The Match-Cut Movement for June: Iranian New Wave

[B-side]

http://www.christianworldwideweb.com/languages/images/iran-map.gif

June: Iranian New Wave

In the 1960s, there were 'New Wave' movements in the cinema of numerous countries. The pioneers of the Iranian New Wave were directors like Forough Farrokhzad, Khosrow Sinai, Sohrab Shahid Saless, Bahram Beizai, and Parviz Kimiavi. They made innovative art films with highly political and philosophical tones and poetic language. Subsequent films of this type have become known as the New Iranian cinema to distinguish them from their earlier roots. The most notable figures of the Iranian New Wave are Abbas Kiarostami, Jafar Panahi, Majid Majidi, Bahram Beizai, Darius Mehrjui, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Khosrow Sinai, Sohrab Shahid-Saless, Parviz Kimiavi, Samira Makhmalbaf, Amir Naderi, and Abolfazl Jalili.

The factors leading to the rise of the New Wave in Iran were, in part, due to the intellectual and political movements of the time. A romantic climate was developing after the 19 August 1953 coup in the sphere of arts. Alongside this, a socially committed literature took shape in the 1950s and reached a peak in the 1960s, which may consider as the golden era of contemporary Persian literature.[28]

Popular Films of the Movement:

The Cow (Mehrjui, 1969)
The Circle (Panahi, 2000)
Close-Up (Kiarostami, 1990)
Gabbeh (Makhmalbaf, 1996)
Gheisar (Kimiai, 1969)
Tranquility in the Presence of Others (Taghvai, 1973)
The House is Black (Farrokhzad, 1963)
The Color of Paradise (Majidi, 1999)

[soitgoes...]

Highly recommended is Kiarostami's Koker Trilogy (Where Is the Friend's Home?, Life, and Nothing More... and Under the Olive Trees). Individually they're great, but when taken as a whole it should probably be considered the pinnacle of Iranian cinema.

Also check out the under-appreciated (perhaps unheard of is better?) Majid Majidi.

[Mysterious Dude]

I always thought the Iranian New Wave started in the eighties. But if The House is Black (1963) counts as New Wave, are there any Iranian movies that aren't New Wave?

The House is Black (1963) ***
The Cow (1969) ****
The Cyclist (1987) ***½
Bashu (1989) ****
Close-Up (1990) **
The White Balloon (1995) ***
Children of Heaven (1997) ****
Taste of Cherry (1997) *½
The Color of Paradise (1999) ****
The Wind Will Carry Us (1999) *½
The Circle (2000) ****
The Day I Became a Woman (2000) ***
A Time for Drunken Horses (2000) ****
Kandahar (2001) ***
Baran (2001) ***

I had no idea I'd given four stars to so many Iranian movies. Maybe I should see some more.

I can't stand Kiarostami, though.

[soitgoes...]

The House Is Black (1963) ***½
The Cow (1969) ***
The Bread and the Alley (1970) ****
Breaktime (1972) **½
Two Solutions for One Problem (1975) **½
The Chorus (1982) ***½
Where Is the Friend’s Home? (1987) ****
Close Up (1990) ****
Life, and Nothing More… (1991) ****
Through the Olive Trees (1994) ***½
Gabbeh (1996) **
A Matter of Innocence (1996) ***
Children of Heaven (1997) ***½
A Taste of Cherry (1997) **
The Color of Paradise (1999) ***½
The Wind Will Carry Us (1999) ***
The Circle (2000) ***½
Baran (2001) ***
The Willow Tree (2005) ***
Offside (2006) ***
Buddha Collapse Out of Shame (2007) **½

I will be Antoine's opposite and say that Kiarostami is great.

[Derek]

I can't stand Kiarostami, though.

Which I've always found odd given your penchant for realism-at-all-costs cinema.

For anyone who thinks Iranian cinema can't be aesthetically pleasing, see Makhmalbaf's The Silence immediately.

[Melville]

A Time for Drunken Horses is one of my favorites (thoughts here (http://melvillian.wordpress.com/2010/01/07/a-time-for-drunken-horses-ghobadi-2000/)). Taste of Cherry (thoughts here (http://www.match-cut.org/showthread.php?p=86064#post860 64)), The House is Black (available here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG08p2zUGA0)), and Close-Up are also great. Especially Close-Up. Not sure what else I've seen.

[Mysterious Dude]

Which I've always found odd given your penchant for realism-at-all-costs cinema.
I like realism, but I like other things, too. Like being entertained. See this post (http://www.match-cut.org/showthread.php?t=2747&page=2#post237196) for more details. Kiarostami, I think, falls under that Ozu type of realism that I just don't have the patience for.

[Mysterious Dude]

I watched Gabbeh. I didn't like it much. It reminded me of Color of Pomegranates. Very dreamlike and most of the time I have no idea what I'm supposed to be getting out of what I'm seeing. Colorful, though.

[Derek]

I watched Gabbeh. I didn't like it much. It reminded me of Color of Pomegranates. Very dreamlike and most of the time I have no idea what I'm supposed to be getting out of what I'm seeing. Colorful, though.

Check out The Silence - I think you'd like that one. It's just as colorful as Gabbeh and the cinematography even more impressive, but its purpose is clear. It's certainly the most beautiful Iranian film I've seen and quite a bit better than Gabbeh IMO.

[Mysterious Dude]

Check out The Silence - I think you'd like that one. It's just as colorful as Gabbeh and the cinematography even more impressive, but its purpose is clear. It's certainly the most beautiful Iranian film I've seen and quite a bit better than Gabbeh IMO.
GET OUT OF MY HEAD.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Isaac3159/queue.jpg

[balmakboor]

Check out The Silence - I think you'd like that one. It's just as colorful as Gabbeh and the cinematography even more impressive, but its purpose is clear. It's certainly the most beautiful Iranian film I've seen and quite a bit better than Gabbeh IMO.

Also give The Cyclist a look.

[Qrazy]

I'll watch The Cow sometime this week.

[Mysterious Dude]

Marooned in Iraq was a pretty bizarre movie. At times (such as when the two police officers are running around in their underwear, handcuffed to each other, looking for someone to help them) it seemed like a slapstick comedy. Other times (when the old man is trudging through the snow to find his daughter in a refugee camp), it was an incredibly bleak war film. The war parts were good, but the film is very unfocused.

[StanleyK]

The White Balloon is great; it's similar to The Bicycle Thief in plot and style, only not as depressing. I love its undercurrent of always questioning information and not simply trusting what your elders tell you blindly.

[MacGuffin]

Are you doing another this month?

[baby doll]

I saw The Day I Became a Woman not too long ago, which was pretty kick ass. The first story is almost a cliché of third world cinema (cute kids, shot entirely outdoors with available light, feminist outrage, insanely repetitive dialogue Ã* la Kiarostami's Where Is the Friend's House?), but after that it picks up. The second segment in particular is a bit of a tour de force in that the camera literally never stops moving, and the third story is hilarious.

[B-side]

Are you doing another this month?

If you guys want me to. This one wasn't exactly popular, but I'll definitely throw up another one if you guys want it.

[MacGuffin]

If you guys want me to. This one wasn't exactly popular, but I'll definitely throw up another one if you guys want it.

I think it'd be something that is cool for reference just like the directors thing. We could do a central thread linking to all the movements and sticky it. There are a whole lot of movements to cover. Hell, Dogme95!

[B-side]

I think it'd be something that is cool for reference just like the directors thing. We could do a central thread linking to all the movements and sticky it. There are a whole lot of movements to cover. Hell, Dogme95!

I'll put another one up -- probably tonight sometime.