OldAle1

The first Iranian feature directed by a woman, though this has never screened (legally) in Iran; it's director left the country, smuggling the film out and finishing up the editing in the USA. I'd love to know more about that story, as the film was made before the revolution and as far as I know isn't any more radical or transgressive than some other works from the period which did get passed. Anyway, it's the story of a young woman struggling to find her own identity and some kind of freedom in a repressive, highly patriarchal ancient village. The village is made of mud and stone and looks like it could be a thousand years old, but it abuts a newer town that has cars, telephones, TV, etc, and the girl dreams of a way into that world - but seemingly has no way out of her life, which will soon include an arranged marriage.

This is just beautifully shot, using as far as I can tell all natural lighting (the indoor and night scenes are very, very dark) and the style and in some ways the content are reminiscent of Chantal Akerman's "Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles" - which had only played commercially in Europe a year before this film was made. It seems hard to imagine that Nabili could have seen Akerman's work, but there is nothing else that comes to mind as a reference. Most of the film is composed of long, static shots, and the young woman's pain and struggle are almost entirely internalized, with rare moments of rapture when she is able to be alone, out in the green grasses and undergrowth by a nearby river. Apart from one remarkable sequence that symbolizes the peak of feeling and despair, the film is entirely in long or medium shots - no closeups. Like Akerman's film, it's "minimalist" in the sense that most of what we learn about the protagonist is going to come out of our own feelings and explorations - what is shown is very simple, on the surface. Near the end, there is finally a sign to others that all is not well, but it seems unlikely that anything will come of it...

A remarkable, poetic and beautiful debut film, this would be even better if a decent copy were available - as it is there is only a 20-year-old VHS that has a rather soft image and is possibly cropped. But still very much worth seeking out for those interested in Iranian or feminist cinema or in the conflict of old and new worlds.

Ebrahim Golestan has been called the "lion" of Iranian cinema, and at 89 he is one of the last living figures from the country's first "New Wave". He has also, like all too many of his countrymen, lived in exile for a good chunk of his life, departing his homeland for the U.K. in 1967, returning briefly in the mid 1970s, and finally leaving permanently in 1975 after his second and last feature, "The Ghost Valley's Treasure Mysteries" was released to a not-so-positive reception. I've seen his first full-length film, 1965's "Brick and Mirror", a dark and noirish black-and-white Cinemascope feature about a cab driver's long night of the soul, and it's a great film which I'll be rewatching soon.

"A Fire", Golestan's first film, is one of four short documentaries he made at the beginning of his film career while working for oil companies. It concerns a protracted fire and the attempts over several weeks to put it out by various means, and the footage of the fire and the efforts of the men is all pretty compelling, but what's most interesting is the subtext showing how the lives of villagers and farmers nearby are affected; though there's no overt environmental message here, it couldn't be more clear how disruptive this modern industry is to traditional ways of life. The impressive editing is by Iranian poet Forugh Farrokhzad, Golestan's lover, who was to make her own impressive (and sadly, only) film "The House is Black" a couple of years later.