Conflict and Development in Iranian Film

153 Pages·2013·0.89 MB·English

by  A. A. Seyed-Gohrab, Kamran Talattof

IRANIAN IRANIAN
SERIES SERIES
The chapters in this volume explore the philosophical underpinnings and
cinematic techniques characteristic of Iranian film. Colectively, they show CONFLICT AND DEVELOPMENT
how the pervasive themes of Iranian cinema, such as martyrdom and war,
IN IRANIAN FILM
gender roles, and social policy issues have been addressed, and how
directors have approached them using a variety of techniques. Some
chapters outline the poetic and mystical dimensions of Abbas Kiarostami's
movies. Other chapters describe the effects of the Islamic Revolution on A.A. SEYED-GOHRAB & K. TALATTOF (EDS.)
codes of morality and their expression in film as well as on directors'
tactics in response to the new theocratic system.
Ali-Asghar Seyed-Gohrab is Associate Professor of Persian Literature and
Culture at Leiden University.
Kamran Talattof is Professor of Persian Language and Literature at the
University of Arizona.
'This book advances our critical understanding of Iranian cinema and is a
most welcome addition to the scholarly works available in the field.'
Nasrin Rahimieh, Professor of Comparative Literature, University of
California, Irvine.
WWW.LUP.NL
9 789087 281694
LE IDEN UNIVERS ITY PRESS
Conflict and Development in Iranian Film A.A. Seyed-Gohrab & K. Talattof (eds.)
Conflict and Development in
Iranian Film
Iranian Studies Series
The Iranian Studies Series publishes high-quality scholarship on various
aspects of Iranian civilisation, covering both contemporary and classical
cultures of the Persian cultural area. The contemporary Persian-speaking
area includes Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Central Asia, while classi-
cal societies using Persian as a literary and cultural language were located
in Anatolia, Caucasus, Central Asia and the Indo-Pakistani subcontinent.
The objective of the series is to foster studies of the literary, historical, reli-
gious and linguistic products in Iranian languages. In addition to research
monographs and reference works, the series publishes English-Persian criti-
cal text-editions of important texts. The series intends to publish resources
and original research and make them accessible to a wide audience.
Chief Editor:
A.A. Seyed-Gohrab (Leiden University)
Advisory Board of ISS:
F. Abdullaeva (University of Oxford)
G.R. van den Berg (Leiden University)
D.P. Brookshaw (Stanford University)
J.T.P. de Bruijn (Leiden University)
N. Chalisova (Russian State University of Moscow)
D. Davis (Ohio State University)
F.D. Lewis (University of Chicago)
L. Lewisohn (University of Exeter, UK)
S. McGlinn (Unaffiliated)
Ch. Melville (University of Cambridge)
D. Meneghini (University of Venice)
N. Pourjavady (University of Tehran)
Ch. Van Ruymbeke (University of Cambridge)
S. Sharma (Boston University)
K. Talattof (University of Arizona)
Z. Vesel (CNRS, Paris)
R. Zipoli (University of Venice)
Conflict and Development in
Iranian Film
A.A. Seyed-Gohrab & K. Talattof (eds.)
Leiden University Press
Cover design: Tarek Atrissi Design
Lay out: The DocWorkers, Almere
ISBN 978 90 8728 169 4
e-ISBN 978 94 0060 103 1 (pdf)
e-ISBN 978 94 0060 104 8 (ePub)
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© A.A. Seyed-Gohrab & K. Talattof / Leiden University Press, 2013
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved
above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written per-
mission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book
Content
Acknowledgements 7
Politics and Persistence: The Development of Iranian Film
Asghar Seyed-Gohrab & Kamran Talattof 9
The Sound of Frogs at Night: Kiarostami’s Philosophy of Cinema
Yasco Horsman 19
Sexuality and Cultural Change: The Presentation of Sex and Gender
in Pre- and Post-revolutionary Iranian Cinema
Kamran Talattof 31
Kiarostami’s Cinematic Poetry in Where is the Friend’s Home? and
The Wind will Carry Us
Farzana Marie Dyrud 49
Which Half is Hidden? The Public or the Private: An Analysis of
Milani’s The Hidden Half
Julie Ellison 63
Abbas Kiarostami and the Aesthetics of Ghazal
Khatereh Sheibani 77
Contemporary Liminal Encounters: Moving Beyond Traditional Plots
in Majidi’s Bârân
Omid Tofighian 103
Virtuous Heroines: A Mythical Reading of Female Protagonists in
Contemporary Iranian Television Serials
Niloofar Niknam 117
Marziyeh Meshkini’s The Day I Became a Woman
Asghar Seyed-Gohrab 135
Index 145
Acknowledgements
This collection of essays would not have come into being without the gen-
erous financial support of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and
Sciences (KNAW), the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research
(NWO) and Leiden University Centre for the Study of Islam and Society
(LUCIS) which enabled me to organize the international conference en-
titled From Pariah to the Pedestal: The Burgeoning of Iranian Cinema on
26 October 2009 at Leiden University. This conference was flanked by a
series of lectures and films screened from 7 September to mid-October
2009 in cooperation with Studium Generale of Leiden University, in the
person of Tilman Grünewald. The idea for this film festival emerged in a
conversation between Tilman Grünewald, Omid Tofighian and myself, and
Tilman Grünewald had an indispensable role in making it a reality. I would
like to express my gratitude to both Omid and Tilman for their enthusiasm
and scholarly urge to share scientific knowledge with a wide public.
Words of gratitude go to all the contributors to this volume, who have
shown extraordinary patience. Without the scholarly involvement of
Kamran Talattof, this book would not have its present form and contents.
His editorial experience and help smoothed the way. My gratitude goes to
my friend Sen McGlinn who read the book, editing much of the English,
and providing us with perceptive suggestions. I am also thankful for Helen
Richardson’s keenness to read the entire volume, double-checking the
English for any inconsistencies. I am also indebted to Dr. Johnny Cheung
who read my chapter and offered me several valuable suggestions. Last but
by no means least, I would like to thank Amin Ghodratzadeh who gener-
ated the index and read the first draft of this volume.
Leiden, 27 April 2012,
Asghar Seyed-Gohrab
Politics and Persistence: The Development of
Iranian Film
Asghar Seyed-Gohrab, Leiden University
Kamran Talattof, University of Arizona
Iranian film today is a vibrant aspect of Persian culture that has acquired a
place in the wider world. It is not surprising that Iranian film should have
received so much attention in the West in the last few decades, since this
powerful medium has been used to reflect almost every aspect of Persian
culture, including social, religious, and political issues, in an attractive
way. The development of Iranian film parallels the turbulent history of
modern Iran. In fact, without some understanding of Iranian history, one
cannot fully appreciate Iranian film.
The early history of the Iranian film industry is not well documented.
An 1896 documentary about Mozaffar al-Din Shah (fifth Qajar king of
Iran, reigned 1896-1907), made by Russikhân, an Anglo-Russian man liv-
ing in Iran, has been lost. Some scholars claim that the Shah’s official
photographer, Mirzâ Ebrâhim Khân, was in fact the first Persian to make
1
films, during the Shah’s journey to Europe in 1900.
The first cinema was opened in Iran in 1905 by a man named Sahhâf
Bâshi. Sahhâf Bâshi was severely criticized by the clergy, in part because
the cinema brought women, and depictions of them, into public spaces.
This was a controversial issue at the time, debated by both secular and reli-
gious intellectuals. At first, the cinema was open only to men, but later
special provisions were made for women in cinemas and, after several
2
more years, there were cinemas built just for women.
Gender segregation was so strict that female roles in Iranian films were
initially played by cross-dressing men, as was customary in a popular tradi-
3
tional form of Persian theatre, called ta’ziyya or passion plays. Indeed,
early Iranian cinema took many techniques from these passion plays. For
example, in silent movies, since many visitors were illiterate, a narrator
would walk around the cinema, telling the story.
The majority of films shown were comedies, imported from Russia and
elsewhere. Indigenous films were also made, but these have not been pre-
served. During Rezâ Shah’s reign in the first half of the 20th century, cin-
ema became an effective instrument for the regime, recording the Shah’s
coronation, his opening of a railway system, and several other moderniza-
tion projects. He had a considerable influence on Iranian cinema. Perhaps