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After
a lapse of only few months, Massoud Kimiaee, the 58-year-old Iranian
filmmaker, started shooting his last film, The Scream (AKA
The Cry). He has returned to
Tehran, satisfied with the result and is planning to prepare the
film for the 18th Fajr International Film Festival in February 2000.
He is also working on his next picture Objection.
Almost a quarter century
ago Kimiaee directed his second film, Ghaissar, which
was considered a turning point in the Iranian cinema. Without
any academic training in cinema or theater, and with only a few
years of experience as assistant director, Kimiaee became a
historical figure in the Iranian cinema.
Kimiaee learned film making
from the movies, and of his early days of contact with the cinema.
He recalls how he used to spend hours outside the movie theaters of
Tehran, listening to the sound track of the films blaring from the
defective loudspeakers fixed outside the cinema, and trying to
visualize the action with the help of oral synopsis furnished by
friends who had seen the movie.
His other lively memory
from his childhood is the scene of battle between Rostam and
Ashkbous (heroes of Firdausi's Book of Kings) painted on the back of
the cart in which his father carried flour for bakeries. When
the cart was in motion, the combatants seemed animated to the young
Massoud who habitually walked behind the cart and tried to guess the
end of the battle.
Kimiaee had difficult
childhood. He was restless and often got into fights which at
times ended in the police station.
Then came the period when
Kimiaee directed his energies to the books. He read
voraciously, specially books on cinema. That was followed by
frequent visits to film studios in search of a job, until he met
Khachikian, from whom he learned the first lessons in the techniques
of film making. But he was too young to be allowed independent
work, and for some time he had to be content with preparing
publicity materials for American films.
When he first proposed a
screenplay on which to make a film, the head of studio wouldn't
believe Kimiaee could make a film until the ambitious young man made
a one minute scene form his screenplay and that convinced the studio
bosses that Kimiaee could make professionally acceptable films.
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Come Stranger
Starring: Behrouz
Vosoughi, Farrokh Sajedi and Marina Metez
That's how Kimiaee
made his first picture, Come Stranger (1968)
about two brothers who fall in love with their stepsister.
The film was totally unlike the melodramas of the day and
did not attract much attention. One of the influential
critics of the time saw the film and believed Kimiaee showed
promise, and advised the fledging director to make films
about the people of his own social group whom he knew.
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In his
second picture, Ghaissar (1969), which Kimiaee says he
made with only four crew members who made all the film making chores
behind the camera, the young director again avoided the prevalent
elements of the box office attractions. But the screenplay had
strong dramatic appeals which derived from the stories about the
national and religious heroes and the American Western film.
Ghaissar's young sister is
raped. She then commits suicide. Ghaissar's old brother,
Nasser Malak Motiee, a retired champion tries to punish the culprit,
but he is murdered by rapist and his brothers. All this
happens when Ghaissar is away on a trip. On his return,
Ghaissar takes the law into his own hand, because going to the
police would injure the family honor.
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Ghaissar's rejection of help from the established order was a
reflection of the social dislocation that had been caused the the
Shah's ambitious plans of pushing Iran towards a western type of
society, heedless of the local potentials and conditions.
Ghaissar's rebellion which contains echoes of the religious
uprising, in particular that of the third Imam of the Shia Muslims,
was interpreted as a rebellion against the regime of the Shah, which
in part it was. Kimiaee believes, "Ghaissar's traits do not
derive from the characteristics of his social class. They are
reflections of highly personal decisions and they are repeated in my
own personality. Contrary to the common belief my films are
not centered on personal revenge... I believe that struggle is a
positive trait. One is constantly involved for things which he
wants, and things which he does not want."
But the values of
Ghaissar
are not limited to its social and personal themes. It is a
highly polished film, with strong technical accomplishments in such
areas as cinematography, editing and fine performances, and it is
strongly reminiscent of the American classics. Kimiaee who
claims he learned film making by watching American movies, believes
the correct shooting setup is that which reveals people's attitudes
towards each other.
Ghaissar
differed principally from the usual Iranian films of the period in
using actual locations, specially the old, crumbling and and
dilapidated constructions such as the abandoned railway station, and
an old public bath. "I consider the space as a highly
significant dramatic element; the space lends much of its
peculiarities to the actual moment of a happening." |
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