I had seen many international movies (read film festival types) in 2 amazing channels called Lumiere & World Movies, - these were pre internet days and these channels hosted director interviews, special screenings, director’s festivals or retrospective of a country or a phase of cinema like the French New wave. It was cinephiles' delight & most of my movie education happened through this. Now of course we have a mubi & criterion collection.
There are a handful of Iranian filmmakers whose movies I have seen, one is Jafar Panahi who is known for ‘The White Balloon’ which was his debut movie and won the Grand Prix in Cannes. The other director is Majid Majidi who is famous for ‘Children of Heaven’ - my recollection of both these movies were about the portrayal of daily life of lower middle class families in Iran. The family is just able to manage their livelihood but they still try their best to be happy and joyous and try to give the best upbringing possible for their children. But the family atmosphere is only set in the context - the main story is about the children, their wants or needs / dreams are explained through the eyes of an incident. The child actors are so natural with their acting - thanks to the director that it is a pure delight watching the story unfold. Both these films will give you a sense of innocence and purity which only children can evoke.I have seen many other movies made by them - but these 2 are masterpieces & must see.
The other director whose movies I saw because they won Oscars for best foreign language is
Asghar Farhadi. Earlier I had seen Separation & Salesman and over the weekend I saw A Hero. Unlike Jafar Panahi & Majid Majidi - all 3 films are real portrayals of the society, it holds a mirror to the society on what they define as good / bad. It has much more angst & realism. The stories have many layers to it and it is difficult to predict the end outcome. Every person has so many shades that you will get engrossed if you enjoy family drama.
What I like about these movies is it gives a peek into life in Tehran or some other smaller town in Iran. Our knowledge about Iran is very peripheral - war ridden, fanatic, women not treated well and people don’t have freedom. All of it is true but then how does life go on in these countries, what does a family dream of here, how do they live together & celebrate things. It gives a glimpse of social fibre. I like their language (farsi or persian) which to me sounds very sweet and also they all come together during their meals - putting all their foods in the centre and sharing the food. It has a very nice celebratory feel to it.
A Hero is in Amazon Prime, some qualified reviews below.
https://scroll.in/reel/1021369/a-hero-review-an-astutely-observed-portrait-of-honesty-and-cynicism
Day 11: 200 words/day challenge. 504 words.
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