Film Ads in Iran#28: Sam Peckinpah

aka Ride the High Country

Cinephilia Translated, Part 2

Last week I wrote about the phenomenon of translating film literature in Iran, a practice that covers anything from film criticism to academic books and papers. I tried to explain how readers in Iran are accustomed to reading the critique of a well-known Iranian writer, next to those of New York Times', Sight & Sound's or Film Comment's. I argued that the tradition has roots in an particularly Iranian pluralism and unlike the government of countries in which the original pieces have been produced, the juxtaposition of the translated and the original stages a dialogue, even if the authors really haven't planned as such.

Here I like to point to paradoxes (or even ironies) of translating film culture in Iran which I always have associated with the culture of opposition.

For an Iranian cinephile this trend basically means reading about a cinema which is not seen, cannot be seen (or at least, cannot easily be seen or accessed), hence the text substitutes the image. One reads about good or great films in which the text describes significant shots, the summary tells you about the story, the interviews tell you how these films are made, but the actual piece of work is largely absent from the picture. Hereby, the reader/cinephile's role begins: she/he has to re-imagine the film and mentally construct it and the film literature serves as the means of such reconstruction. Consequently, first comes the context and sub-text and then (if you're lucky enough) the Text. Mostly, the access to Text remains impossible and the context becomes the Text itself. Thus the people who portray films in written text, i.e. film writers and critics, become as significant as filmmaker. Under these circumstances, the role of a film critic is elevated to the second author of the film, an intermediary who, in a written text, recreates the filmic pleasures for the reader. In Iran, spectator is the reader. The image is read.

Cinephilia Translated, Part 1

Browsing through the pages of Iranian Film Monthly, a publication dedicated to half serious, Cahiers-ish, text and half industry-oriented (Iranian version of Hollywood Reporter, if you like) content, I arrived at a dossier, focusing on the films of the Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Then I figured that at least 13 odd articles (from short reviews to long interviews), from 13 different international writers and film critics have been translated into Farsi/Persian, of course, unauthorized. However, I must add, this has been an inseparable part of the film culture in Iran for the last 50 years.

Arguably, Iran is one of the few places on earth that you can buy the latest issue of a film magazine and in it read a broad range of writers, whether living or deceased, from four corners of the world. Juxtaposition of Andre Sarris, Claude Chabrol (the critic) and Laura Mulvey could be the most intriguing, and it's most likey to see it in an Iranian film journal. The aforementioned Nuri Bilge Ceylan dossier had put together articles by Geoff Andrew, Peter Bradshaw, Manohla Dargis, Wally Hammond, J. Hoberman, Ali Jaafar, Nick James, Liam Lacey, Michael Phillips, A.O. Scott, Jason Wood, Robin Wood and Deborah Young, seemingly, the Anglo-American tendencies surpassing those of Francophile's which was more popular in the pre-revolutionary country. 

Edinburgh Video Interviews

Edinburgh © Ehsan Khoshbakht

Last June I was a guest in Edinburgh, attending the Edinburgh International Film Festival. One morning I borrowed Mark Cousins' flip camera and made some interviews, two of which are now live on Fandor's Keyframe.

1

David Cairns’ and Paul Duane’s ‘J’accuse’: Cairns and Duane attempt to set the record straight regarding the Dreyfus of early French cinema, Bernard Natan. Watch the interview here.

2

Mark Cousins, in Perpetual Motion: Catching up with the road-tripping, time-traveling, soul-searching Mark Cousins as A Story of Children and Film plays Cambridge. The interview, here.

She Thinks She Is Liz Taylor!

مروري بر كارنامۀ او

خيال مي‌كنه اليزابت تيلوره!

احسان خوش‌بخت

او هشت بار ازدواج كرده كه دو بارش با يك مرد بوده است. لباس‌ها و مدل موهايش در هر فيلم تا ماه‌ها روي جلد و صفحات وسطِ مجله‌ها دوام مي‌آورد. با همه نوع آدم مشهوري ديده مي‌شد. رسانه‌ها از شهرت او تنور خودشان را گرم نگه مي‌داشتند و خود او با دامن زدن به بازي‌ها و افسانه‌هاي دور و برش دشواري‌ پيدا كردن نقش‌هاي تازه براي فيزيكي كه از زيبايي بي نقص به پيري و چاقي زودهنگام مبدل شده بود را پشت سرمي‌گذاشت. اما او جداي از اليزابت تيلور بودن كه از 1942 (مهاجرت خانواده‌اش از لندن به آمريكا به خاطر بمباران‌ها) تا اوايل قرن بيست و يكم (آخرين بار به شكلي گسترده بازي يك دقيقه‌اي او در ويدئوكليپي از التون جان ديده شد) ادامه پيدا كرد، بازيگري توانا و يكي از مهم‌ترين ستاره‌هاي تاريخ سينما بود كه نقشش را مي‌توان هم‌چون پلي دانست كه تصوير فريبنده ستاره آرماني زن در سينماي كلاسيك بعد از جنگ را به تصويري پرتضاد و تجديدنظرطلبانه از زنانگي – هرچند در خيلي از مواقع هم چنان اسير كليشه‌هاي روز – پيوند مي‌دهد. هنوز هم در خانه‌هاي ايراني دختر پرفيس و افاده را با جمله‌اي اين چنيني سرزنش مي‌كنند: «خيال مي‌كنه اليزابت تيلوره!» (بعضي‌ها در اين قياسِ حاكي از نكوهش سوفيا لورن را ترجيح مي‌دهند)

Foreign Killers, Native Killers

Bird on a Wire (Tony Palmer, 1974) - Cinematography by Les Young

Notes On 3D: Adieu au langage

سينما از زمان برادران لومير سه‌بعدي بوده است

خداحافظي با زبانْ به صورت سه‌بعدي

احسان خوش‌بخت

مشكل بزرگ نوشتن دربارۀ سينماي سه بعدي اين است كه به جز رويكرد فني/اقتصادي و مختصري اشارات تاريخي، دشوار است يا به طور دقيق‌تر هنوز زود است كه دربارۀ تأثيرات زيبايي‌شناسي آن حرف زد و اگر نخواهيم دربارۀ زيبايي‌شناسي سخن بگوييم، مگر ما تاجر و دانشمنديم كه دربارۀ بخش‌هاي ديگرش اظهار نظر كنيم؟ مثل اين است كه كسي در دل سال 1929 و در شرايطي كه هنوز فيلم‌هاي صامت ساخته مي‌شدند و تلاش‌هاي ناطق معمولاً خام‌دستانه بودند بخواهد جمع‌بندي روشني از تأثير صدا در سينما ارائه دهد. نتيجه چنين تلاشي مي‌تواند بي‌حاصل و مأيوس‌كننده باشد.

آمدن صدا، روايت سينمايي كه در حوالي سال 1926 به كمالي وراي تصور رسيده بود را براي مدتي بردۀ تكنولوژي كرد. مبارزۀ سال‌ها آخر دهۀ 1920 در سينما مبارزۀ بين آينده‌نگري منفعت‌طلبانۀ سرمايه‌داري با گذشته‌دوستي قدرشناسانه و كمال‌طلبانۀ هنر بود. اما از آن جا كه سينما هنر موازنه است بين اين دو گرايش تاريخي توافقي حاصل شد كه نتيجه‌اش ساخته شدن دور تازه‌اي از فيلم‌هاي خلاقانه در مديومِ سينماي ناطق بود؛ فيلم‌هايي كه دوباره قدرت استوديوها و تسلط اقتصادي‌شان بر سينما را تحكيم كردند.

The Essay Film - A Manifesto by Mark Cousins

In the last two years I have made three essay films – What is This Film Called Love?, A Story of Children and Film, and Here be Dragons. In the next year, I will make two more – I am Belfast and Stockholm My Love.

In making these, and watching many more – by Anand Patwardhan and Agnes Varda, for example – and after reading Philip Lopate’s book on the essay, I started to make a mental list of the elements of, and the principles behind, essay films. This list is a kind of manifesto.

1

A fiction film is a bubble. An essay film bursts it.

2

An essay film takes an idea for a walk.

3

Essay films are visual thinking.

4

Essay films reverse film production: the images come first, the script, last.

5

Filming an essay is gathering, like a carpenter gathers wood.

6

A fiction film is a car, an essay film is a bike; it can nip up an alleyway, you can feel the wind in its hair.

7

A road movie has outer movement, an essay film has inner movement.

8

An essay film is the opposite of fly on the wall.

9

An essay film can go anywhere, and should.

10

Two essay films should be made every year. Why? Because, after F for Fake, Orson Welles said this to Henry Jaglom during lunch at Ma Maison: “I could have made an essay film – two of ‘em a year, you see. On different subjects. Various variations of that form.”

11

Commentary is to the essay film, what dance is to the musical.

12

All essay films would be improved by a clip of Dietrich (see Marcel Ophuls).

13

An essay film cannot create the atmosphere of Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard;

A fiction film cannot explain that atmosphere.

14

Even Hollywood makes essay films – look at DW Griffith’s Intolerance.

15

Essay films are what Astruc dreamt of.

16

Digital had made Astruc’s dream come true.

Film Ads in Iran, Part 16: Dassin

August Stairs

In descending order
Dracula (Tod Browning, 1931)
The Perfume of the Lady in Black (Francesco Barilli, 1974)
Capriccio all'Italiana (Mauro Bolognini, Mario Monicelli, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Steno, Pino Zac, Franco Rossi, 1968)
Célestine... bonne à tout faire (Jesús Franco, 1974)

Night Trains: BFI Mediatheque

photo: Ehsan Khoshbakht

اولين مقاله از بخش فعلاً متوقف شدۀ «قطارهاي شبانه» كه براي ماهنامه 24 دربارۀ فيلم ديدن در قرن بيست و يكم نوشتم. موضوع اين صفحه، گزارش‌ها و يادداشت‌هايي دربارۀ تدوام فرهنگ سينما در هزارۀ سوم و صور تازۀ آن است كه امكاناتِ بيشتري را در اختيار ما قرار داده. شرح مشاهدات از مكان‌ها و فضاها، فيلم ديدن‌ها و آدم‌هايي است كه كارشان فيلم ديدن و مشاهده كردن است. عنوان در واقع نقل قولي از فرانسوا تروفوست كه مي‌گويد «فيلم‌ها مثل قطارهايند، در شب.» اما از آن‌جا كه حالا مسافركش‌هاي خط هفت‌تير-بازار هم تروفو quote مي‌كنند به سختي بتوان آن را عنواني خلاقانه توصيف كرد.

مدياتِك: همۀ فيلم‌ها، همۀ مردم

راه‌هاي دسترسي سينمادوستان و محققان به فيلم‌ها تغييراتي باورنكردني كرده است كه بيشترش را مي‌توان در جهت خير و براي تسهيل رابطۀ ميان تماشاگر و دنياي سينما دانست. با آن‌كه عرضۀ فيلم‌ها به روي نوارهاي وي‌اچ‌اس و كمي بعد دي‌وي‌دي درهاي زيادي را براي بازبيني آثار سينمايي فراهم كرد، اما هم‌چنان عناوين ارئه شده محدود، و دسترسي به آن‌ها دشوار بود. درست است كه براي تماشاي فيلم‌هاي مشهور اورسن ولز هرگز مشكلي وجود نداشت، اما تصور كنيد براي ديدن داستان جاويد (1968)، فيلمي كه ولز براي تلويزيون فرانسه ساخت، تنها نسخۀ دي‌وي‌وي فيلم در ايتاليا منتشر شده بود، آن‌هم احتمالاً بدون زيرنويس انگليسي و تازه اگر كسي مي‌توانست نسخه‌اي از آن را تهيه كند بايد براي مشكل زبان، و در آن اوايل تفاوت بين region هاي مختلف دي‌وي‌وي‌ در دستگاه‌هاي مختلف مي‌كرد راه حلي پيدا مي‌كرد. حالا با اينترنت فيلم‌هاي بيشتري را مي‌توان ديد و وقت و پول كمتري را هدر داد، اما باز هم بسياري از فيلم‌ها در هيچ شكل رسمي و غيررسمي قابل رديابي نيستند. تصور كنيد كه شما به هر دليل – براي نوشتن يك مقاله، يا از سر عشق به يك كارگردان يا يك موضوع خاص – قصد ديدن مجموعه‌اي مشخص از فيلم‌ها را داريد. در اين حال چه بايد كرد؟

Film Ads In Iran#27: Elia Kazan

Print the Fact!

William Witney is a director whose films have given me hours of uncomplicated pleasure. I've always been a great defender of his directorship, especially in movie serials he made in collaboration with John English, among which Adventures of Captain Marvel, probably their most famous work, is a cinematic prelude to all Indiana Jones actioners and even late Fritz Lang adventure films. That's why I encouraged the editor of the first encyclopedia of film directors in Farsi/Persian to include Witney/English among his 1000 chosen names for the book. Convinced by my arguments about the importance of this duo in establishing high standards for low-budget action films, the editor asked me to write the entry myself which I immediately accepted.

William Witney [source: Vimeo]

During the process of researching and writing I learned that Witney is a favorite of Quentin Tarantino and it didn't surprise me. On the contrary, I saw that the exploitative, fast-paced and one-dimensional films of two directors can correspond very well. But recently, after watching Django Unchained, which I loathed, I read Kent Jones' response to a Tarantino interview which showed to me the superstar director of Django has been carried away by his assessment of Witney as the most democratic Western maker, inasmuch as to bash John Ford as someone very un-Witney.

London Critical Theory Summer School: Slavoj Žižek

Soundtrack Mix, 1-6

ميكس ساوندترك، قسمت اول تا ششم

Miles Ahead

آسانسور، جاز و شبي زمستاني

يك آمريكايي (با يك ترومپت) در پاريس

احسان خوش‌بخت

قبل از هرچيز، قبل از لويي مال و حتي قبل از ژن مورو، مايلز ديويس است كه آسانسور به سوي سكوي اعدام را راه مي‌اندازد، يا در واقع آن را، و زمان را، براي موريس رونه و ما متوقف مي‌كند. اولين نُت مايلز روي تاريكي پرده سينما شنيده مي‌شود و بعد نماي آيريسي مثل فيلم‌هاي صامت از چشم‌هاي ژان مورو به كلوزآپي از او در كيوسك تلفن باز مي‌شود. اما حتي بازترين نماي اين عنوان‌بندي هم نشاني از حصر و تنهايي دارد. دريغ از ديده شدنِ حتي گوشي تلفن؛ همه چيز در جهت خيره‌شدن و ستودن مورو سامان يافته. تكرارِ je t'aime كه از هر دو سو گفته مي‌شود مثل نت‌هاي مكمل موسيقي فيلم، سازي مضاعف، عمل مي‌كند. اين آغاز نسخۀ اسپانياييِ آسانسور است كه از نسخۀ اصلي زودتر موسيقي را آغاز مي‌كند (در نسخۀ اصلي، موسيقي بعد از باز شدن نما و كات به موريس رنه مي‌آيد). موسيقي ترومپت‌نواز، آهنگساز و رهبر اركستر سياه‌پوست آمريكايي، مايلز ديويس (1991-1926) ، براي اين فيلم اثري است رمزآميز، محزون، شاعرانه و تكرار نشده در تاريخِ سينما. 

The Pre-Truffaut Jean-Pierre Léaud

It is widely known and accepted that it was François Truffaut who discovered Jean-Pierre Léaud and gave him the role of the rebel kid in Les quatre cents coups [The 400 Blows]. However, this is far from being true, because just a year before Truffaut's groundbreaking and Cocteau-backed premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, Léaud has appeared in the French swashbuckler film La Tour prends garde! (Georges Lampin, 1958), starring Cocteau's lover, Jean Marais.

In this small but unforgettable role, Léaud's jaunty features, his involvement in adult's world and his hunger for an early maturity is well-manifested. Naturally this 14 year-old kid caught monsieur Truffaut's attention and the rest is history.

Film Ads in Iran#22: Richard Fleischer

Cyrus’ Awakening (1974): A Documentary by Enrique Meneses

Today we have a guest blogger, writing about a documentary on Iran from the 1970s. Our guest is Dr. Lidia Merás and the subject, Cyrus’ Awakening [watch here], a film made by her former neighbor and the renowned journalist Enrique Meneses:


Old school journalist Enrique Meneses, the person behind the famous pictures of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro in Sierra Maestra (1958), visited Iran at least four times. The first visit was in 1958, after being expelled from Iraq following King Faisal II’s assassination. He returned in 1974 commissioned by Spanish Public television to make a reportage for the memorable series ‘Los reporteros’ [The reporters, TVE1].

Cyrus’ Awakening gives an in-sight on contemporary Iran in the aftermath of the oil-fueled ‘Green revolution’. Meneses interviewed Mohamed Reza Pahleví and the empress Farah Diba who were engaged in modernizing of the country (banning polygamy, granting women with the same rights than men and promoting contemporary art, among other contributions). After an historic introduction to Persia, the ancient name for Iran, the film outlines the country’s economy agenda and political alliances as well as some aspects on mass media, higher education, folklore, craftsmanship and religion…all in thirty minutes. Interestingly enough, Meneses explains some key ideas on Zoroastrian beliefs, whereas Shiite Islam is never mentioned.

Revisiting 5 Favorite Jazz Films with Comics

If cinema itself has been freewheeling in its use and abuse of other art forms to show what influential critic Raymond Durgnat calls “the impossible,” why, when it comes to talking about films, should we be limited to literary forms of expression?

That’s the question illustrator and co-author Naiel Ibarrola and I asked ourselves before launching into a new form of film criticism using the comic format to tell our alternative history of cinema, a project that’s occupied us since last year.

The great thing about comics, as a medium, is the endless freedom you have in playing with elements of time and space, building up scenes, putting people in one place talking to each other, where in reality they had been thousands of miles away and never spoken the same language. Hence the comic, like cinema, becomes the art of the impossible. The comic imitates the cinema. So far, we have used the illustrations to show how a Raoul Walsh composition is realized; how an imaginary conversation between Yasujiro Ozu and Fritz Lang takes place in a dingy French café; and to fulfill many other cinephilic fantasies through ideas, colors and drawings. Now we want to share some of them with you.

SEE ILLUSTRATIONS AND READ THE ARTICLE HERE

Poetics of Space: Roeg's (In)Significance

Insignificance (Nicolas Roeg, 1985)

Survival of the Unfit

CINEPHILIA & REVOLUTION

A familiar practice in Persian film literature is that of the “cinematic memoir”—personal reminiscences of the film culture of pre-Revolutionary Iran.

Bolstered by a nostalgic tone, these autobiographical texts deal with the themes of childhood, adolescence and encounters with cinema in a Westernized Iran. The authors of such memoirs frequently depict Iran as a haven for cinephiles. Considering the number of films that were shown in pre-Revolutionary Iran and the diversity of their origins, this may be taken as an accurate characterization.

Read the full article here

Women Cinema and the Problem of Representation

فیلم‌سازی زنان و مسأله بازنمایی

يك بررسي تاريخي از جنبش سينماي زنان

گردآوري شده توسط كتايون يوسفي

یکی از اولین نمونه‌های توجه جنبش زنان به رسانه سینما کتابی بود که در 1970 منتشر شد با نام «پیوندِ خواهری محکم است». این کتاب 600 صفحه‌ای که مجموعه‌ای از اسناد تاریخی و مهم‌ترین مقالات فعالان جنبش آزادی‌خواهی زنان را گرد آورده بود لیستی به انتهای خود ضمیمه داشت از فیلم‌هایی که به خاطر توجه به مشکلات زنان یا جامعۀ مشکل‌ساز برای زنان تماشایشان توصیه می‌شد. اين مجلد بهانه‌اي شد تا در طول پنج-شش سال بعد از انتشارش انواع فستیوال‌ها، کتاب‌ها و مجلات با موضوع سینما و زنان در بریتانیا و آمریکا یکی پس از دیگری ظاهر شوند: 1971، تاسیس گروه فیلم زنان لندن؛ 1972 برگزاری جشنواره فیلم زنان در نیویورک و دو ماه بعد بخشی مختص زنان در جشنواره فیلم ادینبُرو؛ همچنین تأسیس مجله آمریکاییِ «فیلم و زنان»، 1973 فستیوال فیلم زنان در تورنتو و واشنگتن و دورۀ «فیلم زنان» در انستیتوی فیلم بریتانیا. اولین کتاب در این حوزه در 1973 توسط مارجوری روزن با نام «ونوس پاپکورنی» منتشر شدکه تصویر ارائه شده از زنان در هالیوود را با آنچه در واقعیتِ جامعه می‌گذشت مقایسه کرد. به دنبال آن در 1974«از تکریم تا تجاوز» (مالی هسکل) و «زنان و مسئلۀ جنسیت آن‌ها در فیلمِ امروز» (جون ملن) آمدند. هر سه این کتاب‌ها در آمریکا و توسط نویسندگان آمریکایی نوشته شدند و رویکردی جامعه‌شناختی به این مسأله داشتند؛ به این معنی که سینما را آینه‌ای از یک جامعه در حال تغییر می‌دانستند؛ البته آینه‌ای پر از تحریف که به بهانه «واقع‌گریزی» تصویری دروغ از شرایط اجتماعی نشان می‌داد و زنان را تشویق می‌کرد که با تصاویری غلط همذات‌پنداری کنند.

Gravity: A Space Oddity

Gravity: A Space Oddity
By Kiomars Vejdani 

GRAVITY
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
USA/United Kingdom 2013


We have direct experience of gravity, as it is normally known to us, for only a few moments in the film when protagonist’s feet comes into firm contact with the ground. For the rest of the film our experience of it is indirect. We feel the effect of gravity through its absence, or to be more precise through zero gravity as it exists in outer space.

Alfonso Cuaron uses his creative skill and mastery of form to produce such a space. He makes audience share the experience of being in space. Cuaron’s work is one of the best example of use of  3D as part of cinematic language. His control of elements and attention to details is noticeable at every moment of the film. In this weightless world everything, people as well as objects, float continuously. People's dreamlike movement  is choreographed with the beauty of a ballet. (The creation of such a space is the result of collaboration between Cuaron and his visual effect supervisor Tim Webber.) Normal ways of frame composition is discarded. People are framed from every possible angle, not only the standard upright one, but also diagonal, horizontal, or even upside down as required by the situation. Camera with its continuous movement follows people and objects in the frame, hovers around them, changing its perspective from moment to moment. (In this respect Cuaron is greatly helped by his director of photography Emanuel Lubezki).

Cuaron conveys the feeling of infinity of space through his long takes. (The first shot of the film lasts more than twelve minutes.) In these long takes patterns within the frame change non-stop in a kaleidoscopic way with objects and images replacing one another. Darkness of space makes way for brightness of planet earth before a space station enters the frame. As it gets closer we see a tiny figure of a man in a long shot. The man gradually gets closer till we have his face in a close up, before camera leaves him behind and continues with its hovering. The shot only terminates when a cut is dramatically necessary. In this ever changing scenery only one factor remains constant and that is the beauty of images, from sunrise on planet earth to star studded dark sky. The outer space has never been more beautiful.

Cuaron uses the vast expanse of universe as a backdrop for his human drama. More than realistic presentation of outer space he pays attention to people in their isolation inside the space station. In this respect his film reminds us of John Carpenter’s Dark Star or for that matter David Bowie's Space Oddity.

Cuaron’s priority goes to presenting the world of his protagonist Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock in the performance of her career). Cuaron gives us her full range of thoughts and feelings at every moment of the film, from her initial  insecurity and lack of self confidence, her panic when faced with life threatening  elements, her dependence on her colleague, mentor and protector Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), the warmth of their friendship, her sorrows of  bereavement, old ones (death of her child) as well as new ones, her frustration and anger when  facing  insurmountable problems, her despair of facing approaching death, her mental confusion due to lack of oxygen, and finally her courage to fight back.

Cuaron follows with single mindedness her progress and evolution to the level of strength enabling her to deal with her inner problems (related to the death of her daughter) as well as fighting against the dangers in space to save her own  life. In pursue of his aim Cuaron is prepared to sacrifice everything else. (Not very often a filmmaker kills his box office star within the first half an hour of the film.)

I do not think I will give away much of the plot if I say it is the story of survival. It is the dramatic and thematic requirement of the film that Stone should make it home, and audience expects her to do so from the word go.

Our first impression of space is its calmness and serenity. When Ryan Stone is asked what she likes most about space she says "It is so peaceful." But this peacefulness is deceptive as there is threatening side to space which could easily cost lives. Cuaron conveys the horror of  such a death at the moment when Stone suddenly comes face to face with the dead body of an astronaut  inside the broken space ship. Death could occur  in a violent way such as being hit by  a floating  object  including debris of broken space ships ( as shown by the image of  the astronaut with his face completely smashed behind his broken helmet). Or it could be less drastic (but not necessarily less horrifying) like being separated from space ship and drifting away until the supply of oxygen runs out.

Ryan Stone faces both of these dangers. She finds herself in the way of floating debris and is nearly hit by them. Also at one stage she almost misses her station, only manages to hold on to it  and get into her capsule  with great difficulty  and after a hard struggle. She only begins to find her strength after she fails to save her colleague and has to accept the situations as unavoidable if not necessary (in Matt's words she has "to learn to let go"). She realises that from now on she has only to rely on herself . As her self confidence builds up she finds courage and ability to cope with whatever problem and obstacle comes her way.

In parallel with increase in the level of her courage and determination, the film's tempo also gets faster. The tempo reaches its maximum at the climax of the film coinciding with the moment of entering the earth’s atmosphere, with breath taking image of capsule and debris aflame running in parallel above the surface of the earth.

For all the grandeur and splendour of outer space the priority of Cuaron’s affection goes for the little planet earth and the life that exists on it. He shows his love of life with the shot of a frog swimming in the water. He conveys his belief in the value of planet as home through his protagonist grasping firmly and endearingly a fistful of wet sand on the beach. Ryan Stone achieves what is most values by Cuaron and he celebrates her victory with the low angle upright shot of her in the most powerful state.

But there is still one stage left to complete the film’s theme. When Ryan was at the depth of her despair and had given up all hope of survival, Matt suddenly (and unrealistically) enters her capsule, teaches her how to solve her problem, and gives hope to live and encouragement to finish the journey. Matt’s apparition can be interpreted in two ways. We can see him as Ryan’s hallucination and part of her mental confusion. Or we can decide that he has a spiritual reality existing as Ryan’s guardian angel. It seems Cuaron has chosen the spiritual explanation by making his protagonist believe in life existence after death. In Ryan's mind Matt has returned to help her to find her way home. She has continued dialogue with Matt during the rest of the journey. (Incidentally this line of thought and belief helps Ryan to overcome the bereavement of loss of her daughter.)

In the final stages the film takes on a religious tone. Cuaron conveys this and his belief in God with a religious picture in Russian spaceship and statue of Buddha in the Chinese one. But above all in Ryan's belief in a power superior to hers, even after all the courage and determination she has shown to reach her destination. Her whisper of "thank you" on the beach is the best proof of it.


                           

Iran (1971), a film by Claude Lelouch

An awful piece of travelogue whose loose narrative slowly takes shape from various rip-offs from Iran-related (or unrelated) sources such as Agnes Varda, Parviz Kimiavi, Richard Brooks and most importantly Lelouch's fellow countryman, Albert Lamorisse and his Le Vent des amoureux.

Cine-Lunar Notes

ماه و سينما

جدای از این که ماه موضوع هزاران شعر و آواز عاشقانه و غیر عاشقانه بوده، در سینما درآمدن قرص ماه باعث می شد تا لان چینی جونیِر نجیب و آرام به مرد گرگ‌نما بدل شود و از آن پیش‌تر لوييس بونيوئل در سگ آندلسی در یکی از مشهور ترین کات‌های تاریخ سینما، بریدن چشم را به نمایی از ماه که به زیر ابر می‌رود «برش» داد. پرواز ای تی با دوچرخه از مقابل ماه، در سال‌های 1980 و هم‌زمان با طرح «جنگ ستارگان» ریگان دل بچه‌ها را می بُرد. قبل از آن، در بيستم جولاي 1969، آپولو 11 اولي سفينه سرنشين‌داري بود كه بر روی خاک مردۀ آن کرۀ خوش سیما نشست، يه به روايت تئوريِ توطئه، تظاهر كرد كه روي ماه نشسته است.

Tetro = Sword + Fish

يادداشتي درباره تتروي فرانسيس فورد كاپولا: اره + ماهي

تترو ملودرام خانوادگي فرانسيس فورد كاپولا اين تصور را به بيننده مي‌دهد كه گنگسترهاي پدرخوانده‌ خيلي بيش‌تر از آدم‌هاي عادي در حفظ بنيان‌هاي خانواده موفق بوده‌اند. به شكلي متناقض، هنوز خانواده پدرخوانده كامل‌ترين زندگي خانوادگي‌اي است كه كاپولا روي پرده تصوير كرده. در پدرخواندۀ دوم، كشتن برادر براي كاپولا اوج تراژدي كورلئونه‌ها بود و در مكالمه، تنهايي جين هكمنِ بي‌خانواده، سرآغازي بر پارانويا، وحشت و فروپاشي‌اش. خانوادۀ تترو، يا شبحي كه از آن در فيلم مي‌بينيم، جايي بين اين دو قرار دارد: نه در شكل سنتي‌اش وجود دارد و نه كاملاً محو شده است. اما بيان اين نكته به تنهايي چه اهميتي دارد، وقتي همه از آن خبر داريم و بيشترمان هم جايي در همين ميان گير افتاده‌ايم. به‌خصوص وقتي كاپولا براي فراتر رفتن از اين سطح تلاش چنداني نمي‌كند يا اين كه براي رسيدن به پاسخي در چهارچوب دنياي خودش به قواعد ملودرام‌هاي دهه 1940 متوسل مي‌شود.

May Stairs

The Third Man

After a long interval, we will ascend and descend cinematic stairs again and will hide in the dark corners of the staircases which generate our dreams and nightmares. Another round of celebrating the most vital vertical element of the movies and their spaces. 

Previous posts include: Insane stairs, Sirk stairs, Stairways to hell, Stairs and mirrors, Reincarnation of stairs, High society stairs, Metaphysical stairs, Dialectical stairs, Capra stairs, Stairways to heaven, Poetics of space: stairs.

CinemaEma Soundtrack Mix#1

آن‌چه خواهيد شنيد بخش اول از پروژه‌اي تازه است براي سايت سينماي ما كه هدفش ارائه «ميكس»‌هاي مختلف از موسيقي فيلم در تاريخ سينماست. هدفم اين است كه تا جاي ممكن تنوع در ژانرهاي موسيقي و كشورها و سينماهايي كه از آن‌ها كارهايي را انتخاب مي‌كنم حفظ شود. به عنوان مثال در اين قسمت از فرانسه، آمريكا، چك و ايتاليا موسيقي فيلم‌هايي را خواهيد شنيد كه بين سال‌هاي 1937 تا 2012 ضبط شده‌اند و تنوعي دارند به گستردگي فاصلۀ بين موسيقي فانكي جي جي جانسن در خيابان 110 تا كارهاي كلاسيك برنارد هرمن.

Film Ads in Iran#17: Vincente Minnelli

Grémillon: Documents

The Edinburgh Film Festival has announced a tribute to French director Jean Grémillon whose films was the subject of a hugely revealing retrospective at Il Cinema Ritrovato (Bologna, 2012), and later a three DVD boxed-set of the major films was released by Criterion.

Last July, shortly after the retrospective in Bologna, I updated one of my older essays and posted on MUBI Notebook which can be accessed here. During the research process for that piece and other Grémillon articles (mostly written in Farsi/Persian) I collected some documents, mostly covering the reception of his films in English language countries.

Here, you have uploads of some of those documents and I hope in future I can add more scans and other assorted materials to this blog that might help any Grémillon researcher or aficionado. I hope the Edinburgh revival puts this exceptional, poetic filmmaker in the place he truly deserves and sheds light on one of the most neglected careers in history of French cinema that in some respects seems as accomplished as those of Renoir's and Duvivier's.

Stella Stevens on Sam Peckinpah

در شمارۀ 346 ماهنامۀ فيلم، ويژۀ بهار 1385، مجموعه‌اي كه براي ماه‌هاي مديد مشغول تدارك آن بودم و دومين مجموعه‌ام دربارۀ يك فيلم‌ساز (بعد از ژاك تاتي) منتشر شد و ركورد حجم پرونده‌هاي ماهنامۀ فيلم را با اختصاص يافتن پنجاه صفحه به آن شكست: سام پكين‌پا!

به جز نوشتن دربارۀ تك‌تك فيلم‌ها و همكاران پكين‌پا و زندگي او و آثارش و ترجمه سه يا چهار مقاله (كه شامل آثار خوبي از جيمز كيتسز و پالين كيل مي‌شد)، مقاله انتخابي من نقدي تحليلي بر اولين فيلم پكين‌پا همراهان مرگ‌بار بود.

بقيه مطالب را نويسندگان ماهنامۀ فيلم نوشتند كه من دخالتي در انتخاب آن‌ها نداشتم و به جز مقالۀ نيما حسني‌نسب دربارۀ فيلم گريز كه حدود دو سال قبل از آن پرونده به خواهش من براي يك برنامۀ مرور بر آثار پكين‌پا در دانشگاه فردوسي مشهد نوشته شده بود، باقي مطالب (با نوشته‌هايي از ايرج كريمي، هوشنگ گلمكاني، حميدرضا صدر، حسين معززي‌نيا و ديگران) توسط هوشنگ گلمكاني گردآوري شد.

هيچ شخص ديگري به جز من و گلمكاني در تداركات چند ماهه آن مجموعه نقشي نداشت. اما مانند فيلم‌هاي پكين‌پا اجساد قربانيانِ يك كشتار هميشه به دست لاشخورهايي مي‌افتند كه بعد از فرو نشستن غبار به مسلخ مي‌رسند و در اين دنياي خارج از قاعده مرزي بين توهم و واقعيت براي اين هميشه ديررسيدگان وجود ندارد.

تا به حال دو مدرك از اين مجموعه در اين جا منتشر شده است (يادداشتي دربارۀ اين گروه خشن و مقاله‌اي از پالين كيل) و به مرور بخش‌هاي ديگري از آن را منتشر مي‌كنم كه با هم حجمي برابر با يك كتاب دارد.

گفت‌وگو با استلا استيونس دربارۀ سام پكين‌پا

هر ده سال يك بار مجلة سايت‌اند‌ساند از فيلمسازها و منتقدان دربارة بهترين فيلم‌هاي عمرشان نظرسنجي مي‌كند. در 1992 دو نفر، من [توني ماكلين] و يك منتقد ژاپني، حماسة كيبل هوگ را در فهرست‌مان جاي داده بوديم. اما ظاهراً شما در زمان ساخت فيلم با سام پكين‌پا مشكلاتي داشتيد؟

Houshang Kavousi by Ahmad Amini

عكس از ميترا محاسني

در شمارۀ اردیبهشتِ ماهنامۀ فیلم، احمدامینی مقاله‌ای کوتاه و فراموش‌نشدنی نوشته دربارۀ دکتر امیرهوشنگ کاوُسی، که در دورۀ دانشجویی استاد او بوده است. دو سه قسمت از مقاله به طور مشخص تأثیر عجیبی برمن گذاشت و به احترام عمیقی که برای هوشنگ کاوُسی قائل بودم بیش از پیش افزود:

«پاییز سال ۱۳۵۱ در نخستین جلسه درس تاریخ سینمای رشته تولید مدرسه عالی تلویزیون و سینما، پس از سال‌ها آشنایی با نوشته‌های دکتر کاوسی، بالاخره او را دیدیم. سرحال و شیک و خوش روحیه و جدی و متین و آقا. با شور و علاقه خاصی درس می‌داد. حضور در کلاس، جزوه‌نویسی و توجه دقیق به جزییاتی که از فیلم‌های بزرگ تاریخ سینما بیان می‌کرد، اصلی‌ترین خواسته‌اش از دانشجویان بود. چنان از گریفیث و مورنا و مکس لندر و اشترو‌هایم و... با احترام یاد می‌کرد که گویی این‌ها خدایان دنیایش هستند. درس‌هایش را با خاطراتی شخصی درهم می‌آمیخت و این گونه بود که عشق همراه با خضوع و خشوع در معبد سینما را به ما می‌آموخت. از برخورد‌هایش با بزرگان سینما تعریف می‌کرد و دانش و اعتماد به نفس‌اش این همه را برایمان باورپذیر می‌کرد.»

Film Ads in Iran#21: Antonioni

L'eclisse (1962)

A Guide to Lloyd Bacon

"I see that the public gets action. Some others may use motion pictures as a vehicle for a psychological study. I haven't that patience." -- Lloyd Bacon

One of classical Hollywood's contract director with a solid craftsmanship and great sense of economic in execution, Lloyd Bacon, was a prolific man of action, comedy and other fast-paced Warner dramas for nearly four decades. He virtually made 100 films that regardless of their varied qualities always convey that swinging pace associated with Warner' "tough" pictures and beyond. If one carefully sieve a career of 100 films, she or he will definitely come out with five or more films for keeps. As in the Bacon's enduring filmography I found 42nd Street, Footlight Parade, Marked Woman, Brother Orchid, San Quentin, Moby Dick and the Invisible Stripes as examples of his great sense of timing, his eye for composition and flawless entertainment.

Lloyd Bacon's name usually evokes the memory of pre-code Hollywood and early talkies, as his best films were made during that era. However he is also one of the least exploitative figures of the pre-code films that might be mistaken for mediocrity. Aside from being one the best comedy/musical and action specialists on Warner lot, he was known for his good ability to guide actors, as some of the best films of Pat O’Brien, James Cagney and Ann Sheridan were tidily directed by Bacon.

John Ford in 12 Frames

فورد در دوازده نما: صف طويل خاكستري

The Long Gray Line

کارگردان: جان فورد؛ فیلم‌نامه: ادوارد هوپ؛ فیلم‌بردار: چارلز لاتون جونیور (و چارلز لنگ)؛ طراحان صحنه: رابرت پیترسون، فرانک تاتل. 1955، تکنی‌کالر، سینمااسکوپ ( نسبت 2.55 به 1)، 138 دقیقه، استودیوی کلمبیا. متوسط طول هر نما: 13 ثانیه. بازيگران: تايرون پاور (مارتين ماهر)، مورين اوهارا (مري اودانل)، دانالد كريسپ (پدر مارتين)، وارد باند (هرمان كوهلر).

***

صفِ طویلِ خاکستری اولين فيلم اسكوپ جان فورد و داستان نيم قرن از زندگي مارتين ماهر، مهاجر ايرلندي، در پادگان آموزشي «وست پوينت» است و ماجراي زندگي او را از ورودش به «وست پوينت» ، به ‌عنوان ظرف‌شور، تا دوران افسري، ازدواج، مربي‌گري و در نهايت جنگ جهاني دوم نشان مي‌دهد. اين فيلم كه يكي از تلخ‌ترين آثار فورد خوانده شده شايد تنها فيلم نظاميِ غير وسترنِ او باشد كه تضاد بين زندگي سربازان با فرصت‌طلبي سياست‌مداران را با صراحت كم‌سابقه و زباني گزنده روايت مي‌كند. در آن، تمام اجزاء واضح و حتي بديهي به نظر مي‌رسند (ارتش، خانواده و مسئوليت فردي) اما در واقع يكي از معدود فيلم‌هاي فورد است كه ريشه‌ها را زير سؤال مي‌برد؛ مرثيه‌اي است بر «روياي آمريكاييِ» يك ايرلنديِ كاتوليك؛ مرثيه‌اي است كه فورد براي خودش و ديگراني مثل خودش سروده است.

Film Ads In Iran#31: Elvis

Fun in Acapulco

I was born in a family of six with two sisters close to my age who naturally became my playmates and fellow expeditionary. We discovered many things together and among the things we innocently loved there was Elvis. We had few Elvis films on VHS, but our favorite was a long anthology film of his Hollywood career, assembled and edited by Andrew Salt. Yes, the place was Islamic Republic of Iran and the time, 1990s when the country was slowly recovering from the devastation of a war.

Elvis Presley films were shown in Persian-dubbed version in the pre-revolutionary Iran, but there is no indication that he was as popular in Iran as other places in the world. The above picture and two more below are scans of Elvis film ads in Iran from that period.

To conceive what a weird and sometimes confusing melting pot was the film culture in Iran, I draw your attention to two other films promoted on the first ad (above), one for screening of Jerry Lewis' Leave It Up (who was bigger than Elvis or anyone else in Iran) and the other, quite surrealistically, promoting the Russian version of Hamlet by Grigory Kozinetsev which is indeed a masterpiece.

It can be interpreted as a sign of apathy toward the rock 'n' roll star, as the aforementioned ad introduces Fun In Acapulco as the Ursula Andress' new film ("who caught the world's attention by Dr. No," the ad reads) rather than leaning on Elvis as the major box-office drive of the film.

In Memoriam: Les Blank (1935-2013)

Les Blank, a fascinating individual and director of some remarkably personal documentaries passed away yesterday. I hardly have anything to say about him, at least worthy of his long and adventurous career, since I knew his ouvre only sporadically. However, I hope the stream of obituaries following his death would serve the purpose of shedding light on the career of  the man "whose sly, sensuous and lyrical documentaries about regional music and a host of other idiosyncratic subjects, including Mardi Gras, gaptoothed women, garlic and the filmmaker Werner Herzog, were widely admired by critics and other filmmakers if not widely known by moviegoers."

Here, I'll draw your attention to one of Blank's very early films, which happens to be one of the best jazz films produced under the umbrella of independent, ciné-vérité movement of the 1960s. Les Blank made many films about music, including The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins (1968), of course if one doesn't mention incorporating jazz and blues music in his non-musical films. During five tireless decades of film-making, the portrait of Dizzy Gillespie stands out as probably one of Blank's most accomplished cinematographic discovery of music and musical ideas.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE