New Films from Iran
Copyright 1994 Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
[Excerpt from the museum newsletter follows; includes reviews of 5 films]
The museum's first presentation of post-revolutionary Iranian cinema in the Fall of 1993 was a revelation, comprising a strong and diverse group of films dealing with issues reflecting the complexity of life in Iran today. Well-produced and psychologically compelling, these films encourage an awareness of Iranian customs and sensibilities through the travails of a procession of engaging characters and circumstances.
During 1994, several new Iranian films have garnered awards and international acclaim. Abbas Kiarostamis's THROUGH THE OLIVE TREES was enthusiastically received at the Cannes Film Festival, and will be the first Iranian film to receive a wide commercial release in the United States. THE JAR (directed by Ebrahim Foruzesh) and THE ABADANIS (directed by Kiyanush Ayyari) took the Gold and Silver "Leopards" at the Locarno International Film Festival.
The five films in this series represent the latest efforts of some of Iran's most talented directors, confronting the matters of family (SARAH, THE BOOT, FROM KARKEH TO RHEIN), tradition (DESERT SYMPHONY), and artistic angst (THE ACTOR). Transcending the cliche of offering a "window on a world," these films exemplify an energetic and sophisticated national cinema.
FILM CALENDAR + REVIEWS
December 9, Friday
DESERT SYMPHONY 7:30 pm
SARA 9:30 pm
December 10, Saturday
DESERT SYMPHONY 7:30 pm
SARA 9:30 pm
December 11, Sunday
THE BOOT 7:30 pm
***
December 16, Friday
FROM KARKEH TO RHEIN 7:30 pm
THE ACTOR 9:30 pm
December 17, Saturday
GROM KARKEH TO RHEIN 7:30 pm
THE ACT
December 18, Sunday
THE BOOT 7:30 pm
***
REVIEWS
DESERT SYMPHONY
Directed by Mohammad-Hossein Haghighi 1993, 95 min., subtitled
The first feature film by director Haghighi, who began making films in 1975 ... DESERT SYMPHONY is a powerful story of isolation and reunion. An old singer-musician who was the sole witness to a murder has isolated himself from his village for 20 years. Two friends from the same tribe are planning on marriage to each other's sisters, but according to the will of the deceased father of one of the men, the old singer must be present at the wedding ceremony. He must be found and brought back to the village, risking opening old wounds and revelations about a long ago murder.
SARA
directed by Dariush Mehrjui 1993, 102 min., subtitled
The idea of adapting Ibsen's "A Doll's House" to Iranian society seems a strange one, but director Mehrjui, whose earlier films THE COW, THE POSTMAN, and THE CYCLE, condemned social injustice, has always been agile enough to suggest connections which are not always immediately apparent. Hessam, a bank manager, becomes ill and requires treatment in Switzerland. He believes the money his wife Sara provides for his expenses is her inheritance, but in fact she has borrowed it, and in the intervening years she sneaks down to the basement nightly to create intricate embroidery, which she sells to repay her creditor. The domestic bliss she has painstakingly constructed is shattered when she is blackmailed and Hessam discovers the truth, with devastating results. Niki Karimi gives a multi-layered performance as Sara, who must defy subjugation and make her own decision about her future. The film is well-rooted in details of everyday Iranian life as it is in thousands of ordinary, middle-class households.
THE BOOT
Directed by Mohammad-Ali Talebi 1992, 60 min., subtitled
Essentially a sprightly moral lesson for tots, THE BOOT presents a smart, sweet and crisply concise parable that adults will get a kick out of too. Struggling to keep in line her capricious moppet, a doting but frazzled seamstress (presumably a war widow) shells out for a new pair of red boots. But when the kid's euphoria subsides, and she nods off on the bus, one boot slips off and is lost. The boot's tortuous path around the city is amusingly tracked. Scriptwriter/director Talebi colors the warmly human yarn with gently infectious humor. -David Rooney, VARIETY
FROM KARKHEH TO RHEIN
Directed by Ebrahim Hatamikia 1993, 993 min., subtitled
The most recent film by director Katamikia, best known for his award- winning war films, FROM KARKHEH TO RHEIN tells the story of one victim of the Iran-Iraq war. Two years after the end of the war, Saeed (Ali Dehkordi), a former [war] volunteer arrives in Germany to seek medical care for his eyes, which have been damaged by chemical attacks on the Iranian troops. While Saeed is in the hospital, his sister who lives in Cologne with her German husband, visits him, stirring up memories of and wistful longing for their common past.
ADDRESS OF THE MUSEUM
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 1001 Bossonet Houston, TX 77005-6826
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