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Discovering Form, Inferring Meaning: New Cinemas and the Film Festival Circuit
Author(s): Bill Nichols
Source: Film Quarterly, Vol. 47, No. 3 (Spring, 1994), pp. 16-30
Published by: University of California Press
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Bill Nichols
Discovering
Form,
InferringMeaning
New Cinemas and
t he Film Fest ival Circu it
TheFest ival Phenomenon
How d o w eencou nt er
cinemas,
and cu l-
t u res,
not ou row n? Oneof t helat est "d iscoveries" on
t heint ernat ional film fest ival
circu it , post revolu t ionary
cinema from
Iran,
occasions t his
qu est ion.' (The
ac-
companyingfilmography
id ent ifies t he
specific
films
ad d ressed
here.) Usu ally,
t hecont ext inw hich su ch
films reach u s is
neglect ed
as w e
pass
ont o a d iscu ssion
of
st yle, t hemes, au t eu rs,
and nat ional cu lt u re. Inord er
t o rend ert he
view ing
cont ext and it s cru cial
med iat ing
roleless
t ransparent ,
t his
essay provid es
anaccou nt of
t hefilm fest ival
experience.
It focu ses onhow t his
experience
inflect s and const ru ct s t he
meanings
w e
ascribet o oneof t henew est ina cont inu ou s su ccession
of "new cinemas" w hilew eat t hesamet imeconst it u t e
t he
very
au d ienceneed ed t o
recognize
and
appreciat e
su ch cinemas as d ist inct and valu ed ent it ies.2
Theu su al
openinggambit
int he
d iscovery
of new
cinemas is t heclaim t hat t hesew orks d eserveint erna-
t ional at t ent ionbecau seof t heir
d iscovery by
a fest ival.
This
gambit
has it s echo int he
w rit ings
of
popu lar
crit ics. Films from nat ions not
previou sly regard ed
as
prominent film-prod u cing
cou nt ries receive
praise
for
t heir
abilit y
t o t ranscend local issu es and
provincial
t ast es w hile
simu lt aneou sly provid ing
a w ind ow ont o
a d ifferent cu lt u re. Weareinvit ed t o receivesu ch films
as evid enceof art ist ic
mat u rit y-t he
w ork of d irect ors
read y
t o t aket heir
place
w it hinanint ernat ional frat er-
nit y
of au t eu rs-and of a d ist inct ivenat ional cu lt u re-
w ork t hat remains d ist inct from
Hollyw ood -based
norms bot h in
st yle
and t heme.
Examples
from fest ival
cat alogu es
of
new ly
d iscovered cinemas and au t eu rs:
Gu y
Mad d in's
eye-popping
new film
Carefu l
[confirms]
t hed irect orof
Archangel
and Tales
From t heGimli
Hospit al
as oneof t hemost
invent iveand
st ylist ically
ambit iou s filmmak-
ers
w orking,
not
ju st
in
Canad a,
bu t
any-
w here.3
[New
Iranian
filmmakers']
su ccess has been
confirmed
by
t hed ozens of
prizes
t hesefilm-
makers havereceived from
prest igiou s
film
fest ivals w orld w id e.4
Thefest ival is
d esigned
t o serveas a w ind ow
t hrou gh
w hich au d iences
may
beablet o
glimpse
fort hefirst t ime
import ant aspect s
of
[Au st ralia's] vit al film cu lt u re.5
16
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WhereIs t heFriend 's
Home?
(left );
TheRu nner
(below )
The
st yles
and
su bject s [of
films int he"Con-
t emporary
World Cinema"
cat egory]
are
qu it e
d iverse; t hey all, nonet heless,
beart hehall-
mark of t heir
creat ors, say somet hing
abou t t he
cu lt u res from w hich
t hey spring,
and have
impressed
t he
programmer
w it h t heirind i-
vid u alit y.6
Su ch
comment ary
const ru ct s a framew ork of as-
su mpt ions
and
expect at ions.
Ind ivid u al films
gain
valu e
bot h fort heir
regional
d ist inct iveness and fort heir
u niversal
appeal.
Welearnabou t ot her
port ions
of t he
w orld and
acknow led ge
t he
ascend ancy
of new art ist s
t o int ernat ional acclaim. Liket he
ant hropological
field w orker, or,
more
casu ally,
t he
t ou rist ,
w earealso
invit ed t o
su bmerge
ou rselves inan
experience
of
d ifference, ent eringst range
w orld s, hearing
u nfamiliar
langu ages, w it nessing
u nu su al
st yles.
The
emphasis,
in
a climat eof
fest ivit y,
is not
solely
oned ificat ionbu t
also ont he
experience
of t henew and
u nexpect ed
it self.
Anencou nt erw it h t heu nfamiliar,
t he
experience
of
somet hingst range,
t he
d iscovery
of new voices and
visions serveas a
major
incit ement fort hefest ival-
goer.
Cinema,
w it h it s
d ist inct ly
d ream-likest at eof
recept ion,
ind u ces a vivid bu t
imaginary
mod eof
part icipat ory
observat ion. The
possibilit y
of
losing
oneself, t emporarily,
of
"going
nat ive" int heconfines
of a moviet heat er,
offers it s ow n
compelling
fascina-
t ion. Iranianfilms,
for
example,
u sheru s int o a w orld
of w ind , sand ,
and
d u st ,
of veiled w omenand st oic
men,
of u nu su al
t empos
and
foreignrhyt hms.
The
int ernat ional film fest ival,
and t henew d irect ors and
new visions offered
by it ,
afford s anid eal
opport u nit y
t o
enjoy
t he
pleasu res
of
film's imaginary signifiers.7
17
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Nargess (left );
Life
and
Not hing
More
(below )
Thou gh imaginary,
t hese
signifiers
and t heir
plea-
su res arealso real. Wehesit at et o lift t heveil from su ch
appearances.
Thereis a reverieint hefascinat ionw it h
t he
st range,
an
abid ingpleasu re
int he
recognit ion
of
d ifferences t hat
persist s beyond
t hemoment . Even
t hou gh
t he
fest ival-goer
receives
encou ragement
t o
maket he
st rangefamiliar,
t o recoverd ifference as
similarit y (most classically t hrou gh
t he
d iscovery
of a
common
hu manit y,
a
family
of man
[sic] spanning
t imeand
space,
cu lt u reand
hist ory),
anot herform of
pleasu re
resid es int he
experience
of
st rangeness
it self.
To t heext ent t hat t his
aspect
of t hefest ival
experience
d oes not reaffirm or
collapseread ily
int o t he
prevailing
cod es of
hegemonic Hollyw ood cinema,
it
places
t he
int ernat ional film fest ival w it hina t ransnat ional and
w ell-nigh post mod ern
locat ion. Ou r
part icipat ion
in
t his realm
qu alifies
u s as cit izens of a
global
bu t st ill far
from
homogenou s
cu lt u re.
Recovering
t he
st range
as familiart akes t w o forms:
first , acknow led gment
of anint ernat ional film
st yle
(formal innovat ion; psychologically complex, ambigu -
ou s, poet ic, allegorical,
orrest rained charact erizat ions;
reject ion
of
Hollyw ood
norms fort he
represent at ion
of
t imeand
space;
lack of clearresolu t ionornarrat ive
closu re;
and so
on),
and
second ,
t heret rieval of
insight s
orlessons abou t a d ifferent cu lt u re
(oft enrecu perat ed
yet
fu rt her
by
t hesimu lt aneou s
d iscovery
of anu nd er-
lying,
crosscu lt u ral
hu manit y).
These t w o
processes
(d iscoveringform, inferringmeaning)
d efinet heact of
making
sense from new
experience. They
aret he
means
by
w hich w e
go beyond su bmergence
int he
moment t o t heext ract ionof mored isembod ied crit ical
18
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know led ge. They parallel
t he
pat hs by
w hich
object s
from ot hercu lt u res havebeenassimilat ed t o ou row n
aest het ic t rad it ionormad et o st and as
t ypificat ions
of
t hat ot hercu lt u re
(as
w orks of art oras
et hnographic
art ifact s).
A vivid d emonst rat ionof t his
process,
ind eed a
great performance
init s
annals,
is Clifford Geert z's
accou nt of t he
meaning
and st ru ct u reof
cockfight s
in
Balinese
cu lt u re.8
Inhis
essay "Deep Play:
Not es ont he
Balinese
Cockfight ,"
Geert z offers a
parad igmat ic
example
of how
bew ild eringpersonal experienceslow ly
yield s
t o
syst emat ic know led ge
and crosscu lt u ral u n-
d erst and ing.
The
essay
remains a
persu asive, sophist i-
cat ed
ju st ificat ion
fort he
experience
of
d ifference,
myst ery,
and
w ond er,
and a celebrat ionof ou r
capacit y
t o u nd erst and w hat is not of ou row n
making.
As
t ou rist s,
orfilm
fest ival-goers, w e, t oo,
seek t o u nd er-
st and w hat ot hers havemad eand t o fat hom t hemean-
ing
it has fort hosew ho mad eit .
This w hole
proced u re
has a seriou s limit at iont hat
Geert z
passingly acknow led ges:
"Thecu lt u reof a
people
is anensembleof
t ext s,
t hemselves
ensembles,
w hich t he
ant hropologist
st rains t o read overt heshou l-
d ers of t hoset o w hom
t hey properly belong."9
What
Geert z fails t o
pu rsu e
is w hat it
might
feel liket o t hose
t o w hom su ch cu lt u re
properly belongs
t o havesome-
one
looking
overt heir
shou ld er,
and w hat it feels like
t o Geert z t o
occu py
t his
posit ion.'0 (He
also
explicit ly
reject s any concept
of
int erpret at ion
t hat w ou ld int ro-
d u ce
id eology
or
polit ics, seeingt his,
liket hefu nct ion-
alism he
opposes,
as
red u ct ive.)
In
ant hropology,
w e
need t o observeobservers
observing
if w earet o
u nd erst and w hat it is
t hey u lt imat ely present
as obser-
vat ions, and ,
in
cinema,
w eneed t o ask w hat kind of
experience
t he
experience
of cu lt u ral d ifferenceis
w it hint heconst raint s of t hefilm fest ival circu it : how
d o w eent erint o su ch
experience,
w hat
processes
governit ,
w hat
goals propel it ,
and w hat senseof self
d oes it
engend er?
These
qu est ions
are
part
and
parcel
of ou rmored et ached
pronou ncement s
ont hed ist inc-
t ive
qu alit ies
of cinemas from elsew here.
Anaid t o
movingpast
t he
point
at w hich cu lt u re
canbeu nd erst ood as a t ext , orsemiot ic
syst em, a level
of
u nd erst and ingw hich Geert z d id mu ch t o inst it u t ion-
alizew it hincu lt u ral st u d ies, is E. Ann
Kaplan's nomi-
nat ionof t w o kind s of t ext u al
u nd erst and ing. Kaplan
assert s t hat crit ics from elsew here
may u ncovermean-
ings not fou nd
by crit ics from t hesamecu lt u reas t he
t ext . For
st rangers, t w o fu nd ament al
read ingst rat egies
t hen
present t hemselves: t heaest het ic and t he
polit i-
cal." Aest het ic
read ings may be eit her
"hu manist /
ind ivid u al" or
genre-orient ed . Polit ical
read ings can
emphasizeeconomic,
id eological,
orinst it u t ional con-
cerns.12 Kaplanherself chooses a combinat ionof aes-
t het ic
(generic)
and
polit ical (hist orically and
inst it u t ionally specific) read ings
fora
sample
of recent
Chinesefilms, bu t t hemenu sheproposes has general
applicat ion
forview ers as w ell as crit ics.
Not w it hou t
pit falls.
The
recovery
of
st rangeness
by
means of ind u ct ionint o anint ernat ional art cinema/
film fest ival aest het ic
clearly
d oes not so mu ch u ncover
a
preexist ingmeaningas
layerona
meaning
t hat d id
not exist
prior
t o t hecircu it of
exchange
t hat fest ivals
t hemselves const it u t e. (Likew ise, t his
process const i-
t u t es a new
layer
of au d ience, t hefilm
fest ival-goer, t o
su pplement an
init ially
morelocal one.) And t he
polit i-
cal w ill berefract ed not
only by
ou row n
repert oire
of
t heories, met hod s, assu mpt ions,
and valu es, bu t also
by
ou rlimit ed
know led ge
of
correspond ingconcept s in
t heot hercu lt u res t o w hich w eat t end .'3 (To
w ant t o
know of
foreigncinemas, for
example,
of t heirind ebt -
ed ness t o st at econt rol oft en
bet rays
ou row n
id eology
of t hefreemarket and art ist ic license. Weask moret o
gain
reassu rancet hat t his is a cinema liket heonew e
imagine
ou row nt o bet hant o
explore
t heint ricacies of
t he
relat ionship
bet w een
cu lt u re,
id eology,
and t he
st at e.)
Part of w hat w ew ant t o d iscoverinou rfilm fest ival
encou nt ers is
somet hing
akint o w hat DeanMacCannell
calls "back
region" know led ge.14
Liket he
t ou rist , w e
hope
t o
go
behind
appearances,
t o
grasp
t he
meaning
of
t hings
as t hosew ho
present
t hem w ou ld , t o
st ep
ou t sid e
ou r
(inescapable)
st at u s as ou t sid ers and
d iagnost i-
cians t o at t aina moreint imat e, moreau t hent ic form of
experience. Fest ivals, likemu seu ms and t ou rist
sit es,
fost erand accommod at esu ch d esire. A fest ival allow s
u s a "back
region" glimpse
int o anot hercu lt u re
t hrou gh
t hefilm-makers and act ors it
present s
in
person.
Of
consid erablevalu et o
my
ow n
u nd erst and ing
of Iranian
cinema, for
example,
w as Mohammad
At t ebai,
of t he
Farabi Cinema
Fou nd at ion,
d ist ribu t orof t henew
Iranianfilms.'5
At t ebai
explained
t hat Farabi has an
arms-lengt h
relat ionship
t o t he
government
and t hat it facilit at es
prod u ct ionloans fornew feat u res t hat aremad enot
by
t hegovernment bu t by t he
privat esect or. (Banks pro-
vid et heact u al loans.) The
Minist ry of Cu lt u re
regu -
lat es t he
import and
export
of films inIranand limit s
foreign, part icu larly U.S., films
severely.
In1991, 46
new Iranianfilms w erereleased inIran, bu t
only
one
U.S. film. In1992, Dances w it h Wolves and
Driving
Miss
Daisy w erelicensed forexhibit ion, bu t t hebu lk of
Iraniancinemas show Iranianfilms (and pay
a t ax,
higherfor
foreignt hand omest ic films, t hat int u rn
19
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su bsid izes Farabi and new film
prod u ct ion).
TheMin-
ist ry
reserves t he
right
t o censor
script s
or
films,
u su ally
aft er
t hey
arescreened at t heannu al
Fajr
Film
Fest ival.
Censorship prevent s ou t right
crit icism of t he
fu nd ament alist
government ,
bu t it d oes not meant hat
films mu st servet o
legit imat e
it eit her. As in
China,
film-makers haveconsid erablefreed om t o makew hat
t hey
can
get
fu nd ed , know ing
t hat d irect at t acks
(bu t
not
necessarily aest het ically
est eemed
ones)
w ill hind er
t heirow nad vancement . The
primary goal
seems t o be
su pport
of Iraniannat ional cu lt u rerat hert hancreat ion
of
government al
or
pan-nat ional
Islamic
propagand a.
Every year,
At t ebai
explained ,
Farabi
organizes
t he
Fajr
Fest ival and t he
Minist ry
of Cu lt u reclassifies
films int o fou r
cat egories,
"A"
t hrou gh "D,"
ont he
basis of t heir
perceived qu alit y (a mix,
apparent ly,
of
formal and social
crit eria).
The"A" and "B" films
receive
great er
d ist ribu t ion
su pport , t hey
cancom-
mand
higher
box-office
prices,
and t heirmakers re-
ceive
priorit y
forfu rt her
film-makingproposals.
"C"
and "D" rat ed films receivefarless
su pport
and t heir
makers mu st
st ru ggle
hard ert o makeanot herfilm.
Televisionremains a
fairly separat eent it y, alt hou gh
somefilms receive
part ial financing
from t his sou rce.
Vid eocasset t e
players
remain
officially forbid d en,
al-
t hou gh
At t ebai ad mit s t hat
vid eot apes
area
major
black-market sou rceof
foreign
films.
Back-region
orbehind -t he-scenes informat ionsu ch
as t his
gives
u s as
fest ival-goers
an
ed ge
overt hosew ho
seet hefilms in
regu lar
d ist ribu t ion. Su ch
informat ion,
present ed casu ally,
is nonet heless farfrom
haphazard .
Theord erof
present at ion
and t herhet orical
emphases
arenot invent ed ont he
spot .
Iranianfilm
represent a-
t ives
learn,
w it h
experience,
w hat
pred isposit ions
and
d ou bt s loom foremost int he
fest ival-goer's
mind .
Theiransw ers aim t o
sat isfy
ou r
cu riosit y, assu age
ou r
su spicion,
arou seou r
sympat hies,
and
height en
ou r
appreciat ion.
As w it h most
cont emporary
forms of
crosscu lt u ral
encou nt er,
aninevit able
d egree
of know -
ing
calcu lat ionent ers int o t he
experience
onbot h sid es.
Liket he
et hnographer,
w e
may
know fu ll w ell t hat
t he
pu rsu it
of int imat e
know led ge
and
au t hent icit y
is
illu sory.
We
may know fu ll w ell t hat w ecan
only
prod u ceknow led get hat w ill sit u at eand
placeu s, t hat
afford s
insight int o t he"back
regions" of ou row n
const ru ct ionof self, concept ion
of st at e, cu lt u re, or
aest het ic valu e. Weknow fu ll w ell and
yet ,
all t he
same
....
This d ialect ic of
know ing
and
forget t ing,
experiencingst rangeness and
recoveringt hefamiliar,
know ing
t hat
t hey know w eknow t hat
t hey calibrat e
t heirinformat iont o ou r
preexist ingassu mpt ions as w e
w at ch t his
process of
mu t u ally orchest rat ed d isclosu re
u nfold , becomes a rew ard init self. The
hu nger
fort he
new , fu eled
by
t hoseevent s and inst it u t ions t hat
pro-
vid et hecommod it ies t hat
imperfect ly
and
t emporarily
sat isfy it , also
prod u ces
a d ist inct
t ype
of consu merand
a
hist orically specific
senseof self. Weseek ou t t hat
w hich
might
t ransform u s, oft enw it hinanarena d e-
vot ed t o
perpet u at ing
t his
very
search
ind efinit ely.
Encou nt ering
IranianCinema
How canw ead d ress t he
qu est ions posed by
Iraniancinema foru s? The"w e" invoked hereis t he
onet hat inclu d es
myself: w hit e, West ern, mid d le-class
fest ival-goers
and comment at ors forw hom t heseis-
su es ofcrosscu lt u ral read ing
are
freight ed
w it h
specific
hist orical
(colonial
and
post colonial)
hazard s. To t he
ext ent t hat film fest ivals occu r
globally,
from
Hong
Kong
t o
Havana,
t his "w e" has t he
pot ent ial
t o inclu d e
many
ot hersocial
grou pings
forw hich ad d it ional mod i-
ficat ions w ou ld need t o bemad e. The
t ypes
of
experi-
enceand act s of
making
sensed escribed herearenot
u niqu e
t o
w hit e,
West ern
au d iences,
bu t neit herare
t hey
id ent ical
among
all
fest ival-goers.
"Foru s" is t hecaveat t hat allow s fora level of
au t hent icit y,
t o u set hat exist ent ial
vocabu lary,
at t he
samemoment as it
gu arant ees
a lack of
finalit y.
To
w hat ext ent d oes t hehu manist framew ork
encou raged
by
film fest ivals and t he
popu larpress
not
only
st eer
ou r
read ings
inselect ed d irect ions bu t also obscu re
alt ernat ive
read ings
or
d iscou rage
t heiract ive
pu rsu it ?
Is t ransformat ion
possible,
orhavew e
alread y
become
t he
post mod ern,
schizoid
su bject s
w hose
id ent it y
re-
volves arou nd su ccessivet ransformat ions?'6 Wecan-
not
approach
su ch films w it h
any
claims t o
expert ise,
lest it bet he
expert ise
of t hoseversed int he
w ays
of
fest ival
view ing
it self.
(My expert ise
lies moreint he
realm of film
fest ival-going
t haninIranianfilm and
cu lt u re.)
As
fest ival-goers,
w eleavet hemore
exact ing
hermeneu t ic sciences t o t he
expert s."7
What w ed o, overt hecou rseof t hefirst few films
w esee, is look for
pat t erns, t est ing
fort he
presence
of
t hosew e
alread y
know and
seeking
t o d iscovert hose
w ed o not . (Theseau t o-et hnographic comment s focu s
ont he12 Iranianfilms I saw at t he1992 Toront o Film
Fest ival from t he 18 films chosent o
represent
post revolu t ionary Iraniancinema.) Iranianfilms im-
med iat ely signal t heird ifference.
They exu d ea cert ain
au st erit y
and rend ercharact ers w it h a
high d egree
of
rest raint , mu ch closert o t hew ork ofa Chant al Akerman
20
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orRobert Bressont hana Bert olu cci or
Greenaw ay.
Oneof t hefirst
int erpret ive
frames w ecaneliminat eis
t he
parad igm
of
Hollyw ood
film. Nu merou s
qu alit ies
present
inmost
Hollyw ood
films areabsent from
Iranianones.
Most
visibly
absent aresex and violence. Sex and
violencearecod ew ord s fort het w o
great
axes of most
West ernnarrat ive: issu es of d omest ic ord er
(love,
romance, sex;
t he
family
and
d esire)
and issu es of
social ord er
(violence, pow er, cont rol;
law and
ord er).
Charact ers
t ypically
movew it hint heforcefield s set
u p
by
t heset w o
overlapping
and int ert w ined
d omains,
seeking, qu est ing, pu rsu ing, overcomingobst acles,
solvingenigmas,
and
achieving
or
failing
t o achieve
resolu t ion
(most emblemat ically
t he
right ing
of
w rongs
and t heu nionof t hehet erosexu al
cou ple).
The
propel-
ling
forceof t heset w o axes is not
alt oget her
lost in
Iranian
cinema,
bu t it s
conflict u al, goal-seekingcharge,
and it s
t ight , exist ent ial, expressivelinkage
t o
highly
ind ivid u at ed charact ers is.
Typical
t hemes inou rcin-
ema-greed , ambit ion, lu st , passion, cou rt ship,
be-
t rayal, manipu lat ion, prow ess,
and
performance-have
minimal hold .
Similarly, qu est ion
of
gend erid ent it y
and
su bjec-
t ivit y
receivelit t le
emphasis.
Thebu lk of cent ral char-
act ers aremaleand most issu es
pert ainprimarily
t o
t hem. Theseissu es seld om
pit
t hemascu line
against
t hefemininebu t rat her
provid e
anarena fort he
explo-
rat ionof
proper
cond u ct formembers of eit hersex.
Only Nargess present s
cent ral w omencharact ers. Mad e
by
a w oman
d irect or,
it
helps
t hrow a
light
on
qu est ions
of
gend er
inrelat iont o
proper
cond u ct t hat t heot her
films
may very
w ell finesse.
Also absent are
explicit
references t o
religion
and
t hest at e. CommonWest ern
st ereot ypes
of fanat icism
and
zealot ry
areneit herconfirmed norsu bvert ed .
They
are
simply absent ,
of no local concern.
(Inpost -screen-
ingd iscu ssion,
and
int erview s,
t heIranianfilm-makers
d isavow
any
d esiret o
preach
or
agit at e.)
Wit h t he
except ion
of t he
comed y,
The
Tenant s,
t he
government
is not
present ed
as t hesou rceof solu t ions t o ind ivid u al
problems. (That
it is so
present ed
ina
comed y may
confirm t he
general ru le.) Similarly, alt hou gh many
of
t hefilms
present sit u at ions of ext reme
hard ship, su g-
gest ions of cau sat ive
agent s are
largely absent . Gov-
emrnment al bu reau cracy, corporat ecorru pt ion, abu seof
polit ical pow er, economic
exploit at ion(by bigbu si-
ness,
int emrnat ional cart els, and local
comprad ors), t he
u rban
d ynamics of
gent rificat ionorru ral
emiserat ion,
conflict s bet w een
mod emrnizat ion
and t rad it ional val-
u es, bet w eenabst inenceand
ind u lgence, d ru gs, alco-
hol, orot hervices and eit hert heircriminal
penet rat ion
of t hesocial fabric orrevelat ions of t heirind ivid u al
effect -all areabsent . Ind ivid u als may liveapart orbe
compelled t o end u reconsid erablead versit y bu t t hey d o
not convey any of t heexist ent ial alienat ion, ennu i, or
ant isocial, psychot ic behaviorso prevalent inWest ern
cinema. Self-proclaimed misfit s, rebels, loners, and
ou t sid ers all seem essent ially absent .
Most forms of cinemat ic
expressivit y
aremini-
mally present . Wefind no magical realism, no
expres-
sionism, su rrealism,
collage, orbold
figu res of
mont age.
Melod ramat ic int ensit ies, orexcess, are
ext remely
rare, farfrom
const it u t ing
t he
t ype
of
cont rapu nt al
syst em fou nd inSirk orFassbind er. Point -of-view
d ynamics are
u su ally
w eak t o nonexist ent . The
great
majorit y
of scenes u nfold ina
t hird -person, long-t ake,
long-shot , minimally
ed it ed
st yle.
Thereis
only limit ed
u seof mu sic and even
d ialogu e.
This
process
of eliminat ion, as
part
of ou rsearch
foran
int erpret at iveframe, also eliminat es a small
port ion
of t heau d ience.
Expect at ions
t hat
go
u nfu lfilled
here
may
d rivesomeview ers t o alt ernat ive
screenings.
Bu t most view ers
press
onint heirsearch for
meaning,
w it h lit t lecont ext u al informat iont o
rely
on
beyond
w ord of mou t h, fest ival not es,
aft er-screeningd iscu s-
sions, and local review s.
SpinningWebs
of
Significance
What frame, t hen, might
fit t hesefilms?
Does su ch
au st erit y
amou nt t o a cinema of
abnegat ion?
Of ascet icism? Of secu larret reat and sacred rit u al? It
w ou ld seem not . Forone
t hing,
several of t he
qu alit ies
ju st
d escribed
(t hefamily
and
d esire,
law and
ord er)
are
present ,
bu t not int he
w ays
w e
expect .
Wefind t heir
int ensit y mu t ed , t heir
pu rpose
alt ered . In
many
cases
t hefilms
pivot
arou nd familial issu es: a
you ngboy's
resolvet o find a
job
aft ert hed eat h of his fat her
(The
Need ); a clash bet w eent w o brot hers fort he
proceed s
from t hesaleof t heirhomet o t henat ional oil
company
(Beyond t heFire); at t empt s by
a
cou ple
t o havet heir
new
baby ad opt ed forfeart hat it w ill become
crippled
liket heirfirst fou rchild ren(ThePed d ler); t hesearch of
a you ngboy forhis
family ina
regionof
how ling
w ind s, d esert sand s, and severe
d rou ght (Wat er, Wind ,
Du st ); and t he
d ifferingou t looks of hu sband s and
w ives inbot h
Nargess and
St ony Lion. In
many
of t hese
films, qu est ions of t hesocial ord er
play
a
d et ermining
part : issu es of
id ent it y, appropriat ion, and
privacy
in
Close Up and ThePed d ler; of t ribal honorin
St ony
21
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Lion;
of social
responsibilit y
inThe
Key,
WhereIs t he
Friend 's
Home?, Life
and
Not hingMore,
and of
loy-
alt y, honor,
and
honest y
in
Nargess.
And
yet ,
t he
pot ent ial
conflict s t hat su ch issu es
present
arenot
given
t hed ramat ic
int ensit y
fou nd inou rmainst ream cin-
ema.
(Theshoot ingst yle
and
arrangement
of scenes
cont ribu t e
significant ly
t o t his
resu lt .)
Themoral and
emot ional cent ert o t hefilms lies elsew here. We
press
onw it h ou rsearch.
Take
revenge
as an
example. Seekingrevenge
is a
highly
mascu line
act ivit y,
somet imes
t empered ,
in
Hollyw ood ,
w it h t he
cou nt erbalancing
need forfemi-
nine
compassion
and
perspect ive,
bu t almost
alw ays
act ed ou t
by men.'8
InIranian
cinema, t oo,
if t hereis
revenge
t o be
had ,
it is menw ho mu st haveit . And
yet ,
t he
int ensit y
and
t onalit y
of
revengechanges.
As w it h
ot her
aspect s
of charact er
d evelopment ,
t his t heme
goes u nd erst at ed , d iminished innarrat iveforceand
au d ience
impact . St ony
Lion
u lt imat ely
crit icizes t he
very principle,
and t he
vivid ly
lineard riveof
revenge
st ories t ow ard a fat efu l conclu sionru ns
seriou sly aw ry
in
Beyond
t heFire.
The
t ype
of obsessive
int ensit y
fou nd infilms like
TheNaked
Spu r
or
Cape
Fear
d issipat es
rat hert han
bu ild ing
t o a climax. Inst ead of a bru t al
show d ow n,
Beyond
t heFireend s w it h t hebrot hers
ineffect u ally
grappling
each ot heras t hemot herw ails inlament and
t he
you ng
w omant he
ret u rning
brot hert ried t o cou rt
at t empt s
t o ret rieveherbracelet s from t hescorched
sand beneat h t he
bu rningplu mes
of excess
gas.
TheNeed
(left );
Life
and
Not hing
More
(below )
22
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If
anyt hing, Beyond
t heFireconvert s an
apparent
revenge
mot if int o a
st u d y
of
honor, obligat ion,
and
t rad it iont hat each charact ermu st confront alone.
Up-
hold ing
a
principle
becomes more
import ant
t hanact -
ing
ou t t he
psychic int ensit y
of anobsessionsu ch as
revenge. Somet hing
morelikea senseof
proper
con-
d u ct akint o t heHind u not ionof d harma seems at
st ake,
evenincases w herew efind w omen
filling
cent ral roles
(Nargess).
This d eflect ionofd rama-from it s ind ivid u al bear-
ers
(charact ers)
t o a more
cont emplat ive
realm-also
operat es
int erms of visu al
st yle.
This is a cinema of
long
shot s and
long
t akes.
Close-u ps
are
rare,
mu sic
amplifying
t heemot ional t oneof scenes is
u nu su al,
ed it ing
t o est ablish
psychological
realism ort heeffect s
of
mont agehard ly exist s,
expressive
u ses of
light ing,
gest u re, post u re, mise-en-scene,
camera
angle,
orcam-
era movement are
equ ally
rare.19
Thesenseof an
au st ere,
economic
st yle
t hat
passes
no
ju d gment
bu t
simply
record s w hat
happens,
u nd er-
lies t henu merou s
long
shot s inThe
Ru nner, Beyond
t he
Fire, Wat er, Wind , Du st ,
and
St ony Lion,
and inall
Kiarost ami'
s films
(Life
and
Not hingMore,
Close
Up,
WhereIs t heFriend 's Home
?,
and The
Key,
forw hich
Kiarost ami w rot et he
script ). Placing
charact ers ina
larger
cont ext d oes not
height en
ou raw areness of
forces
w orkingu pon
t hem so mu ch as
su ggest
t he
pow er
of forces
w orkingbeyond
t hem. It
prod u ces
a
senseof removew it hou t a
correspond ing
senseof
ind ifference.
Theeffect is
qu it e
vivid inThe
Ru nner, w here
long
shot s of t he
you ngprot agonist , Amiro,
sit u at ehim
against
t he
backd rop
of anIranian
seaport
w it h all it s
element s of raw
labor, aband oned
ships
and
machines,
t ransient
w orkers,
and
precariou s lives,
and
yet
t hefilm
d oes not u set his
image
of a
bru t e, ind u st rial harbort o
cast blameormirrort he
psychological qu alit ies
of it s
charact ers. UnlikePixot eorLos
Olvid ad os,
TheRu n-
ner
sid est eps
issu es of
rivalry
and
d esire, crimeand
d esperat ion.
Amiro's visionis fixed ont hehorizon
est ablished int hese
longshot s,
and his d ream of
escape
seems moreexist ent ial t hanfoolish or
t ragic.
By t his
point , t he
fest ival-goerhas
gained measu r-
able
proficiency. Cat egories of
st yle, oraest het ics, and
meaning,
or
polit ics, t akeont he
appearanceof
empiri-
cal
cert aint y. As w eencou nt erfu rt herfilms, w eseek
first t o confirm t hese
cat egories, cognizant of t he
d ist inct
possibilit y, part icu larly at moment s of u nex-
pect ed variat ion, t hat
t hey remain
ent irely malleable.
This mixt u reof cert it u d eand
precariou sness gives t he
fest ival
experiencea
height ened d egreeof
int ensit y.
At least w it hint his sample, t hesenseof au st erit y
gains const ant reinforcement . For
example, inWat er,
Wind , Du st , t heyou ngboy prot agonist spend s a large
part of t hefilm t raversinga hu gelakebed t hat has
becomea seemingly end less d esert of blow ingsand
and how lingw ind insearch of his family. Inone
d ramat ic scene, t heboy carries t w o gold fish heacci-
d ent ally d iscovers back t o a w ell hepassed earlier. Bu t
hespills t heirbow l of w at erju st as hereaches t hew ell,
and hecanonly w at ch t hem d ie.
The
episod e
is t old
ent irely
in
long
and med iu m
shot s. Whent hefish d iet hereis no
close-u p
of t heir
flopping
bod ies norof t he
boy's
react ion. Inst ead a
longshot
impassively record s t hesceneas hew at ches
t hefish w ecanbarely see. Theshot conclu d es w henhe
set s ou t onhis jou rney onceagainand leaves t he
u nflinchingframe.
Theresu lt , w e
may conclu d e, is a
t ype
of Old
Test ament
au st erit y t hat
pu shes
moral issu es int o a
foregrou nd left
u noccu pied by t hecharact ers w ho
embod y t hem. Alizera Davu d nezhad , d irect orof The
Need , comment s
d u ringanint erview :
I d o not w ant t o
int erpret realit y
bu t t o
capt u re
t hemoment , t hereal
t hing
t hat is
happeningin
front of t hecamera.
Realit y
formeis int he
present ,
as t hat t hin
space
bet w een
past
and
fu t u re, w it h it s
infinit y
of
possibilit ies.
I d o not
seek t o ret aincont rol of w hat
happens
bu t t o
creat et he
at mosphere
and
space
fort heact ors
t o t akeoverand formet o record .20
That charact ers
st ru ggleagainst
formid able
od d s,
t hou gh, encou rages a more
point ed ly polit ical read ing
inw hich t ales of
ad versit y provid e
a
crit ical,
if not
su bversive,
perspect ive
on
post revolu t ionary
Iran. This
read ingmay
w ell befu eled more
by
ou row n
pred ispo-
sit ions t han
by
w hat t heIranianfilm-makers t hem-
selves
say.
It s
prevalence
incrit ical
comment ary is, in
any case,
remarkably
consist ent .
Comment ary onMohsenMakmalbaf s
t rilogy of
t hreeshort st ories, ThePed d ler, exemplifies t hed is-
covery of a familiart aleof t he
plight of t he
poor.
Variet y not ed ThePed d lerlooks at "t he
u nd erbelly of
lifein
cont emporary Iran," (11/30/88); t heLond on
Film Fest ival
program called it a "vivid
port rayal of
t hoseat t hebot t om of t he
pile"; t heRivert ow nFilm
Fest ival in
Minneapolis d escribed it as a
"fascinat ing
jou rney t hrou gh t he
pooru rband w ellers of
cont empo-
rary Iran"; inTheNew York Times Janet Maslinmar-
veled how "It t akes for
grant ed a
d evast at ing, almost
23
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u nbearably high
level of
misery";
an
anonymou s re-
view ercit ed int heIranian
press clippings spoke
of
how
"t hefilm chart s t helow er
d ept hs
of
mod ern-d ay
Iran";
and a Film Comment review er
annou nced , "It 's
t he
st rongest
hell-on-eart h moviesinceTaxi
Driver."21
This remarkable
u nanimit y
of
opinion, how ever, is
at od d s w it h t heIraniand irect ors' ow nview s, and t heir
films'
st yle.
To heart hed irect ors
speak
of t heirw ork
follow ing
fest ival
screenings (or
t o int erview t hem
as
I w as ablet o
d o) generat es
a d ifferent
pict u re. Hard ship
and
povert y
are
clearly
inevid encebu t serveneit her
as
t hefocu s forcovert
polit ical
crit icism norfor
expres-
sions of moral cond emnat ion.
Designat ing
t hefilms as
hell-on-eart h,
low er-d ept hs,
"kit chensink"
st yle
of
film-making
seems t o flow from a
perspect ive
d iffer-
ent from t hefilm-makers'.
(The
ext ent t o w hich t heir
perspect ive
is calibrat ed fort hosew ho
might
list en
back inIranort o assert a d ifferencefrom
prevailing
forms of social consciou sness int heWest remains
part
of t he
specu lat ivegame
of
fat homing
u nfat homable
int ent ions and
mot ivat ions.)
DAVUDNEZHAD: Inord ert o answ ert he
qu est ion
[w hat
is t hesou rceof t he
problems
charact ers
face?],
I havet o becomea
sociologist .
Bu t
I
am
not a
polit ical analyst
or
sociologist .
I can't t ell
you
t hecau ses of
misery
or
povert y.
If
you
w at ch t hefilm
carefu lly, you
w ill find t he
reasons int hefilm. Thefilm
speaks
and re-
veals
my opinion
inw hat
happens
int hemo-
ment . We
may
haved ifferent
philosophic
frames w henw e
speak
of
povert y,
and if w ed o
not havea common
d efinit ion,
w e
may only
compou nd
t hed ifficu lt ies w it h misu nd erst and -
ing.
KIAROSTAMI: This cinema's roleis not t o ex-
press
a solu t iont o
problems
bu t t o
express
t he
problems
t hemselves. Wheneverit show s
cau ses or
solu t ions,
it
d et eriorat es,
it
get s
w orse.
Thed ict at ors and
d iplomat s
show
solu t ions,
not film-makers.
They
know t he
problems
and
t hey know t hesolu t ions. That is t hereasont hat
t hereare
problems. IfI show t he
problem, t hen
perhaps t he
peoplecanfind a solu t ion.
Hard ship, ad versit y, nat u ral
calamit y, and w id e-
spread povert y alignt hemselves less w it h social issu es
t hanw it h a mored iffu se
qu alit y of
accept ance. Not in
t hesenseof
resignat ion(noneof t hecharact ers int hese
films evid ence
resignat ionno mat t erhow ext raord i-
nary t heod d s), bu t int hesenseof a persist ent ,
nonju d gment al pu rsu it of alt ru ist ic goals no mat t er
how d ifficu lt t heprocess oru npromisingt heou t come.
And infilms likeTheRu nner, Nargess, WhereIs t he
Friend 's Home?, Lifeand Not hingMore, and Wat er,
Wind , Du st , t hemot if of accept ance(inclu d inga d isre-
gard forpersonal gainorlikelihood of su ccess)
oper-
at es pervasively. Weseem t o haved et ermined a major
cat egory of social meaning.
"Tell mew hat you know ."
"I know
not hing."
This exchange, bet w eent heprot agonist of
Lifeand Not hingMore and one of t he
eart hqu ake
vict ims heencou nt ers onhis
jou rney, epit omizes t he
u seof laconic,
highly rest rained , almost Biblical
d ia-
logu eint heseIranianfilms. Those
qu alit ies of incon-
sequ ent ial bu t phat ic commu nicat ion
d esigned t o main-
t aincont act , and t hose
id iosyncrat ic vocal embellish-
ment s t hat signal personalit y in
Hollyw ood cinema,
seem limit ed t o Iraniancomed ies, w here
many
of t he
valu es of t hed ramas find t hemselves invert ed . Nu mer-
ou s scenes and somet imes ent irefilms (Wat er, Wind ,
Du st ; TheKey) u nfold w it h a bareminimu m of d ia-
logu e. Whenw ord s are
spokent hey
areof t heessence.
This u ninflect ed , laconic d irect ness
may give
t he
ap-
pearanceof ru d eness t o West ernview ers. Weneed
ad d it ional
gu id ancet o know how t o assess w hat w e
hearand t o relat eit t o t he
qu alit y
of
accept ance.
InonesceneinTheNeed , for
example,
t hemot her
of t heyou nghero, Ali, asks
w hy
heseems t o t ired .
(We
know , bu t shed oes not , t hat hehas
spent
most of t he
d ay
t ryingt o find a job int heaft ermat h of his fat her's
d eat h.) Theson
ignores
her
qu est ion.
Themot her
makes no moreof it .
DAVUDNEZHAD: You
may
not u nd erst and
[su ch
scenes] if you liveint heWest ernw orld . It is
not t herat ional orpolit eet iqu et t eof t hew est .
Onereasonhed id not answ eris inord ernot t o
t ell his mot hert hat heis makinga sacrifice
[by
seekinga job at t heexpense of his school-
w ork]. Becau set hemorehe
gives an
explana-
t ion, w hich t hemot herw ant s, t hemorehe
w ou ld havet o explainhis alt ru ist ic int ent ions
and t hat w ou ld spoil it . That 's
w hy he is
ignoringherina good w ay, w hich d oesn't
bot herher. If heansw ers hemu st t ell t het ru t h
24
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and hed oesn't w ant t o reveal t het ru t h so it is
bet t ernot t o
speak.
It is not ru d e.
Not
speaking
int his cont ext is
qu it e
d ifferent from
st oic self-d enial orfrom t he
mu t t ering
incoherenceof
classic
ant i-heroes,
w ho mu st d o inact ionw hat
t hey
cannot
pu t
int o w ord s. It
approximat es, verbally,
t he
accept ance
of a social
responsibilit y. (And
if t his
mat t erw het s ou r
cu riosit y su fficient ly,
w e
might
t u rn
t o a commonsou rceliket he
Encycloped ia Brit annica,
w hich,
u nd ert he
head ing"Iran,"
refers t o t heIranian
virt u eof
t aqiyah
as t heconcealment of one's t ru e
feelings.)
DAVUDNEZHAD: To show off inIraniancu lt u reis
likea lie. It is
pret ent iou s. Beingpret ent iou s
is
w orset han
ad u lt ery.
Thew ord forit is
very
bad .
QUESTION.
Wou ld t he
w ayw ard
brot herinBe-
yond
t he
Fire,
w ho has u sed his
profit s
t o
bu y
cosmet ics, hairspray, gau d y shirt s,
and maga-
zines
exemplify
t his vice?
DAVUDNEZHAD:
Yes,
heis
very
influ enced
by
West erncu lt u re. Hehas been
morally
cor-
ru pt ed by
bad
influ ences,
not
by
economics
per
sebu t
by
w hat hehas d onew it h t he
family's money.
WhereIs t heFriend 's
Home?, Life
and
Not hing
More, St ony Lion,
and TheNeed all conclu d ew it h a
gest u re
of
significant
bu t u nobt ru sivesacrifice. Per-
haps
most vivid inThe
Need ,
Ali d iscovers int he
penu lt imat e
scenet hat
Reza,
his rival fort heone
available
job,
has a bed rid d enfat herw ho cannot w ork.
Wed o not know w hat his
t hou ght process is,
bu t int he
final sceneAli is no
longer
int he
print shop.
Inst ead w e
seehim inanot hersmall
shop, prod u cing
w hat look
liket ou rist ic art ifact s. Anau t horial
silence,
orrelu c-
t ancet o
moralize, leaves u s t o d raw ou row nconclu -
sions as w ew at ch t he
you ng
man
silent ly w orking,
t he
only figu reint heframe.
Thet ransit ionfrom Ali's visit t o Reza's homet o
t he
w orkshop
at film's end
provid es
anind irect ness
t hat
begins
t o seem
t ypical
of t his
sampleof Iranian
cinema. It
su ggest s
a form of
st oryt elling
t hat cou ld be
called inferent ial. Rat hert han
bu ild ing"hooks" and
brid ges w it h
d ialogu eorsou nd , rat hert han
su ggest ing
t helinearmovement from cau set o effect , and rat her
t han
evoking overt onal orassociat ive connect ions,
inferent ial
st oryt elling
moves w it hou t comment from
onesit u at iont o a lat er
consequ ence.
It
sid est eps
cau -
salit y
w it h ind irect ion.
Oneof t hemost
impressive
u ses of inferent ial
st oryt elling
involves
virt u ally
no
ed it ing
at all. This is
t hefinal sceneof
Life
and
Not hing
More. Int his scene,
t hefat heris t old
by
t w o
boys
t o w hom hehas offered
a rid et hat hemu st d rive
u p
an
ext remely st eep
hill if
heis t o reach his d est inat ion, Qu oker. (This is t het ow n
w heret het w o
boys
w ho st arred inWhereIs t heFriend 's
Home? live. Thefat her, su rrogat e
forKiarost ami,
w ant s t o find t hem int hew akeof a
d evast at ing
eart h-
qu ake.)
Aft er
d ropping
off his t w o
you ngpassengers,
t hefat hercont inu es his
jou rney, passing
a man
carry-
ing
a
heavy gas cylind er
ont he
w ay.
Whenhereaches
t he
st eep hill, t hecamera ret reat s t o a
longshot , show -
ing
t hecarand t hehill
t oget her.
Thecamera never
moves from t his d ist ant
posit ion.
Thefat hert ries
gu n-
ning
his
engine
and
d ashingu p
t hehill bu t fails. He
st art s
again.
Onhis next
at t empt ,
t hemanw it h t he
cylind er
has
cau ght u p
t o him. Theman
helps
him
reposit ion
t hecarand t henmoves
along.
Thefat her
t ries
again, su ccessfu lly,
and
passes
t hemanw it h t he
cylind er
fora second t imew it hou t a
pau se. Then, aft er
get t ingbeyond
t he
st eepest part ,
he
st ops, w ait s, and
gives
t hemana rid e.
(Some
fest ival au d iencemembers
lau gh
at t his
point ;
some
applau d .)
Thefat herd rives
onw ard , st ill seenin
longshot ,
as t hefilm conclu d es.
Abbas Kiarost ami offered his ow n
int erpret at ion:
Looking
fort heset w o kid s w asn't a su fficient
pret ext
fort hefilm.
Fort y
t o
fift y
t hou sand
people
w erekilled
[in
t he
eart hqu ake].
The
fat eof t het w o kid s w ho w ereinWhereIs t he
Friend 's Home? w as not as
import ant
as t he
fat eof t he
larger
nu mberof
inju red
and su ffer-
ing.
What heneed ed t o ad d ress w as
life,
t he
cont inu it y
of life
it self,
not ind ivid u als and
t heir
fat e, t hou gh
t hat is t heinit ial
pret ext ,
t he
st art ingpoint
fort he
larger
lesson.
So,
at t heend of t he
film,
I w ant ed t o t hrow
at t ent ionont o t hefat herand t he
people
he
meet s, liket het w o
boys,
rat hert hanont he
missing, w hosefat ew ed o not know .
Int he
previou s scenet herew eret w o
boys w ho
ad vised t hemaincharact ert hat hehad t o
go u p
t hehill w it hou t
st opping,
bu t hecou ld n't d o it :
hed id n't havesu fficient
u nd erst and ing. Then
t het w o
missingkid s becameless
import ant t o
him. Hecamet o seet het w o
boys
he
gave
a rid e
t o int he
placeof t he
missingboys, and t hefilm
originally
end ed t here.
25
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Earlier,
w esaw t hat t hefat herhad t o face
many
obst acles,
and at t heend w eseet hat hehas
su rmou nt ed t hemost d ifficu lt obst acleof all
bu t t hat it no
longer
mat t ers int hesame
w ay.
He
st ops
and
helps
t heman, and t hencont in-
u es.
Helping
t hat
man,
w ho is real and alive,
bu t
u nclear, u nid ent ified , is more
import ant
t han
going
t o look fort hoset w o
kid s,
t hoset w o
almost
imaginary figment s
orcharact ers. The
final
[long]
shot
gives
him a new reasonand
pu rpose
t hat is morebalanced and fu ll of
great errespect
fort he
living
t hant hosew hose
fat eis u nknow n.
It remains fort heau d iencet o infert he
meanings
Kiarost ami
provid es
int his int erview . Wit hou t t he
single-mind ed pu rsu it
of a
goal by
a charact erw hom
w ecomet o know bet t erand
bet t er,
t hefilm exhibit s a
more
episod ic
st ru ct u ret hat
may appear
t o meand er
and bebu ilt from u nrelat ed occu rrences. Theseoccu r-
rences, how ever, joint oget her
t o
int ensify
t heneed for
an
act ive,
inference-making
form of
engagement .
Grad u ally, helped by back-regioninformat ion,
t he
fest ival-goer
achieves an
u nd erst and ing
w hich allow s
pat t erns
su ch as t his t o
emerge.
Draw ingLessons
A
laconic,
almost Biblical form of
d ialogu e,
a
long-t ake, long-shot shoot ingst yle,
t herest rict ed
u t ilizat ionof
irony, su spense,
and charact erid ent ifica-
t ion,
episod ic plot form,
inferent ial
st oryt elling,
and an
at t enu at ed relianceon
goals yield
a cinema of
au st erit y.
Sparse, fru gal,
economic.
Complex
and su bt leinw hat
goes
u nsaid oru nd erst at ed . Theresu lt is d ist inct from
all fou rmod es of film
prod u ct ionsu ggest ed by
David
Bord w ell: Iraniancinema
d epart s
from t he
Hollyw ood
emphasis
on
linear,
cau sal
plot d evelopment
and it s
axes of sex and
violence, ad vent u reand
romance;
it
abst ains from t hevivid , even
exaggerat ed t reat ment of
plot u sed t o t ell
relat ively simple st ories inclassic
Soviet cinema; it lacks t heexist ent ial
ambigu it ies of
Eu ropeanart cinema; and , alt hou gh
it
may su perfi-
cially resemblet he
"paramet ric" cinema of Bresson,
Dreyer, Ozu , and a few ot hers, it d oes not d raw ou r
at t ent iont o formal mod u lat ions of
st ylist ic paramet ers
as a
primary focu s.22
The
fest ival-going view erof Iraniancinema
may
su spect t hat t he
emphasis is more
cont emplat ivet han
formal, moreimmanent t hant ranscend ent al. (Pau l
Schrad erd efines, and David Bord w ell d ismisses, t he
t ranscend ent al qu alit ies of w ork by Bresson, Dreyer,
and Ozu .23) Weared raw nint o an
experient ial d omain
of immanence, w herequ ot id ianrhyt hms and manifes-
t at ions of t aqiyah (t heconcealment of one's t ru efeel-
ings), a height ened senseof d u rat ion, and anint ensified
call for
inference-makingapproximat e t heet hnographic
t ext u reof w ork by Chant al Akerman, Jim Jarmu sch, or
Richard Linklat t ermoret hant het ranscend ent al t one
of Bressonand company.
The
very fru galit y of
represent at ionand narrat ion
prod u ces a senseof
pat t ern,
or
meaning,
bu t onenot
cent ered oncharact ers and t heind ivid u alism su ch cen-
t eringw ou ld su bt end .
Pu rsu inganinferent ial
logic, for
example, examines
consequ ences t hat seem revealed
by t hefilms' laconic st ru ct u rerat hert hanchosen
by
charact ers. What w e
id ent ify
w it h moret hancharact ers
is
d iffu sely experient ial; it is closert o w hat Met z called
"primary id ent ificat ion,"
except
it is less concerned
w it h t he
imageper
seand mu ch morew it h t hemean-
ing-makingprocess su spend ed
bet w eenu s, t heview -
ers, and t hesu ccessionof
movingimages.
Theresu lt is
t o shift at t ent iont o a d ifferent
plane
of
engagement ,
onet hat is more
fu lly experient ial
t han
charact erological,
more
t ranspersonal
t hanind ivid u al, and moreinst ru c-
t ive-and
pleasing-t hanent ert aining.24
The
end ings
of
many
of t hefilms confirm t his shift .
Wearemoved int o a
posit ion
neart hecharact ers rat her
t hanw it h t hem. A
d isplacement
effect
occu rs, as int he
conclu siont o
Life
and
Not hing
More. A senseof
release
d isplaces
a senseof narrat iveclosu re
revolving
arou nd t he
complet ion
of a
qu est by
charact ers. The
resu lt is closert o t herevelat ionof analt ernat iverealm
of
being,
or
pat h,
t heconfirmat ionof a t ransformat ive
process
t hat
incorporat es
ind ivid u als bu t is less cen-
t ered ont hem t hanon
qu alit ies
immanent w it hint heir
sphereof
physical
habit at ion. This
t ype
of closu rehas
aninclu sive
effect ,
yoking
t he
one-given
t o u s as
exampleor
cipher-and t he
many,
ort heoneand t hat
w hich is of a d ifferent ord er
ent irely.
As fest ival-goers, t hou gh,
ou rencou nt ernow con-
clu d es. Wehaveachieved a
read ingof recent Iranian
films; pat t ernhas
emerged . It is
pred ominant ly formal-
ist , w eak incont ext u al
backgrou nd , su scept iblet o
correct ionand d ebat e. Bu t t hesevery qu alit ies arew hat
ad d new , global meanings t o w ork t hat first t ook
shape
w it hina local arena. Wehavew it nessed , and cont rib-
u t ed t o, t heind u ct ionof Iraniancinema int o t he
great
t rad erou t es of t heint ernat ional film fest ival and art
cinema circu it . Wehavecont ribu t ed t o t heat t ainment
of int ernat ional au t eu rst at u s t o film-makers likeAbbas
26
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~d u ~i:.8~i :i-~-:~~?;~R~d ~S~Pee
Orr.'~
INCi:_
Mill-
ThePed d ler
(above);
Nargess (left )
Kiarost ami,
RakhshanB
ani-Et emed ,
and AmirNad eri.
Wehaveconfirmed ou row n
membership
int hecom-
mu nit y
of int ernat ional film
fest ival-goers
ablet o
ex-
t ract
pat t erns
w herenone
init ially exist ed ,
t o
recognized
d ist inct ive
st yles
and infersocial
meaning.
A d elicat ebalancebet w een
su bmergence
int he
experience
of t henew and t he
d iscovery
of
pat t ern
confers anau ra of
familiarit y
t hat resonat es as
plea-
su re. This is a d ist inct ive
pleasu re:
it
accompanies
t he
d iscovery
t hat t heu nknow nis not
ent irely
u nknow -
able. As
fest ival-goers
w e
experience
a
precariou s,
ephemeral
moment inw hich an
imaginary
coherence
rend ers Iraniancinema no
longermyst eriou s
bu t st ill
less t han
fu lly
know n.
Liket he
t ou rist ,
w e
d epart
w it h
t hesat isfact ionof a
part ial know led ge, pleased
t hat it
is of ou row n
making. Beyond
it liet hose
complex
forms of local
know led ge
t hat w ehave
w illingly
ex-
changed
fort he
opport u nit y
t o elect Iraniancinema t o
t heranks of t heint ernat ional art film circu it .
Hovering,
likea
spect re,
at t hebou nd aries of t hefest ival
experi-
ence,
aret hose
d eep
st ru ct u res and t hick
d escript ions
t hat
might
rest orea senseof t he
part icu lar
and local t o
w hat w ehavenow recru it ed t o t herealm of t he
global.
0 Bill Nichols's lat est book,
Blu rred
Bou nd aries,
w ill be
pu blished
t his fall
by
Ind iana
Universit y
Press.
27
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Not es
1. I w ish t o t hank t he
organizers
of t heToront o Int ernat ional
Film Fest ival, part icu larly Dimit ri Eipid es
and Su san
Norget ,
w ho
programmed
t heIraniancinema
ret rospect ive
in
1992, fort heirassist ancein
seeing
films and int erview -
ing
d irect ors. This art icleis
only possible
t hanks t o t heir
consid erable
help.
2. This
essay
st and s as a
companionpiece
t o "TheInt erna-
t ional Film Fest ival and Global Cinema," East -West Jou r-
nal 8, no. 1 (1994) w hich examines t hefu nct ionof int erna-
t ional film fest ivals w it hina
global
t raffic infilm akint o
t hefu nct ionof mu seu ms w it hina
global
t raffic incu lt u ral
art ifact s and fine
art , u sing
recent Iraniancinema as a
reference
point .
3. Cameron
Bailey,
David
McInt osh, Geet a Sond i, "Perspec-
t ive
Canad a," Toront o Int ernat ional Film Fest ival
ofFest i-
vals
Cat alogu e(Toront o:
Fest ival of
Fest ivals, 1992), p.
235.
4. Dimit ri
Eipid es,
"IranianCinema," Toront o
Int ernat ional
Film Fest ival
of
Fest ivals
Cat alogu e, p.
277.
5. Pet er
Brod erick, "Int rod u ct ion," TheBack
of Beyond :
Discovering
Au st ralianFilm and Television
(Syd ney:
Au st ralianFilm
Commission, 1988), p.
vii.
6.
"Cont emporary
World
Cinema," Fest ival
of
Fest ivals
Cat alogu e, p.
87.
7. "Thecinema is a
bod y (a corpu s
fort he
semiologist ),
a
fet ish t hat canbeloved ." Christ ian
Met z, The
Imaginary
Signifier (Bloomingt on,
IN: Ind iana
Universit y Press,
1982), p.
57.
8. Clifford
Geert z, "Deep Play:
Not es ont heBalineseCock-
fight ,"
inThe
Int erpret at ionof
Cu lt u res
(New
York: Basic
Books, 1973).
9.
Geert z, "Deep Play," p.
452.
10. Geert z
present s
a d ramat ic accou nt of t helat t er
qu alit y,
his
ow nsenseof
lookingin,
int he
opening
sect ionof t he
essay.
This const it u t es an"arrival scene" t hat
qu alifies
him t o
speak
w it h
au t horit y:
hew as
t here, heknow s. Theelement
of
personal
invest ment and
experience, how ever, d rops
ou t
of t heremaind erof t he
essay,
w hereBalinesecu lt u re
cryst allizes
int o moreand moreof an
ext ernal, know able
t hing.
Forfu rt herd iscu ssionof
Geert z's narrat ive
st rat egy
int he
essay,
seeVincent
Crapazano,
"Hermes' Dilemma:
The
Masking
of Su bversionin
Et hnographic Descript ion,"
inJames Clifford and
GeorgeMarcu s, ed s.,
Writ ing
Cu l-
t u re
(Berkeley,
CA:
Universit y
of California
Press, 1986).
11. E. Ann
Kaplan,
"Melod rama/Su bject ivit y/Id eology:
West -
ernMelod rama Theories and t heirRelevancet o Recent
Chinese
Cinema," East -West Jou rnal
5, no.
1
(Janu ary
1991),
p.
7.
I d isagree
w it h t he
"u ncovering" concept ,
w hich seems somew hat et hnocent ric
(at
least it overlooks
t heext ent t o w hich crit ics from t hesamecu lt u re
may
u nd erst and
t hings
t hat
w e,
looking
overt heir
shou ld er, fail
t o seeat
all), and
prefer
t o
argu e
t hat
ad d it ional
layers of
meaningresu lt from t hecircu lat ionof art ifact s and art
w orks ina
global economy.
TheBalinese
cockfight w as not
d esigned t o t ravel. New
Iraniancinema is. What t hecrit ic from elsew heread d s, as
a su pplement , might also, int his light , be
regard ed as t he
finishingt ou ch t hat
complet es a d ist inct ive, complex fu -
sionof t helocal and t heglobal.
12. Ibid , p. 7.
13. I d iscu ss t w o of t hemost commonmeans of recovering
st rangeness as t hefamiliar, analogy and allegory, in"Sexu al
Polit ics and Nat ional Liberat ion: Films From Viet nam,"
UCLA Film and TelevisionArchives St u d y Gu id e(Los
Angeles, CA: UCLA Film and TelevisionArchives, 1992),
pp. 7-15.
14. DeanMacCannell, TheTou rist : A New Theory of t he
Leisu reClass (New York: Schocken, 1976). Back region
informat ionapproximat es insid erknow led ge; it also ap-
proximat es gossip, and , as su ch, is sou nd ly crit icized by
Trinh T. Minh-ha inherpolemic against t heant hropologi-
cal t rad it ionof ext ract inginformat ionabou t t helives of
ot hers t o provid et hecu rrency of exchangeforant hropolo-
gist s (Woman/Nat ive/Ot her[Bloomingt on, IN: Ind iana
Universit y Press, 1989], pp. 67-68). As insid erknow l-
ed ge, back-regioninformat ion, gained from press releases
and conferences, aft erscreeningd iscu ssions and int er-
view s, becomes t hest ock-in-t rad eof t hecrit ics and jou r-
nalist s w hosew rit inghelps proclaim t hearrival of each
new cinema. Liket heant hropologist s crit icized by Trinh,
t hey u su ally evinceno aw areness of t heformu laic, rit u al-
ized , and self-servingaspect s of t he
largerprocess t o w hich
t hey cont ribu t e.
15. Int erview w it h Mohammad At t ebai, Toront o Int ernat ional
Film Fest ival, Sept ember25, 1992. What het old mein
morecond ensed form is comparablet o w hat au d iences
gleanfrom aft er-screeningd iscu ssionw it h film-makers.
16. Fred ric Jamesonmakes t his
argu ment inPost mod ernism,
ort heCu lt u ral Logic of Lat eCapit alism (Du rham, N.C.:
Du keUniversit y Press, 1991). WhileI find his accou nt
overgeneralized and d ismissiveof t hemu lt ipleid ent it ies
t hat ind ivid u als t akeu p by means of "small
grou p" (not
specifically class-based ) polit ics, t he"w e" d escribed here
correspond s closely t o Jameson's post mod ernsu bject .
17. Tw o excellent art icles
by Hamid
Naficy
t hat
provid e
cont ext u al informat ionand valu able
insight
int o Iranian
cinema are"IslamizingFilm Cu lt u reinIran," inSamih K.
Farsou nd and Mehrad
Mashayekhi, ed s., Iran: Polit ical
Cu lt u reint he
Islamic Repu blic (Lond on:
Rou t led ge, 1992),
pp. 173-208, and "Womenand t heSemiot ics of
Veiling
and VisioninCinema," TheAmericanJou rnal
ofSemiot ics
8, no. 1/2 (1991), pp. 46-64. Inad d it ion, seeAnt oined e
B aecqu e, "Le
R6el
a
t rembl6,"
(review of
Life
and
Not hing
More) and d e
Baecqu e, "Ent ret ienavec Abbas Kiarost ami,"
bot h inCahiers d u
Cinema,
no. 461 (November1992).
18. A consid erablenu mberof recent w orks sw it ch t hesex of
avengingcharact ers t o female,
part icu larly
in
low -bu d get ,
low brow
genrefilms likeMs. 45, ISpit
onYou r
Grave, and
Lad ies Clu b. A few
big-bu d get , higher-brow
films have
picked u p t het heme: Thelma & Lou iseand , w it h a some-
w hat anomalou s fait h int heju d icial syst em, TheAccu sed .
Theact of seekingrevengeremains mascu lineinit s gend er
cod ingbu t becomes d ist ribu t ed amongw omenas w ell as
meninsu ch films. This shift is
t horou ghly d iscu ssed in
Carol J. Clover, Men, Womenand Chainsaw s
(Princet on,
N.J.: Princet onUniversit y Press, 1992). Iraniancinema
offers no parallel t o t his t ransformat ion.
19. Inonememorable, bu t offhand , moment from Lifeand
Not hingMore, t heprot agonist 's you ngson
complains t hat
his sod a is w arm and hed oes not w ant it . Thefat her
28
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su ggest s
he
pou r
it ou t t hecarw ind ow w hile
t hey
w ait at
a
checkpoint . Beyond
t hew ind ow t hesid eof anot hercar
is visible. From t hat cara w omanw ecannot see
u rges t he
boy
not t o w ast et hesod a. Pou rit int his
cu p,
she
says, and
t he
boy complies.
Theent ire
sequ ence
t akes
placein
med iu m shot s from t hefarsid eof t he
boy's
car. Thefilm
goes
on. Weneverseet hew oman.
20. Int erview w it h t heau t hor, Sept ember19, 1992, Fest ival of
Fest ivals, Toront o, Canad a.
21. Thed irect or, Mohsen
Makmalbaf, w as a milit ant act ivist
against
t heShah and w as
imprisoned
forfive
years. He
gained
releasein
1979, "at t hed aw nof t heIslamic revolu -
t ion," accord ing
t o t he
press
kit . Hehas
pu blished
short
st ories and a
novel, w rit t enseveral
screenplays,
and d i-
rect ed moret hant enfilms. Hew as a fou nd erof t heArt s
Bu reau of t heCent erfort he
Propagat ion
of Islamic
Thou ght .
The
press
kit 's
synopsis
d escribes t het hreeshort st ories in
ThePed d leras "relat ed int heir
su pport
of t he
religiou s
not ionof
u nchangeablepred est inat ion.
Inone
episod e,
t he
Ped d leris involved w it h a
gang
of
smu gglers. Thou gh
he
know s heis abou t t o bekilled
by
t he
gang,
t hePed d leris
provenhelpless
inhis
at t empt
t o
change
his fait h"
[sic;
perhaps
a
t ypo
for
"fat e"?].
The
apparent u nanimit y
of crit ical
opinion
is not
complet e.
At least one
review er,
w rit ing
ou t sid et heconvent ions of a
hu manist
d iscovery
of
commonalit y,
saw a
very d ifferent ,
farmore
int emperat emessage
inMakmalbaf' s film. InThe
Georgia St raight (Oct . 6-13, 1989),
ShaffinShariff assert s
"Using
Islam as it s
ju st ificat ion,
ThePed d ler
says
t hat it s
maincharact ers arew orset han
criminals, w ho haveno
illu sions abou t t heirsins." Shariff
cont inu es, "It 's blas-
phemy
t hat t he
cou ple
event ries t o leaveit s new bornina
mosqu e,
t hat t heman
[t he
hero of t hesecond of t het hree
st ories] persist s
in
maint aining
his
d elu sions, and t hat t he
ped d ler
t ries t o
bargain
w it h t he
gu ilt y [w ho plan
t o execu t e
him].
A w est ernau d ienceis
likely
t o see
t ragic
flaw s in
[t he
charact ers], especially
w hensomeof t he
escapad es appear
ironic, evencomic. Bu t ThePed d leris not anint ent ional
comed y.
It ' s a
ju st ificat ion
of an
object ionable
w orld view .
S
.
.
ThePed d ler's
point
of
view , once
ext rapolat ed ,
d eserves
u nequ ivocal reject ion."
22. David
Bord w ell, Narrat ionint heFict ionFilm
(Mad ison,
WI: Universit y
of Wisconsin
Press, 1985).
23. Bord w ell claims t hat inferences of a t ranscend ent al
st yle
are
misread ings
of formal
pat t erns;
ot her
int erpret at ions
are
equ ally possible;
w hat u nd erw rit es t hem all aret he
mod u lat ionof cinemat ic
paramet ers
t hemselves. This d is-
pu t e
need not d et ainu s sinceIraniancinema d oes not
mat ch Bord w ell's
cat egory,
nord oes it fu lfill w hat Schrad er
claims is t hecorrect
form, and
formu la, fort ranscend ent al
st yleinall cu lt u res. SeePau l Schrad er, Transcend ent al
St yleinFilm: Ozu , Bresson, Dreyer(Berkeley, CA: Uni-
versit y of California Press, 1972) and David Bord w ell,
Narrat ionint heFict ionFilm.
24. Thereferencet o Brecht 's ad mirat ionof Horace's mot t o, t o
inst ru ct and please, is int ent ional. I haveno reasont o
su spect t hat t his
sampleof Iraniancinema shares Brecht ' s
polit ical agend a. Bu t , likeBrecht 's plays, t hesefilms d o
engageu s at bot h a cognit ive, inst ru ct ivelevel and an
aest het ic, pleasingone. Brecht ' s
concept of t he"alienat ion
effect " st rikes me, int his cont ext , as a secu lar, ormat eri-
alist versionof t heau st erit y pract iced here. Inbot h cases a
senseof removefrom t heillu sionist t imeand spaceof
realism arises inmu ch t hesamespirit as t heformalist
concept of ost ranenieord efamiliarizat ion. Bu t t heeffect
is t o d irect u s not t ow ard a realism of economic syst em and
social st ru ct u re,
h
la Brecht , nora formalism of lit erariness
orcinemat icness,
h
la formalism, bu t t o w hat I call here, for
lack of a bet t erw ord , immanence.
Filmography
Beyond t heFire(Ansou y-eAt ash), Kainou sh Ayyari, 1987,
97 min.
A man, t u rned inby his brot herand sent t o jail forassau lt ,
ret u rns t o claim his right fu l shareof
d ispu t ed proceed s.
(His brot hersold t hefamily homet o Iran's nat ional oil
company, d isplacinghis ow nmot herand
bu yingt aw d ry
West erngood s w it h t hemoney.) Int hemid st of a d esolat e
oil field , t het w o brot hers cont inu et heirqu arrel as plu mes
of bu rninggas const ant ly blast int o t hed esert sky. The
st akes arepalt ry bu t t hesenseof honoris int ense. The
cheat ed brot her's at t empt t o proposet o a local w oman
becomes complicat ed by t heneed t o havehis mot hermake
t het rad it ional requ est . At t heconclu siont hebrot hers and
t his you ng, mu t ew omanall scu ffleint heshad ow of t he
bu rninggas, d ivid ed and d esperat e.
CloseUp (Nama-yeNazd ik), Abbas Kiarost ami, 1990,
100 min.
Theu nemployed Ali d ecid es t o
impersonat et hew ell-
know nIranianfilm-makerMohsenMakmalbaf (ThePed -
d ler). Heingrat iat es himself int o t helifeof a
w ealt hy
family u nt il his ru sefalls apart . Aft erheis arrest ed , t he
makerof t his film, Kiarost ami, comes ont hescenet o
"d ocu ment " t het rial. Theevent s
lead ingu p
t o Ali's arrest
arereenact ed ,
ad d ingnew levels of
insight and
irony
t o t he
st ory.
TheKey (Kelid ), Ebrahim Forou zesh, 1986, 76 min.
Almost t heent irefilm t races t heeffort s
by a series of ad u lt s
t o "rescu e" a
fou r-year-old
child left homew it h his
baby
brot herw hilehis mot heris ou t
shopping.
Shot inan
observat ional
st ylet hat st resses t he
qu ot id ian
nat u reof t he
child 's ad vent u res, su spense
nonet heless mou nt s as t he
concerned ad u lt s
imaginegreat erand
great er
d isast ers and
become
increasingly d esperat eint heireffort s t o avert a
fat et o w hich t hechild remains obliviou s.
Lifeand
Not hing
More
(Zend igi
va
d igarHich), Abbas
Kiarost ami, 1992, 91 min.
A fat herand sont ravel t o nort hernIranaft era d isast rou s
eart hqu akehit s t he
region. Thefat herset s ou t t o d iscover
t hefat eof t he
you ngboy
w ho
played
t helead rolein
Kiarost ami's
WhereIs t heFriend 's Home?
Throu gh
a
series of encou nt ers, represent ed ina
low -key
and oft en
obliqu est yle, t he
fat her's jou rney brings
him new
insight s
and priorit ies.
29
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Nargess,
RakhshanBani-Et emed , 1991, 100 min.
The
only
film int his
grou p
mad e
by
a w oman, Nargess
d et ails t he
complex
int eract ions
amongAfagh,
anold er
w oman; Ad el, w hom shehas raised t o beher
accomplice
in
pet t y
crimes and hersexu al
companion;
and t he
you nger,
ent irely
innocent
Nargess,
w it h w hom Ad el falls inlove.
Nargess's family accept s
his
marriageproposal (as Afagh
plays
Ad el's
mot her),
bu t soon
Nargess
mu st confront t he
d ou blet ru t h: Ad el is bot h a t hief and
act u ally
married t o
his
(pu rport ed )
mot her. Thefilm it self is
d ou bly
u nu su al:
it ad d resses
d ist inct ly
u rbanissu es and d oes so
primarily
from t he
perspect ive
of t het w o femalecharact ers.
TheNeed
(Niaz),
Alizera
Davu d nezhad , 1991, 81 min.
A
you ngboy's
fat herd ies and heresolves t o
get
a
job
t o
su pport
his mot her. Soonheis
pit t ed against
anot her
you ng
manforone
job
ina
print shop. Ali, t he
prot agonist ,
mu st
d ecid ehow t o cond u ct himself w henhefind s t heod d s
u nfairly
st acked
against
him and his
compet it or, Reza, no
less
need y
t hanhimself.
ThePed d ler
(Dast forou sh,
also
Du st -forou gh),
Mohsen
Makmalbaf, 1987, 95 min.
Thet hreeshort st ories t hat
comprise
ThePed d lerinvolve:
1)
a d est it u t e
cou ple
w ho
t ry
t o "aband on" t heirnew
baby
d au ght er
so t hat a
bet t er-off, caringperson
w ill
ad opt
her.
Thechild w ind s
u p
cared
for, bu t not int he
w ay
t he
parent s
int end ed ; 2)
a manw ho lives w it h and cares forhis
eld erly
mot her. Wit h
st rong
overt ones of
Psycho,
he
slow ly
d rift s
t ow ard
mad ness; 3)
a
ped d lercau ght
ina mazeof d ream/
night mare/realit y
inw hich hebecomes t he
t arget
of fellow
ped d lers,
w ho seem t o believehe
bet rayed
t hem and mu st
now
pay
t he
price.
TheRu nner
(Davand eh),
Amir
Nad eri, 1985, 94 min.
TheRu nnerw as t hefirst Iranianfilm t o moveont o t he
int ernat ional film fest ival
circu it , w hereit w as
compared
t o
Los Olvid ad os and Pixot e. Heret hereis no
corru pt ion
or
sexu al overt onet o a t aleabou t aband oned child renof t he
cit y. Amiro, t he
prot agonist ,
smit t enw it h
images
of
planes,
remains
cau ght
w it hin
cycles
of
povert y.
The
synopsis
provid ed
t o t he
press capt u res
t he
simplicit y
and
poet ry
of
t his as w ell as most ot herIranianfilms:
LonesomeAmiro is overw helmed
by
t hed ream of
a
jou rney
t o t heu nknow nand an
u rge
for
vict ory.
Helives inanaband oned
ship, filling
his t imew it h
casu al
jobs.
Amiro is ina
hu rry
t o learn
many
t hings,
as hew ishes t o know w heret he
ships
and
planes arebou nd t o go.
As helearns t helessons inan
eveningschool, he
at t ains
vict ory ina racew it h his peers.
St ony Lion(Shir-eSangi), Massou d Jafari Jozani, 1987,
93 min.
A period film set
d u ringt het imeof Brit ish
occu pat ion, t his
is also a classic t aleof
d ivid e-and -conqu erru leand how it
canexacerbat e
exist ingt ensionw it h t ribal and clanrela-
t ions.
Kou hyaw r, a
shepherd , find s t hed ead bod y of a
Brit ish
engineerneara d esert pipeline. Brit ish d emand s
forpu nishment soonembroil t w o t ribal clans, oneled by a
collaborat orent ranced w it h
t echnology,
t heot her
by a
t rad it ionalist prepared t o sacrificelifeforhonor. It is int he
relat ively minorroles of t hew ives and you ngersons of
t hesement hat Jozani locat es a senseof hopeforan
alt ernat ivefu t u re.
TheTenant s
(Ejareh Neshinha), Dariou sh
Mehrju i, 1985,
130 min.
A
mad cap comed y t hat st and s in
sharp
cont rast t o most of
t heot herfilms.
Mehrju i,
likeHow ard Haw ks in
Bringing
Up Baby or
Monkey Bu siness, invert s t hevalu es normally
u pheld .
This t aleof fou rfamilies
bat t ling
oneanot herfor
cont rol of a su bu rban
apart ment bu ild ing
t u rns honor,
int egrit y,
and sacrificeint o
greed , d ishonest y,
and
manipu -
lat ion. Element s of social sat ire
pervad e
t hefilm.
Wat er, Wind , Du st (Ab, Bad , Khak), AmirNad eri, 1985/
89, 94 min.
Using
t hesameact oras inTheRu nner, Nad eri set s his
prot agonist
off ona search forhis
family
ina
severely
d rou ght -st rickenregion
of Iran. Det erminat ionand fort i-
t u d econfront a
relent lessly u nforgiving
nat u re. Thesou nd
of t hew ind , t he
sight
of d u st , and t heabsenceof w at er
d ominat et hefilm. As w it h
Life
and
Not hingMore, t he
hero's
od yssey
lead s in
u nexpect ed d irect ions, w it hhold -
ing
t heresolu t ionw e
ant icipat e.
Where
Is
t heFriend 's Home?
(Khaneh-ye
Dou st
Kojast ?),
Abbas Kiarost ami, 1987, 90 min.
A
schoolboy, Ahmad , d iscovers t hat hehas
accid ent ally
t akent hew ork book of a classmat ew ho is
alread y
in
t rou blefor
failing
t o d o homew ork. Int hefaceof
parent al
ind ifference, Ahmad set s ou t t o ret u rnt hebook. His
qu est
becomes
anot herjou rney
of
d iscovery
even
t hou gh
hefails
t o find his classmat e's home.
30
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