An Introduction to Iranian Film
October 25, 2002 | DURHAM, NC -- Many entertaining and critically acclaimed Iranian films are now distributed in Western countries, including the United States. Here are brief descriptions of the work of some of Iran's top contemporary directors, followed by a listing of some of their best films. This recommended viewing list was provided by Negar Mottahedeh, assistant professor in the Duke University Program in Literature and scholar of Iranian cinema.
Director: Abbas Kiarostami
Kiarostami's films generally contemplate the question of cinema and its relation to everyday life and fiction. "Close-up" raises this question emphatically by following a character who, in his real life, has impersonated the populist filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf.
Many of Kiarostami's other films, such as "Through the Olive Trees," "And Life Goes On," and "The Wind Will Carry Us" place the process of filmmaking in the context of exoticized, fantastical, primitive villages, where representational power-dynamics between the urban/rural and national/global are worked through.
Recommended films:
"Close-up" (1990)
"Through the Olive Trees" (1994)
"And Life Goes On" (1992)
"Taste of Cherry" (1997)
"The Wind Will Carry Us" (1999)
"Ten" (2002)
Director: Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Makhmalbaf is a filmmaker who blossomed after the Islamic Revolution, using the camera as a tool for social criticism. His films, such as "Time of Innocence," then went on to reflect on the role of, and the fascination with, film in Iran in the 1980s and early '90s. His later films formulate the question of the national in cinema's relation to indigenous arts and crafts.
Recommended films:
"The Cyclist" (1988)
"Gabbeh" (1996)
"The Silence" (1998)
"Time of Innocence/Bread and Flower" (1996)
Director: Bahram Bayzaie
Bahram Bayzaie's films can be characterized as works that attempt to shape a new cinematic language in the national context. His films draw on tropes in the national and indigenous arts to give shape to the new Post-Revolutionary cinema. He was one of the first filmmakers who paid specific attention to the role and the condition of Iranian women in relation to the cinematic medium. He is known for using women in powerful leading roles.
Recommended films:
"Bashu, The Little Stranger" (1986)
"The Travelers" (1992)
"Rabid Dogs" (2001)
Director: Majid Majidi
Majidi's films deal with the plight of the poor and the conditions of foreign laborers in Iran. He is acclaimed as a master of color and light.
Recommended films:
"Baran" (2001)
"The Color of Paradise" (1999)
Director: Rakhshan Bani-Etemad
Bani-Etemad is a documentary filmmaker who has taken up fiction film since the Islamic Revolution. Her films often deal with taboo topics: love triangles ("Nargess"), May-December relationships ("The Blue Veiled") and social and economic corruption in urban settings ("Under the Skin of the City").
Recommended films:
"Nargess" (1992)
"The Blue Veiled" (1995)
"Under the Skin of the City" (2001)
Director: Tahmineh Milani
Milani is an avowed feminist who focuses on the conditions of urban women and their everyday struggles at home, in the context of patriarchy and in the realm of politics.
Recommended films:
"Two Women" (1998)
"The Hidden Half" (2001)
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