A few years ago, my smart, eclectic son picked a bunch of
interesting Iranian films for us to watch. Most memorable were The Color of
Paradise, The White Balloon, and Children of Heaven.
Interestingly, all three of those were about children -- I read once that this was
because Iranian directors couldn't speak directly to politics, so instead
filmed parables and allegories. Even so, those films reminded me a lot of the
classic Italian movies of the late 1940s and early 1950s -- realistic, tough and
informed about the nature of life. (If you want more on that, watch Martin
Scorsese's terrific half-memoir, half-documentary, Personal Journey,
which amounts to a master class on Italian film.) We never did get to Taste
of Cherry, though, after my son said he had a lot of tolerance for ennui
but not enough for this one.
Now, in honor of the Iranian protestors, we've started
another round of Iranian films. This time we're focusing on films made over the
last nine years. We started on Saturday with Offside, a modest film all
the more striking for its smallness, about a handful of Iranian girls trying to
sneak into a major soccer match. The movie was shot on the down low -- it is not
giving anything away to say that one scene, in which a policeman grabs a girl
heading toward the soccer stadium, the policeman was real. The DVD is also
worthwhile for the interview with the director, Jafar Panahi, who discusses how Iranian
authorities told him he could make another film if he would agree to censor his
previous ones. He declined, and so wound up making this one on the fly with
video cameras. Minor defense-related angle: Panahi is a veteran of the
Iran-Iraq war, and his portrayal of soldiers in Offside has an insiders'
feel to it, especially the fair-minded corporal (I think) from rural Azerbaijan
dealing with a bunch of the smooth-talking Tehranis.
Last night we watched Half Moon, a spooky Kurdish film about
music and determination. Best scene: The village of exiled female singers.
Suffice it to say that is the most anti-Islamic Republic of Iran movie I've
ever seen.
Next up: Crimson Gold and Baran. As my wife
pointed out, these powerful works of art are evocative of the soulful classics
made in Poland under and against the Communist regime-Kanal, Man of Iron,
and such.
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