Cannes Film Festival 2005

[Chris Knipp]

We don't need a constant supply of films from the Middle East that highlight the problems of this or that group, people do live relatively normal lives in these countries as well and I'm sure there are stories to be told that don't rely on the plight and suffering of a certain group whether Kurds, Afghani's, children, women et al.


I'm glad to hear this line of thought which I thought was taboo. I think Kierostami overrated though I know that surely is a forbidden thought even here. I would like to see an Iranian film in which people smile and have a good time. As I've pointed out in discussing The Circle, even those women in a doomed situaition would have had some light moments; it's human nature to want to laugh, more than ever when times are grim. They made jokes in the Nazi camps. A major failing for me of Persian filmmaking is their relentless deterministic hopelessness, which is worse than the focus on disadvantaged groups.

I liked Stray Dogs with its deliberate links with Italian neorealism and De Sica/Zavattini's Bicycle Thief, but it was lightened up by my seeing it dubbed in Italian.

I'm not so sure a Palestinian filmmaker can make movies about anything but the plight of the Palestinians, but Elia Suleiman does that with a lot of irony and humor.

[trevor826]

Chris have you seen A Taste of Cherry? It is magnificent in its afermation of life that goes beyond the religious. Also the number of great screenplays he's done is incredible. I think with Kiarostami, the more you see
his work the more you appreciate it.

Cheers Trev.

P.S Gotta be honest, I think The Circle is an excellent film and there is some wry humour in there as well.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by arsaib4
"Since its heyday—probably defined by Abbas Kiarostami’s Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1997—Iranian cinema has become increasingly repetitive, returning again and again to formulaic plots involving children, Afghan refugees or both. The filmmakers, of course, haven’t had it easy. The reform movement that loomed so promisingly a decade ago has been pretty much stymied by the increasingly entrenched clerical autocracy, and the effects of that have not filtered down into what had become Iran’s best-known cultural export, the cinema."

I couldn't agree more.

I strongly and passionately disagree. If a number of the films below involve "children, Afghan refugees or both", the films are quite vibrant and affecting not formulaic. Below is the list of Iranian films I have watched that range from good to great, in my opinion. All were released after Kiarostami received the Golden Palm for Taste of Cherry.

THE APPLE (Samira Mahkmalbaf)

DIVORCE, ITALIAN STYLE (Ziba Mir-Hosseini)

THE SILENCE (Moshen Makhmalbaf)

THE MAY LADY (Rakhsan Bani Etemad)

THE COLOR OF PARADISE (Majid Majidi)

THE WIND WILL CARRY US (Kiarostami)

THE CIRCLE (Jafar Panahi)

THE SMELL OF CAMPHOR, THE SCENT OF JASMINE (Bahman Farmanara)

THE DAY I BECAME A WOMAN (Marziyeh Meshkini)

BLACKBOARDS (Samira Mahkmalbaf)

A TIME FOR DRUNKEN HORSES (Bahman Ghobadi)

SECRET BALLOT (Babak Payami)

KANDAHAR (Moshen Makhmalbaf)

TEN (Kiarostami)

MAROONED IN IRAK (Bahman Ghobadi)

AND ALONG CAME A SPIDER (Maziar Bahari)

AT FIVE IN THE AFTERNOON (Samira Mahkmalbaf)

CRIMSON GOLD (Jafar Pahari)

STRAY DOGS (Marziyeh Meskini)

MARMOULAK THE LIZARD (Kamal Tabrizi)

TURTLES CAN FLY (Bahman Ghobadi)

The films listed below have been highly regarded by critics and cinema enthusiasts worldwide. I hope to be able to watch them in the near future in order to form an opinion.

THE CHILD AND THE SOLDIER (Reza Mir-Karimi)
ABC AFRICA (Kiarostami)
BARAN (Majidi)
JOY OF MADNESS (Hana Makhmalbaf)
FIVE (Kiarostami)
UNDER THE SKIN OF THE CITY (Etemad)

[trevor826]

My comments from foreignfilms.com

Lezate divanegi (2003) - Joy of Madness

Directed by Hana Makhmalbaf

Starring Samira Makhmalbaf, Mohsen Makhmalbaf

A family affair.

Well the last of the Makhmalbaf clan has directed her first film, Hana Makhmalbaf was 14 when she made this feature covering the events upto the filming of “At Five in the Afternoon” which was directed by her sister Samira.

The whole of the roughly shot film revolves around trying to get the cast together, a job that in almost any part of the world would be pretty straight forward but not in post Taliban Afghanistan. People are still scared, concerned for their safety and in some cases for their reputations, we see Samira lose her patience as she tries to cajole or even bully people into accepting parts in the film.

A gypsy family is convinced that the crew will kill their baby while making the film and a teacher writes a letter explaining why she can't take on the lead role. Kabul, once a powerful and beautiful city provides the backdrop, scarred and crumbling, a shadow of its past glory. Fear is the feeling that constantly comes across, at least from the Afghani women because even though the Taliban are finished, the threat of them still pervades the very air.

Being a film director is probably a stressful job but trying to do it in these conditions! It must be almost impossible to get anything completed, well done then to the Makhmalbaf’s and all the other directors working in the Middle East.

Rough & Ready but recommended to anyone interested in Middle Eastern life and cinema.

----------------------------

Now going back to my initial response, having recently had the pleasure of seeing Tabiate bijan - Still Life 1974 by Sohrab Shahid Saless and Gaav - The Cow 1969 by Dariush Mehrjui it made me wish that we could see films made for the sake of film rather than ones pushing a cause. Crimson Gold is a good modern example, who wrote the screenplay Abbas Kiarostami. 20 Fingers, another good example, dedicated to Abbas Kiarostami. I believe without his influence Iranian cinema would be a lot weaker.

Cheers Trev

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by trevor826
Abbas Kiarostami. I believe without his influence Iranian cinema would be a lot weaker.

I agree, and I propose your statement also applies to Moshen Makhmalbaf.

[arsaib4]

Originally posted by oscar jubis
Originally posted by arsaib4
"Since its heyday—probably defined by Abbas Kiarostami’s Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1997—Iranian cinema has become increasingly repetitive, returning again and again to formulaic plots involving children, Afghan refugees or both. The filmmakers, of course, haven’t had it easy. The reform movement that loomed so promisingly a decade ago has been pretty much stymied by the increasingly entrenched clerical autocracy, and the effects of that have not filtered down into what had become Iran’s best-known cultural export, the cinema."

I couldn't agree more.

I strongly and passionately disagree. If a number of the films below involve "children, Afghan refugees or both", the films are quite vibrant and affecting not formulaic. Below is the list of Iranian films I have watched that range from good to great, in my opinion. All were released after Kiarostami received the Golden Palm for Taste of Cherry.

I strongly and passionately disagree with the disagreement. Many of the films above actually don't emphasize"children, Afghan refugees or both," which makes the post somewhat meaningless. Anyway, but the ones that do, including BARAN (Majidi), AT FIVE IN THE AFTERNOON (Samira Mahkmalbaf), THE COLOR OF PARADISE (Majid Majidi) etc. are quite formulaic to me.

[arsaib4]

Good post. I wish that you get a chance to see Forugh Farrokhzad's The House is Black. It's one of the best Iranian films I've ever seen.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by arsaib4
Many of the films above actually don't emphasize"children, Afghan refugees or both," which makes the post somewhat meaningless.

That's the point. That many of the post-Cherry Iranian films don't emphasize "children, Afghan refugees or both" and that the ones that do, in my humble opinion, are not the lesser because of it.

I hope I feel as enthusiastic about The House is Black as you do. If I don't get watch it tonight it's because Cristi wants to watch the longish The Big Red One. In which case I'll get to it tomorrow and post a comment on my journal.

[arsaib4]

Originally posted by oscar jubis
That's the point. That many of the post-Cherry Iranian films don't emphasize "children, Afghan refugees or both" and that the ones that do, in my humble opinion, are not the lesser because of it.

Nice try, but I was only referring to the list above. See a few more, or actually don't, and you'll have a better idea. But as Mr. Peña stated in addition, which I also agreed with, "The filmmakers, of course, haven’t had it easy."

I hope I feel as enthusiastic about The House is Black as you do. If I don't get watch it tonight it's because Cristi wants to watch the longish The Big Red One. In which case I'll get to it tomorrow and post a comment on my journal.

Money back guarantee on The House is Black! ;)

[arsaib4]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
I think Kiarostami is overrated....

And how is that? What don't you like about him?

[Chris Knipp]

I've seen A Taste of Cherry. If it's an "affermation of life," well, yes, deciding not to off yourself is a sort of one, but of a very downbeat kind. Kiarostami seems not to be to my taste. I found him an incredible self-satisfied bore in his film about his filmmaking, 10 on Ten, though needless to say it showed he has confidence in his own voice. He clearly agrees with his foreign admirers that he's a master. In fact I'm afraid I'm not an enthusiast of Iranian cinema, apparently not even of what you consider to be at its best. There is another side to "Middle Eastern life", whatever that means, or rather many other sides.

I haven't seen as many Iranian films as you guys, but every one of them has borne out my feeling that even the most highly regarded Iranian directors' work is relentlessly negative in a deterministic, fatalistic way that I find grating -- The Circle and The Color of Paradise are particularly good examples. They seem to be cast to appeal to the foreign arthouse audience and festivals' sense of what's profound and timely. "Roughness" -- exemplifed by something like Blackboards -- is another valued quality. Anything concerning the Oppressed, anything that is earnest rather than entertaining, is preferred. The films from this list that I've seen touch on a variety of topics, but still all seem very much of a kind. I don't think these works are representative of Iranian life in general or the life of the educated Iranian public-- though Ten and to some extent the somewhat flimsy Deserted Station (not mentioned here?) do touch on concerns of the urban middle class, if rather indirectly. Crimson Gold is one of the stronger ones, with of course an underclass glimpse of the rich, but it was badly paced and clumsily put together. In the praise being heaped on these films, too many allowances are being made. I saw one or two other Iranian films in a series put on for Iranians. Not very good either, but very different material, dealing more dramatically with the sort of issues alluded to in Ten. I'd like to see more of that, less shooting outdoors in the dust and dirt. But that's what Kiarostami said he wasn't allowed to do, women and indoors at home. Pretty severe restrictions.

But I suppose these opinions brand me as hopeless and you'd better go on hashing it out among yourselves. I don't want to become a scapegoat.

[arsaib4]

Fair enough. You've certainly been consistent with your stance on Iranian cinema. But would you prefer to be branded hopeless? It seems to me that you've already made up your mind about Kiarostami and Iranian cinema in general while acknowledging that you haven't seen many films from the region. Wouldn't you rather keep an open heart and mind?

I believe we had a few exchanges regarding this when you were writing from Italy after watching an Iranian film that you did like. I brought up Babak Payami (One More Day, Secret Ballot), a filmmaker who studied out west and has a lighter, a more subtle allegorical touch. Perhaps someone you might appreciate.

Not sure if you've seen Kiarostami's Close Up, but if you haven't, it will genuinely surprise you. Few films have interpreted "cinema" itself so sensitively and intelligently. It probably re-invented the docu-drama hybrid tradition which is now being put to use so often by European auteurs. The film is pure cinema, without any additives.

[Chris Knipp]

It's hard to maintain my enthusiasm when I've been so consistently disappointed, but despite my apparent condemnation, I keep trying and hoping. If I followed my feelings, I'd have given up long ago. I try to keep an "open heart and mind," but given a choice, I tend to turn naturally more often to the cinemas of other nations that beckon with new hope or have often rewarded me in the past. I appreciate your patience and will try to remember to watch for Babak Payami (One More Day, Secret Ballot). Have not seen Close Up. You seem to differ with Oscar in the debate on Iranian cinema's present state. I may not know enough it to see that it has changed. I don't feel happy with where it was; you seem unhappy with where it's going.

I just saw À tout de suite, which I loved -- for the first 40 minutes or so, anyway, which are very strong, the two lovers terrific; I'm looking forward next to Audiard's De battre mon cœur s'est arrêté , and after that Sud Pralad (I can't spell his name). Will report on À tout de suite shortly.

[trevor826]

Hi Chris, sorry to drag you back on the subject of Iranian films, Kiarostami in particular but you mentioned the lack of humour or lightness. Have you seen any of his early short films? You would be surprised as to how funny some of them are, try and hunt them out if you can, I'm sure you would appreciate them and even if you don't at least they only last around 10 minutes each on average.

Cheers Trev.

Sorry I can't actually quote you but that's cable internet for you.

[Chris Knipp]

How would I find them? I'm amazed at your range of knowledge.