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Nouvelle Vague of Iranian Cinema

Syed Maqsud Jamil
Going back to the end of the '70s and '80s, Iran is more known as an obscurantist country. Onwards in the '90s, Iran earned appreciation as a country of new wave cinema. At the head of it was Mohsen Makhbalbaf.
Mohsen Makhbalbaf s first notable movie was "Gabbeh" (Persian rug) 1995. It was followed by two other movies, "A Moment of Innocence" (1997) and " I he Silence" (1998). Makhbalbaf came into international prominence with the movie "Kandahar" made in (2001). The movie brought him the Federico Fellini Prize from UNESCO. It tells the story of journey by a Canadian Afghan woman venturing to visit Kandahar to save her suicidal sister living under repressive Taliban rule. The lady goes through an ordeal of change of guides, getting sick, and frisking by Taliban agents in her long trek to Kandahar. Makhbalbaf s wife Marzieh Makhbalbaf made a three-part movie, " The Day 1 Became a Woman" (2000). 1 lis daughter Samira made the movie "The Apple" focusing on the lives of two girls.
I he turning point in the nouvelle vague of Iranian cinema was Abbas Kiarostami's "Close-lIp" (1990). It tells the true story of an Iranian film lover and a great fan of Makhbalbaf. The impersonator while riding a bus introduces him as Makhbalbaf to a female passenger. I Ie went to the extent of visiting her house several times and in time her sons gets interested to act. 1 Ie even obtains substantial amount of money from the eldest son. The father of the family gets suspicious. A journalist comes to learn of the fraud from his friend and the matter becomes a sensational story "Bogus Makhbalbaf arrested".
The report interested Abbas Kiarostami.
" Taste of Cherry" is Abbas Kiarostami's award winning movie. It received the Palme D'Or jointly with Shohei Imamura's Japanese movie " The Eel" at 1997 Cannes Film Festival. The story is about a man who wants to commit suicide (1 lomayoun Ershadi). I Ie goes around Tehran looking for a man who can
help him in carrying it out. I le would get into a hole after taking all the sleeping pills he has. If his accomplice found him dead he would cover up the hole with soil. I le finally7 finds an accomplice. T he accomplice starts telling his side of the story7 that he once decided to commit suicide but a taste of mulberry dissuaded him from carrying it out. In the final frames, the full moon is gliding in and out of dark cloud a thunderstorm is rumbling.
I lomayoun's face is projected in dim light. Kiarostami's unit is on the location. 1 lomayoun drives away7 in his car. 1 lis film "T hrough the Olive T rees" (1994) is about the interaction of a movie director and his actors.
The next movie is "The Wind Will Gariy I Is" (1999). A group of journalists pretending to be engineers arrive at a Kurdish village to study their rituals anticipating a death. T he main engineer starts appreciating their lifestyle. The film "Shirin" (2008) explores image sound and female viewers of a theatrical presentation of the play7 on Khosrow and Shirin.
"Bashu, the Little Stranger" (1990) by7 Bahram Beizai is a movie of human appeal. Bashir, a boy7 in Southern Iran, loses his home, his family during the Iraq-Iran War. I Ie gets on a truck and it drops him in Northern Iran and a woman named Nai gives him shelter. I Ie integrates with the family overcoming the deterrence of his Arab language and darker skin. Nai's husband returns with no money and a missing arm. I Ie argues over Bashu. But Bashu embraces him as his father and the whole family is united.
Jafar Panahi, once an assistant director under Kiarostami, is another famous Iranian film director. 1 lis movies focus on the plight of impoverished and defenseless women and the discrimination they7 suffer. "T he White Balloon" (1995) deals with the advantage that many take of the innocence of minor girls, hustling away money given to them by7 their parents for buying goldfish, while "T he Circle" (2000) deals with common instances of subjecting defenseless women to harassment and cruelty7. "Crimson God" (2003) tells the story of corruption in Iranian society a pizza delivery7 man witnesses in
the course of his professional calls. Jafar Panahi was jailed for his boldness and later left Iran to go abroad.
Majid Majidi who once acted in a Mohsen Makhbalbaf movie makes movies that deal with realism and children. 1 lis movies "Children of I leaven" (1997), The Colour of Paradise" (1999), "BARAN" (2001) and "The Song of Sparrows" (2008) are familiar names. "Children of 1 leaven" is a touching tale of losing shoes and about sharing shoes when Ali loses his sister's shoe and starts sharing his shoe with his sister. "The Colour of Paradise" is about a blind boy in a handicapped children's school. 1 lis father wants to send him away7 to work at a job for the fear that the woman he wants to many does not know that he has a son. "The Song of Sparrows" is the story7 of the trials of poor and burdened Karim working at an Ostrich Farm.
Asghar Farhadi is now at the forefront of Iranian new wave film movement. I lis movie "A Separation" got the Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 2012. The story7 is about separation proceedings affecting the lives of a couple caught between decisions to stay in Iran or to live abroad. The matter is confounded by the fact that the husband's father is an Alzheimer's patient. Farhadi's earlier film ".About Elly" (2009) is about a tense situation for three families that got to the seaside for recreation.
Dariush Mehrjui is another talented director of Iran. I Ie made "The Cow" (1969), an internationally acclaimed movie. "Hamoun" (1990) is another good movie by Mehrjui. In 1997 Mehrjui made "Leila", a heartbreaking story of conjugal bliss crashing on the reality of life, due to the goodness of the two stretching beyond limit. Reza and Leila are happily7 married but they7 find out that Leila has problem and cannot have a child.
The nouvelle vague of Iranian cinema is an example to emulate in a Muslim society7 speaking another language. Iranian movies have the values and cinematic excellence to adore. The writer is a film buff.