A Study of Iranian films from three perspectives

Abstract

Iranian film industry is one of the major film industries in the world. Highly acclaimed by critics, Iranian films revolve around families and personal life. Out of all the great movies, we have chosen six films which are least worked upon. These films form part of the three chapters in the thesis. Saman Salur’s A Few Kilos of Dates for a Funeral (2006) and Abbas Kiarostami’s Taste of Cherry (1997) are analyzed from the minimalistic point of view. Both the films are character based where the love and survival are the major themes. We claim that the inanimate objects used in the films are integral to the plot development. Women and tradition are the focal points of analysis in Dariush Mehrjui’s Leila (1996) and Marzieh Meshkini’s The Day I Became a Woman (2000). The analysis brings out the relationship between women, traditional beliefs and customs. Jafar Panahi’s The White Balloon (1995) and Bahman Ghobadi’s Turtles Can Fly (2004) are taken up for analysis. The portrayal of socio-political scenario in Iran foregrounding children is the main focus in this chapter. Children are used to show the societal and political situation in Iran. The thesis attempts an in-depth analysis of the themes and bring out the contemporary relevance that the Iranian movies outline.