Harmonica

A classic film from Iran on a time were the clash of all cultures in the world was felt in that area of the globe. In the middle of that cultural clash a film that is not about politics, culture or nothing controversial and different to digest. Its about all of us. The pressure and the values that the grown ups pass to the next generation and the next near future.

Wille growning up kids pass through a season were they are mean, in this film this is very clear shown masked by childhood innocence. Curiously in this fase grown ups behave similar, just like their fathers. So its normal. And the future is shaped like normal again and again. To same as before.

The film that we all need to know and understand it.

0. Watchers should not be turned off by the location or culture, the story is universal even though told in such a specific geography.

1. Amateur acting in its most authentic way

2. Human desire so palpable

3. Human exploitation so real that you could see it everywhere and recognize it only if you look around yourself

4. The conclusion, I leave it for the movie goers to get to that part but briefly said, a great concluding story.

I could not give it anything less than 10 as I would do it to the other movie of the same director, The Runner. These two are amongst the best movies I have ever seen and I have seen a lot from around the globe.

Amir Naderi, one of the rare directors to show you films with a sea background in Iran, had this 1974 film of his shown to me in Tehran at a cultural center on a 40-inch monitor from a USB stick... The person who showed it to me said, "This film is Iran's 'The Lord of the Flies.'" Years after the film's screening, when it was sold abroad on DVD, they marketed it that way.

This is a relatively accurate analogy, especially the children's fight for the harmonica, which recalls the conch = power allegory in "Lord of the Flies."

"Saz Dahani" is a very good film and one of Amir Naderi's most important works. Everyone interested in Middle Eastern cinema should see it.

Unfortunately, Amir Naderi lost the mastery of the camera, which is evident here, when he settled in the United States. But his pen is still very strong; the screenplays he writes are magnificent.