particularly depressing time.

Wishful thinking... I so want the ban to be lifted so he'll only make three films this way.

http://www.asia.si.edu/events/films.asp

20th anniversary Iranian film fest in W. DC and Maryland started last weekend and goes through spring. Old and newer films include: The Cow; The President; Taxi; Avalanche; Wolkaan; Monir; Melbourne; 316; Atomic Heart

http://www.asia.si.edu/events/films.asp

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/general/2016/01/14/exile-censorship-and-pink-floyd-a-qa-with-curator-tom-vick-on-the-iranian-film-festival/

TV: I would say that this year's batch is quite varied. Films like Avalanche and Melbourne are typical of the style many people associate with Iranian cinema, but Taxi, 316, and Atomic Heart, for instance, take more experimental approaches. The first two comment in different ways on censorship in Iran. Atomic Heart (whose title comes from an obscure Pink Floyd album) shows a side of Iranian life most Americans wouldn't be familiar with. The two films made by Iranians living abroad (Bahar Noorizadeh and Mohsen Makhmalbaf) both reflect on their makers' exile.

Saw Makhmalbaf's "The President" at a packed National Gallery of Art in W. DC showing Sunday (people sitting in the aisles; many DC area living Iranian families). Big 500 seat theatre too.

I thought it was very impressive. Good blend of satire and seriousness in this tale of a dictator.

You can see "The President" in Boston tonight, as part of the MFA's end of January Iranian Film Fest

http://www.mfa.org/programs/series/the-boston-festival-of-films-from-iran

It's showing in Copenhagen as well this week. Think I'll go tomorrow.

The President sneaking into one New York theater today for a week

its brilliant i think. underrated, actually.

hafta say i thought it was a misfire, kinda hated the moppet (American child actors really are the best)

some good scenes of course, mostly in the last third

I liked it. Thought the kid was kinda universal in some ways

ICA in London are doing a makhmalbaf season. 35mm prints of salaam cinema and moment of innocence (only ever seen them on dvd so hoping to make it), and digital screenings of some of his more recent stuff - i dont know much about the gardener or daddys school but they sound interesting (though as they are only about an hour long, would have been nice to have had them as a double bill).

https://www.ica.org.uk/whats-on/season/mohsen-makhmalbaf-focus

http://www.asia.si.edu/events/films.asp

Iranian Film Fest has been going on in DC area (continues to March 1). Lots of Kiarostami. Plus I saw this:

Reza Dormishian’s latest, Lantouri, is a harrowing, suspenseful effort about the relationship between a criminal rehabilitation activist and a troubled member of a cold-blooded gang of thieves who falls in love with her. Some scenes that graphically invoke the legal concept of “an eye for an eye” are gruesome, while others, employing a range of speakers, will test the viewer’s ability to read subtitles quickly. Reportedly influenced by Jean-Luc Godard and Iranian documentaries, Dormishian’s confrontational work addresses women’s and human rights and questions how far the notion of forgiveness should go

and this:

For longtime followers of Iranian cinema, brilliant actress Leila Hatami needs no introduction. Feted with awards around the world for her performances in such films as Leila and A Separation, she is one of Iran’s most recognizable and compelling performers. In Soheil Beiraghi’s debut, she plays the force-of-nature queen of Tehran’s underground, a ruthless and enigmatic fixer, staying one step ahead of the law as she forges passports, moves illicit booze, and effortlessly emasculates a musical protégé. Me (aka I) is an eye-opening depiction of Tehran’s surprisingly robust underworld. (Soheil Beiraghi, 2016, Persian and English with subtitles, 84 minutes

Wonder if I should see "Taste of Cherry" Saturday? It seems to be a hate or love it effort.

Only one way to find out! :) I loved it, personally, and think it's one of his best.

Great bill, this festival.

Taste of Cherry is awesome

The Saless retro looks like a must

Don't know him at all, and neither does anyone in my Letterboxd feed except Jonathan Rosenbaum. So retro here should follow.

Still Life was incredible, given a one-off broadcast on TV here many years ago.

Don't know anything else so it'll be a discovery.

https://www.freersackler.si.edu/events/films/#/?i=2

Annual Iranian Film Festival going on in DC for free. I saw Oscar nominated Film “Breath.” A sad touching effort about a young girl and her family in late 1970s end of Shah era Iran.

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.

I keep missing Fest films... Maybe I can make it this weekend

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/

Come back other ilxor fans of Iranian film

I tried, but can't watch the films outside DC/Maryland/Virginia.

Is the entire thread about Abbas Kiarostami and Jafar Panahi

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.

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.

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 recently

Is the entire thread about Abbas Kiarostami and Jafar Panahi
So it would seem. Apologies for continuing the trend.

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)

implicit implications OK!

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.

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.

Is the entire thread about Abbas Kiarostami and Jafar Panahi

Lots about Farhadi upthread already.

Anyway, HIT THE ROAD lived up to its trailer and poster.

Watched About Elly and The Salesman over the weekend. I suppose either The Hero or Fireworks Wednesday is next.

I have lots of catching up to do

The Hero another nail-biter.

And there’s a story behind the story: https://www.indiewire.com/2022/04/asghar-farhadi-found-guilty-plagiarism-a-hero-1234714331/

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.”

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

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.

Not the same film, but
Never 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)

Think my take on Farhadi is close to Bilge Ebiri’s.

really liked About Elly

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/11/07/did-the-oscar-winning-director-asghar-farhadi-steal-ideas

Also this: https://www.indiewire.com/2022/10/jafar-panahi-and-mohammad-rasoulof-tear-gassed-in-iran-prison-fire-1234772987/

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