By Syma Sayyah, Tehran
I have been lucky with films these
days. My cousin Fahimeh lent me
some Iranian DVD films that I had missed on screen. I love watching movies, and I find this
is the best way for me to relax and see movies. I can do it whenever it is
convenient and if I don't like it I just fast forward, unless it is really
bad.
Last week, I watched three films in
a row. The first was I'm Taraneh 15. It was so good. The
film was work of Mr Rasoul Sader-Amlie and Taraneh Alidoust played her part most
beautifully. It was engaging,
interesting as it showed so many issues that prevails in our towns and in our
lives here in Iran.
The next film that I enjoyed
watching was Friday's Soldiers, the work of prominent Iranian film director
Masoud Kimiaie. The film tells the
story of three guys, who meet while serving their military service, and their
sergeant, when they come to Tehran on leave on a Friday. The film shows the
relationship that develops between the three and the brother of one of them. It
shows the pain that each one carries in his life whether rich or poor,
traditional or westernized. I was
most impressed with some of acting done by the ladies in the film, Andishe
Fouladvand and Marbela Zareie.
The third film was The Fifth Reaction by Tahmineh
Millani about a group of women friend who are teachers and how they help each
other to combat the harshness and injustice that men bring into their lives.
This I had seen many years ago when it was screened privately.
Last week I was invited to private
viewing of a film called Gone with the Wind by Mr Sadre
Abdoulahi. This film was not
allowed to be screened for four years and after a lot of negotiation and cuts it
recently got permission from the authorities for public viewing.
Golshifteh Farahani
The director wanted to get a
feminists point of view. When I
talked to him before the screening, he told me that this is the first political
film which is serious. Well, apart
from a few clichéd lines I could not at any time look at this and find it
serious let alone political. Mr
Abdoulahi told me he made this film so that in fifty years time, when people
review Iranian cinema of today, they will find this film as a source of telling
it. The film is about a young
newly-wed couple who goes to Kish and wants to help develop it. In the
process, even though he succeeds, at the end he loses his wife and leads a very
unhappy lonely life. She goes to
North America, studies and comes back
eventually to beat her former husband's firm at a tender. Is this feminism? No way! Women have not suffered, tried, studied
and aspired just to end up playing silly games of win and lose. In playing such games everybody will
eventually lose. The film has a few
very good sequences but I found it below average even though it had two leading
artists. I hope you sometime get to
draw your own conclusions.
Ali
Rafie
Earlier this year, I was also lucky
to be invited by Mr and Mrs Toscano at their house to see the lovely film Fish Fall in Love by Ali Rafie which
recently won the best film at the 7th Aubange International Film
festival. This was wonderful to
see. Mr Rafie who has extensive
experience of the theater has made each shot a beautiful picture to look
at. The script, which he wrote, has
portrayed the women in this film most interestingly and their relationships with
themselves, their world and each other truly profound. We met the leading actress in the film,
Golshifteh Farahani, who was at the private screening along with Mr Rafie and
her husband. This is a great film
and I recommend that, if it comes your way, please go and see it and let me know
what you think.
