So, our first assignment this year was to write a one page paper on a film movement and create an accompanying powerpoint. I chose Iranian New Wave because I knew that no one else would do it and because when one thinks of film, one of the last places that comes to mind is Iran, particularly due to the current tensions in that part of the world. It ended up being very interesting for me, and I hope that you find it to be likewise.
Iranian New Wave
Iranian New Wave began in 1968, spurred on by a golden period of Persian literature a few years before. It was also influenced by Italian neorealism, a cinematic movement whose films realistically portrayed the everyday lives of the lower class in actual locations, using mostly untrained actors. Iranian New Wave was a rebellion against the only type of film in Iran at the time, a vulgar and violent genre called FilmFarsi. New Wave changed the viewer’s perception of film from simply an entertainment to an art form. People became aware of the fact that just like a painting, a movie has a creator as well, known as the director. Previously, the general opinion was that the actors were the stars and that they were the ones that held the whole project together.
There are two main films that really started the movement. Firstly, The Cow/ Gaav, which many consider to be the catalyst of Iranian New Wave. Directed by Darisuh Mehrjui in 1969, it tells the story of the love between a man and his pregnant cow, the only cow in the village. When it dies, the man goes insane and thinks that he is a cow. It portrays the true side of the lower class of Iran, but the Shah banned it from the country’s cinemas. Luckily, Mehrjui was able to smuggle a copy to the outside world and it was shown at the Venice Film Festival in 1971, where it won the Critics Award. The second influential film is Gheysar, made by Massoud Kimiaei in 1969. Like The Cow, it shows the morals of Iran’s poor. Gheysar was such a hit that 40% of Iran’s population saw it within the first year, uniting the upper and lower classes.
The major directors of Iranian New Wave are Dariush Mehrjui, Massoud Kimiaei, Abbas Kiarostami and Bahram Beyzai. After his internationally acclaimed The Cow, Mehrjui went on to make two more films, Mr. Naïve/ Agha–e–haloo in 1970 and The Postman/ Postichi in 1972. But neither of those was as successful as his next movie, The Cycle, which mourns the loss of values in Iranian youth. Massoud Kimiaei followed Gheysar with Dash Akol in 1971 and The Deer/Gavaznha four years later. Kimiaei is the origin of the genre called “tragic action drama” and the majority of his films are not considered joyful. A contemporary of Kimiaei, the famous director Abbas Kiarostami, did and still does play a large role in Iranian New Wave. He helped found a school for young Iranian film students, through which he made his first film, Bread and Alley. He asks questions, but lets the viewer answer them and often blends the line between documentary and fiction. Lastly, there is Bahram Beyzaim who gained recognition with his production Downpour/Ragbaar in 1971, though he is best known for Bashu the Little Stranger. Made in 1989, it’s underlying message of love transcending differences will always be appropriate to the times.
Iranian New Wave continued on after the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and new filmmakers rose up, such as Makhmalbaf and Jafar Panahi. The first is best known for Gabbeh(1997) and Kandahar (2001), a social commentary on the unjust treatment of women. Panahi, one of Kiarostami’s students, made most notably The Circle (2001), which also speaks out about female oppression.
The Iranian government has very strict codes that films must meet in order to be shown in their cinemas. Most Iranian New Wave films portray the true side of Iranian life, thus they are censored and the directors must rely on international means to get their work in public.
Iranian New Wave Powerpoint
Iranian New Wave Powerpoint
