IN WHICH JAFAR PANAHI CREATES A NEW ART FORM... "THIS IS NOT A FILM"

Ok, so you guys know about Jafar Panahi, right? He is one of the most successful and talented directors Iran has produced in our century. He’s in a tad bit of trouble right now…  See, Penahi is one of the large group of educated Iranians who are against what the current regime is doing. And he is vocal about it. For this reason, he has been prosecuted and his sentence was 6 years in prison and a 20 year ban on making films, writing scripts or giving interviews. Having been “shut down” a third of the way through the production of his latest film, at the time of the production of this… Let’s call it a documentary for now, he is in his home in Tehran awaiting the decision for his appeal. Panahi, not content with just throwing up his hands and giving up, made the documentary. It was then smuggled out of Iran on an I-phone hidden in a cake, just in time for the Cannes Film Festival.  I mean,  that smuggling story alone deserves a movie made about it I reckon, but I guess that’s for another time and place. Now, it’s a tad bit hard to describe, but let’s try and focus on the actual thing that was smuggled for now.

Panahi is, in essence, stuck in his home in Tehran. He cannot work… Or can he? He first starts off by trying to film himself. That doesn’t work. So he reaches out to a personal friend and documentary film maker, Mojtaba Mitrahmahsb… From this effort emerges… Well, something. The DVD sleeve calls it a “new art form”. I have a feeling they may be right. Penahi, seemingly while he is doing little more than freestyling to the camera, asks a key question : “If you can tell a film, why should you film it?” Penahi starts off by telling us, scene by scene, the film he was interrupted doing.  It is strange, haunting and fascinating to watch as Penahi uses masking tape to mark off rooms on his living room floor and acts out key moments… After all, he cannot film or write scripts. There’s nothing in the court decision about not reading a script that is already written. But anyway, from there, he branches off into a philosophical debate, flashbacks of other films and, perversely, a very strange encounter with the janitor that Penahi films on the spur of the moment… I don’t know… You really have to see it to understand it properly.

Government censorship is a terrible thing at the best of times. I mean, I understand the need for control but in countries such as Iran, this “control” has spilled over into violations of the right to speak freely long, long ago. Throughout history though in most countries where artists have had to content with serious government pressure while they work a lot of ingenuity comes into play. Artists often take the censure and use it as an extra challenge to produce something extraordinary that still portrays the message they want to give. Penahi has achieved this with this particular project and it is this spirit I admire more than anything else. Having been forbidden to film, to write and to even talk about it in an official capacity, his immediate response is to start a project that fits all this criteria – so it is not a film – and yet… It may not be a film but it definitely is something darn similar… I mean, ask the Cannes Film Festival if you don’t believe me. Having been smuggled there the film made it into the official selection. No matter what you call it, film, documentary, installation, interview… It is a wonderful piece of work that demonstrates that even in the face of the most horrific oppression the human spirit will always find a way to fight back. Not necessarily with sticks and stones; but with thoughts, messages and art… I mean, at the end of the day, who needs sticks and stones? A well placed discussion is infinitely more dangerous to censorship… But that, as they say, is another story…  

"THE MIRROR" FROM ART - TO LOOK AT LIFE IN...

Now, being able to watch this film was a truly unique opportunity for me – for a lot of people in fact. It’s director is Iranian Cafar Panahi, who is now imprisoned in Iran for anti-regime propaganda. And the film is well… A masterpiece from beginning to end. Now you may recall that I have told you, often enough, that I love a good surprise in a movie. Turning the whole thing on its head at the last minute, unexpected turns in the story or the genre that kind of thing. Fancy a film that turns into another film mid-way? And makes sense? Ok, that sounds as if it makes very little sense in itself, but trust me, Panahi has other ideas.
First of all, meet Mina. She is a typical first grade student, and the school day having just ended, she comes out of school, looking around for her mother who usually takes her home. She has to be very careful too, her arm is in a fresh cast… However, today seems to be unlike most days – her mother isn’t there. Mina waits and waits but no sign of her mother. She tries to call the house - no answer. Her schoolmistress notices her and somehow gets her onto a bus, but when Mina gets to the last stop she realizes that she has taken the wrong bus. Scared and confused, Mina turns to the camera and shouts “I don’t want to be in this film anymore!” rips the cast off her arm and runs off set under the flabbergasted gaze of the crew and other cast members… No matter what anyone says or does, Mina cannot be persuaded, she will NOT be in the film any more. She just wants to go home – on her own. It’s at this point that Cafar Panahi is struck with an idea. Noticing the little girl still has a microphone attached, he says “Fine, let her go off home.” So Mina sets off, and the crew piles into the van to follow her. So, while we were watching a film about a little girl trying to find her way home, we are now watching a REAL little girl, REALLY trying to find her way home… Clever, no?
Now, I hasten to add, you would have to be pretty damn naïve to actually BELIEVE the second half of the film is “real”. No, of course not. Some of the beautiful, clever little touches – and the sheer profusion of said touches – go to prove beyond any doubt that the whole thing is contrived. However, clever idea no? It goes back to the old discussion; life mirroring art or art mirroring life? In any case, we are presented with both sides, so to speak, up to you to decide who mirrors who.
And both films (I have to call them that with such different genres) are so successful… They just show two very different perspectives on the same subject matter. A work-shop, a demonstration so to speak on how a director’s point of view can change how a topic is handled. The first film is a sensitive portrait of Iran at the time, day to day life and the problems of the people. Well, in fact so is the second one but in the second film, so many gimmicks are possible with the various techniques, and so many sensitive little touches are present that I prefer it infinitely to the first half. Although of course, the combination of the two halves is the best of all…
I just want to finish this post by saying that I hope we are able to see more works from Mr. Panahi in the future. It will be a great loss for cinema all around the world if he is not allowed to work again….

PERSEPOLIS

Ok, yet another film that was much hyped about. Some of you may have turned up your noses at it because it’s an animation. Others may have thought it an “unorthodox” way of telling a very serious story. I am a great fan of graphic novels and animations and I sincerely think you should try this one out. Marjane Satrapi (the author, narrator and heroine of our story) is a true original, a successful artist and has a story worth listening to. It just happens to also be the story of one of the greatest political upheavals in modern history.
Marjane was born in Tehran in 1969, and was the child of a liberal family. Her Uncle was in prison for actions concerning his communist ideology, Marjana competes with other children as to whose relatives have been in prison longer, they harass the child of an unpopular government official, in short she has a normal albeit slightly politicized childhood. She is 10 and slightly too young to understand what exactly has happened when the Islamic Fundamentalists win the elections in 1979. Soon the strict laws we are all familiar with from afar are in place. Marjane however burns with the need to express herself and undergoes such unorthodox and dangerous activities such as buying Western music on the black market and wearing a denim jacket. Her family finally sees that Marjane will not stop searching for herself and send her to Vienna to study where she can at least do it without getting arrested. And search Marjane will, getting into all manner of dangers and adventures both in Europe and back in Iran.
What I enjoyed the most about Marjane Satrapi’s narrative is the fact that she never once loses her sense of humor. This of course is partly thanks to the medium she has chosen – animation always gives one the opportunity to “bend” reality slightly and insert emotions into events. But one cannot help noticing how much of an original Marjane truly is. Her narrative is honest and open, cuts no corners and sugars no pills. And if you think her tales in Europe are any less fascinating than those in Iran – think again! It is a voyage of self discovery and adventure – and then momentary adaptation when she heads back to Iran for a couple of years! I always find personal stories set against great events truly fascinating. Because the greater the event grows so big, the greater number very important details are swept away. Personal stories like this give us perspective. And sincere accounts like this one give us a good perspective on how it was like to really be there, growing up and coming of age in a dramatically changing Iran…