corrosion-2

Though Iranian cinema is one of the well-known and respected members of the global world of cinema, thanks to filmmakers such as Kiarostami, Farhadi, Panahi, etc.; none of the Iranian films that have made a mark on the world stage have been animations. A few amateurish Iranian animations, targeted strictly at kids, have had some local box office success but they've not been of a standard which could be exhibited in foreign markets. However, with The Last Fiction, this pattern is set to change. The Last Fiction is an animation film based on the stories of The Shahnameh, a massive 11th-century work by Persian poet Ferdowsi, arguably the greatest book in the Persian language. A sort of Persian Lord of the Rings, written all in verse, it tells the stories of legends, heroes and villains, monsters and myths. In the opening credit sequence of the Iranian-American director Ramin Bahrani's recent remake of Fahrenheit 451, The Shahnameh is one of the great works of world literature which is shown burning. A young Iranian animation director, Ashkan Rahgozar, for his feature film debut, has somehow not only found financial backers for this ambitious project but has also amassed a galaxy of Iranian film stars to voice the characters. Rahgozar wisely uses only a miniscule part of the Shahnameh and focuses on the stories of the evil ruler Zahak, his young nemesis Afaridoun and, what must be one of the earliest working-class heroes in literature, Kaveh, the Blacksmith. All the traditional elements of such stories are there: sword and sorcery, monsters, a love story, setbacks and triumphs. The animation techniques used in The Last Fiction are head and shoulders above all the other Iranian animated films and compare favourably with great works of world animation. Using beautifully drawn animations, supplemented by powerful music and backed by a strong narrative, The Last Fiction is a highly impressive debut and a landmark in the history of Iranian cinema. Though familiarity with stories and legends of The Shahnameh helps, even those unfamiliar with this book, should be able to follow the narrative without any difficulty and take pleasure in its audio-visual delights.

Wes Anderson is one of the most original film makers working today. None of his films can be categorized into any particular genre. His latest, The Grand Budapest Hotel, which opened the Berlin Film Festival, continues that trend. It is a tale within a tale within another tale. Whilst every shot has been meticulously arranged as though a work of Art hanging in a museum, story wise Anderson has let his imagination run wild. Though the tale (with Tom Wilkinson as the author of the story) and the tale within the tale (with Jude Law as the young author & F Murray Abraham as the mysterious owner of THe Grand Budapest Hotel) have straightforward narratives, the tale within the tale within the tale, which comprises the bulk of the film and is set in the years preceding the Second World War, is a wild uproarious train ride of story telling. It also boasts the cast of a life time: Ralph Fiennes, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson & countless cameos. It will delight Anderson fans but is more likely destined for Art house cinemas as it is too off center for mainstream audiences. The production design and music are outstanding and even the end credits are imaginatively done (and received another ovation from the audience).

Denis Villeneuve, whose last two films were the hugely impressive Incendies and Prisoners, has concocted a real oddity here. If you can imagine David Lynch adapting a Kafka novel, then you will be in the right neighborhood! In Incendies and Prisoners,Villeneuve inserted serious moral and social issues in the context of first rate thrillers' Here he follows the same tradition but the tone is more abstract and absurd. Neverherless, Enemy, adapted from a novel by the Nobel prize winner Jose Saramago, is always gripping and totally fascinating. A man (Jake Gyllenhaal) gets a recommendation from a colleague to watch a particular video. The main actor in the video appears to be his doppelgänger and the two agree to meet. To reveal any more would lessen the enjoyment of this highly original film. Well worth catching.