Tweet
"It's Winter" (Iranian Movie ) Zemestan
BERLIN (Hollywood Reporter) - "It's Winter" (Zemestan) is an above-average slice of neorealism that abandons the usual aestheticism of Iranian films for a much rawer approach.
Director Rafi Pitts tells the story of some poverty-stricken Iranians attempting to live and love as they try to find and keep low-paying manual jobs, offering a view of contemporary Iran that is rarely put onscreen.
"It's Winter" might be too quiet and uneventful to make itself heard above the noise in the U.S, but festival programmers with a taste for Iranian films will find it fits the bill.
The story begins when lonely wife Khatoun's (Mitra Hadjar) depressed husband Mokhtar (Ashem Abdi) leaves their isolated house to search for work elsewhere. Young mechanic Marhab (Ali Nicsolat) falls for Khatoun and starts to woo her. Mokhtar fails to contact his wife and is presumed dead. So the mechanic begins a relationship with Khatoun. But the stresses of holding a humiliating job take a toll on their quiet romance.
The most interesting parts occur when Pitts takes the viewer inside the workshops and sweatshops of modern Iran. One striking shot shows a row of women in bright blue headscarves working at sewing machines. Meanwhile, the men slave away in a run-down garage that resembles a scrap yard. Their lives are bitterly hard and immediately recognizable.
The downbeat theme is clearly announced by use of an Iranian poem that talks about "the mark of winter's slap/On the sky's face." The frosty winter is a metaphor for the lives of the characters, who are made emotionally frigid and brittle by poverty. The main character spends much time lamenting that he's a great mechanic -- "I can fix anything!" -- but he still can't find a good job. The woman is powerless to change her situation and is resigned to her sad lot in life.
Although other Iranian films have dealt with social problems, few have adopted such a brutally realistic style. There's an interesting parallel to be made with contemporary Chinese film. Some Chinese directors today are quoting the miniaturism of Iranian films -- the way that they often focus on a tiny incident to reveal a bigger truth -- as an influence. Conversely, "It's Winter" reflects the bleak realism of new Chinese films like Rotterdam winner "Walking on the Wild Side."
Cast:
Khatoun: Mitra Hadjar
Marhab: Ali Nicsolat
Ali Reza: Saeed Orkani
Mokhtar: Ashem Abdi
Screenwriter-director: Rafi Pitts; Based on a story by: Mahmoud Dowlatabadi; Producer: Mohammad Mehdi Dadgoo; Executive producer: Fereshteh Taerpour; Director of photography: Mohammad Davoodi; Art director: Malak D. Khazai; Music: Hossein Alizadeh, Mohammad Reza Shajarian; Editor: Hassan Hassandoost.
Director Rafi Pitts tells the story of some poverty-stricken Iranians attempting to live and love as they try to find and keep low-paying manual jobs, offering a view of contemporary Iran that is rarely put onscreen.
"It's Winter" might be too quiet and uneventful to make itself heard above the noise in the U.S, but festival programmers with a taste for Iranian films will find it fits the bill.
The story begins when lonely wife Khatoun's (Mitra Hadjar) depressed husband Mokhtar (Ashem Abdi) leaves their isolated house to search for work elsewhere. Young mechanic Marhab (Ali Nicsolat) falls for Khatoun and starts to woo her. Mokhtar fails to contact his wife and is presumed dead. So the mechanic begins a relationship with Khatoun. But the stresses of holding a humiliating job take a toll on their quiet romance.
The most interesting parts occur when Pitts takes the viewer inside the workshops and sweatshops of modern Iran. One striking shot shows a row of women in bright blue headscarves working at sewing machines. Meanwhile, the men slave away in a run-down garage that resembles a scrap yard. Their lives are bitterly hard and immediately recognizable.
The downbeat theme is clearly announced by use of an Iranian poem that talks about "the mark of winter's slap/On the sky's face." The frosty winter is a metaphor for the lives of the characters, who are made emotionally frigid and brittle by poverty. The main character spends much time lamenting that he's a great mechanic -- "I can fix anything!" -- but he still can't find a good job. The woman is powerless to change her situation and is resigned to her sad lot in life.
Although other Iranian films have dealt with social problems, few have adopted such a brutally realistic style. There's an interesting parallel to be made with contemporary Chinese film. Some Chinese directors today are quoting the miniaturism of Iranian films -- the way that they often focus on a tiny incident to reveal a bigger truth -- as an influence. Conversely, "It's Winter" reflects the bleak realism of new Chinese films like Rotterdam winner "Walking on the Wild Side."
Cast:
Khatoun: Mitra Hadjar
Marhab: Ali Nicsolat
Ali Reza: Saeed Orkani
Mokhtar: Ashem Abdi
Screenwriter-director: Rafi Pitts; Based on a story by: Mahmoud Dowlatabadi; Producer: Mohammad Mehdi Dadgoo; Executive producer: Fereshteh Taerpour; Director of photography: Mohammad Davoodi; Art director: Malak D. Khazai; Music: Hossein Alizadeh, Mohammad Reza Shajarian; Editor: Hassan Hassandoost.
..??
Comment