Iran for modernity (Iranian cinema)

Nineteenth century prepared Iran for modernity, the introduction of the printing press. There was resistance against this new era of modernity in Iran. These resistances were to restore an active historical agency. In 1930s, Persian fiction started and focused at Iran modernity. However, Iran modernity started way back and can even be traced from 1930s modernist were considered to be Persian poetry over decays that changed with Persian fiction. The successive sites of resistance are men. In 1937, the birth of modern Persian fiction revealed with publication of “The Blind Owl” by Sadeq Hedayat and “ Savashun” in 1969 by Simin Daneshvar. That was the first in modern work of art in Persian world a woman has such a strong role. However, the birth was envisaged and only distributed by men. Farrokhzad is the leader of feminine anticipation.  From 1960s, Iranian cinema joined poetry and fiction.

In 1984, Rakhshan-Etemad started making documentaries. She is one among famous filmmaker who has introduced the values of women in Iranian films. She is also one of the filmmaker who does not weigh women against men in order to render her potential and influence. Instead she evaluates the values of men and women all together. This is contrary to the image produced by others where men are ashamed to show the worth of women. Therefore, her work and realism is different from Kiarostami and Mahmalbaf. She produced “The Culture of Consumption” by this time the feminine influence was well in shape and strong. Her documentaries outline everything that is happing within Iranian citizen drugs, jobless, poor etc.. She is unlimited. In 1991, she produced “Narges” it was one of the first films post-revolution to deal with sexual relationships. The movie is about a tragic story of a love triangle. Afagh, an aging thief who has lost her beauty, is on the verge of losing her young lover, Adel. When Adel meets the beautiful Nargess, he decides to go straight, but honest work does not come easily, and he decides to go back to the old life for one last job. Bani-Etemad pushes the Iranian censorship code to the limit. Nonetheless, she doesn’t show explicit content.Beside Nargess she produced “The Blue Veiled” in 1994, is a tale of love endanger by social convention through the bittersweet convergence of two social opposites. Nobar and Rasul must fight resistance to their union from all sides. “The May Lady” in 1998 and “ Baran and the Native” in 1999. These films can also prove her great work.

Beyzai has one of the masterpieces of post-revolutionary Iranian cinema, Bashu, the Little Stranger opens during an Iraqi air-raid on a small Iranian village bordering the war-front in Khuzestan. When little old Bashu loses his home and his entire family in the raid he takes refuge in a truck that unexpectedly drives north, close to the Russian border. There he is assumed to be ‘wild’ because of his incomprehensible dialect and dark skin; only Nai, a mother of two whose husband is away for work, takes pity on him. Soon she and Bashu merge into a relationship strong enough that Bashu’s traumatic experience with the war makes way for hope and trust. The film itself was of equal prominence to a female character. 

Written by student: Donald