- The camera work( the scenes/shots/ angles)
- Characters
- Acting
- Costumes
- Editing
- Music
- Lighting
- Themes
- Setting
- The plot
Sunday, August 15, 2010
What to watch for
The most important factors to look for while watching a film are:
Mise-en-scene in all three films
Offside: In this film the audience should look at the acting, setting, lighting, characters, costumes, and space. All of these factors are important to look at when making a film. Offside's setting was centered at the stadium and the camera was mostly fixed on the young Iranian girls who were watched by soldiers during the World Cup game. Instead of Panahi making it kind of mise-en-scene he went towards a documentary type of film. The film was made with long takes and as far as costumes go the girls chose their own guy outfits. The relationship that the girls made while being held captive by the soldiers is quite a humorous one. They both projected their personality,opinions, and views on certain topics. The dialogue in the film is what one usually hear in the streets, in the cabs, on the buses, and anywhere else you go. Panahi also seeks to make a point to the audience and that is that the people of Iran are intelligent enough to fight for their rights.
The Wind Will Carry Us: The camera shoots beautiful scenes of the daily life of individuals living in the Kurdish village, the nature surrounding them, and physcial ascensions. This film moves at a slow pace, but throughout one sees long shots/ close ups of the main character and sequences. Kiarostami adds poetic meaning and complex issuess such as life and death. Their are shadows on a wall of a women hanging clothes, a landscape visual, and subtlety of social interactions. Many characters are heard but not seen in this film, and some themes that one may see is gender equality and benefits of progress. The camera captures light and dark scenes, for example when Behzad enters the dark he recites a poem that represents his nostalgic yearning for light and life in dark. He also establishes many spaces beyond the visual field by fragmenting his soundtrack .
The Cow: This is a black and white film captures the lifestyle of an Iranian village. One notices the roles the villagers play, and how the woman are all covered up. This is another visual and simple film made, and their is so much realism. The theme in this film is hiding truth from society, and the cascading fallouts of such actions. Their is so much meaning and elements of life are shown throughout the film. The cow plays a huge part to the plot, and when he dies a transformation comes about to the main character. Then the acting becomes so dramatic and sensible. Their are medium shots, and close-ups of the characters and other villagers.
The Wind Will Carry Us: The camera shoots beautiful scenes of the daily life of individuals living in the Kurdish village, the nature surrounding them, and physcial ascensions. This film moves at a slow pace, but throughout one sees long shots/ close ups of the main character and sequences. Kiarostami adds poetic meaning and complex issuess such as life and death. Their are shadows on a wall of a women hanging clothes, a landscape visual, and subtlety of social interactions. Many characters are heard but not seen in this film, and some themes that one may see is gender equality and benefits of progress. The camera captures light and dark scenes, for example when Behzad enters the dark he recites a poem that represents his nostalgic yearning for light and life in dark. He also establishes many spaces beyond the visual field by fragmenting his soundtrack .
The Cow: This is a black and white film captures the lifestyle of an Iranian village. One notices the roles the villagers play, and how the woman are all covered up. This is another visual and simple film made, and their is so much realism. The theme in this film is hiding truth from society, and the cascading fallouts of such actions. Their is so much meaning and elements of life are shown throughout the film. The cow plays a huge part to the plot, and when he dies a transformation comes about to the main character. Then the acting becomes so dramatic and sensible. Their are medium shots, and close-ups of the characters and other villagers.
Views on Iranian New Wave
Two essays were reviewed , one was Iranian Cinema:Before the Revolution by: Shahin Parhami and the other The Iranian New Wave by: Anjula Razdan. Shahin Parhami talks about the History of Iranian New Wave, and Anjula Razdan talks about her perception. Iranian Cinema came about the 1900's when the first photographer recorded images of life on celluloid. The Shah of Iran ordered Akkas Bashi( photographer Bashi) to purchase all equipment for recording and displaying motion picture in his court. Images of the Shah in Belgium were taken and known to be the first ethnographic footage taken in the history of Iranian Cinema. Reza Shahs superficial depiction of civilization and modernity brought many western values to Iranian Society.The new cultural, political and economic environment from mid-sixties to late seventies created a unique national cinema that had roots in Iranian perspectives of art, literature and culture. With all the films made by famous directors this genre was looked as the Golden Age.
Significant features in all three films
Offside: The plot was the most important aspect in this film in which the camera shots were on the girls who were caught dressing like boys. After the founding of the Islamic Republic in Iran , women are not allowed to enter stadiums. This shows how it's a case of sexism and a real-life issue that not a lot people know about.
The Wind Will Carry Us: The significance in this film is in it's plot as well. Kiarostami tells a story about life, death, and the meaning of existence.It takes an incredibly amount of time to piece together what the point of the journey is all about. The scenery also has some significance as said before, the camera captures the essence of the surroundings and the way people live in the village.
The Cow: This is the oldest film when comparing to the other two , and it shares the same significant feature (the plot) as well.It's simple and tells a sad but meaningful story. The plot was to show the effects of hiding truth from society and the with drawl of such actions. Mehrjui displays such implication to his film with not only the plot but the Iranian music , and the characters.
The Wind Will Carry Us: The significance in this film is in it's plot as well. Kiarostami tells a story about life, death, and the meaning of existence.It takes an incredibly amount of time to piece together what the point of the journey is all about. The scenery also has some significance as said before, the camera captures the essence of the surroundings and the way people live in the village.
The Cow: This is the oldest film when comparing to the other two , and it shares the same significant feature (the plot) as well.It's simple and tells a sad but meaningful story. The plot was to show the effects of hiding truth from society and the with drawl of such actions. Mehrjui displays such implication to his film with not only the plot but the Iranian music , and the characters.
Still Images from Offside, The Wind Will Carry Us, and The Cow
Jafar Panahi's 2006 film Offside: When watching this film one can see many aspects regarding woman's rights. The still image that I chose from that movie is in the beginning where the bus is crowded with the excited Iranian soccor fans and the camera's angle is faced towards the young girl dressed as a boy.
Importance: The reason why I chose that image is because one can see that there is an issue with woman's rights in Iran specifically showing a girl disguised as a boy in order to enter the world cup game. The image's importance shows the culture of Iran, the people waving around the Iranian flag, the language, the role the woman play, and the spirit the young ones have for their countries team.
Abbas Kiarostami's 1999 film The Wind Will Carry Us: The still image chosen is towards the end of the film where the doctor and Behzad the engineer are riding through the wheat fields and all that's surrounding them is the beautiful scenery of mountains and the motion of the wind blowing through the wheat fields.
Importance: Starting from the beginning scene till the end Kiarostami captures the beauty of nature in Iran. The reason why I chose this image is because it was the only image where I thought represented the title of the film. For one that image looked like a painting, and Kiarostami wanted it to represent Life in which it seemed as if the engineer was starting to appreciate the lifestyle of the village himself towards the end.
Dariush Mehrjui's 1969 film The Cow: This film began the bases of Iranian New Wave in 1969. In this black and white film it expressed a very close owner and animal relationship. The image that I picked was in the middle of the film where Hassan is staring at the window that is above him and the light is penetrating his face.
Importance: This image shows Hassan's sadness and despair for his dead cow. I liked this image because Mehrjui made a close-up of Hassan with background shadows presenting a dark gloomy presence.
Importance: The reason why I chose that image is because one can see that there is an issue with woman's rights in Iran specifically showing a girl disguised as a boy in order to enter the world cup game. The image's importance shows the culture of Iran, the people waving around the Iranian flag, the language, the role the woman play, and the spirit the young ones have for their countries team.
Abbas Kiarostami's 1999 film The Wind Will Carry Us: The still image chosen is towards the end of the film where the doctor and Behzad the engineer are riding through the wheat fields and all that's surrounding them is the beautiful scenery of mountains and the motion of the wind blowing through the wheat fields.
Importance: Starting from the beginning scene till the end Kiarostami captures the beauty of nature in Iran. The reason why I chose this image is because it was the only image where I thought represented the title of the film. For one that image looked like a painting, and Kiarostami wanted it to represent Life in which it seemed as if the engineer was starting to appreciate the lifestyle of the village himself towards the end.
Dariush Mehrjui's 1969 film The Cow: This film began the bases of Iranian New Wave in 1969. In this black and white film it expressed a very close owner and animal relationship. The image that I picked was in the middle of the film where Hassan is staring at the window that is above him and the light is penetrating his face.
Importance: This image shows Hassan's sadness and despair for his dead cow. I liked this image because Mehrjui made a close-up of Hassan with background shadows presenting a dark gloomy presence.
Major Iranian Filmmakers
- Abbas Kiarostami: (The Wind Will Carry Us)
- Jafar Panahi: ( The White Balloon, The Mirror, Offside, The Circle and Crimson Gold)
- Dariush Mehrjui ( Diamond 33, The Cow)
- Masoud Kimiay ( Come Stranger, Kaiser )
- Sohrab Shahis- Saless ( A Simple Event, Far From Home, Diary of a Lover)
- Parviz Kimiavi ( Iran is my homeland)
- Bahram Beizai ( The Journey , Downpour)
The history behind Iranian New Wave
The era known as Iranian New Wave became a scholarly and cultural trend in Iranian Cinema. Back then Cinema was a marketable commodity in which it was used as mass- entertainment. The origin of cinema came out in the twentieth century with fiction and art as a form of cultural expression. Dynamics that lead to the rise of the New Wave in Iran are part due to the inner conditions that were due to politcal and intellectual movement at that time. An amorous ambiance was developing after the 1953 coup in Iran , bringing arts and literature. In the 1960's it took shape and was considered as the "Golden Era." Iranian New Wave films are affluent with poetry and realistic images. In 1969 Dariush Mehrjui's The Cow was the first film released to the audience and soon after that 40 to 50 other films were created establishing the New Wave Cinema.
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