The film in question is The House is Black
(خانه سیاه است, Khaaneh Siaah Ast) directed
by famous Iranian poet Forough Farrokhzad in 1962. House is notable not
only for being the only film in her resume, but because the ever-controversial,
iconoclast poet was at the height of her fame when the film came out. Forough,
who is famous for the implicit sexuality and the openly critical feminism of
her poems, had just finished her fourth and penultimate collection, and was
faced with public criticism and negative pressure in a society where Islam and
its problematic views on women were not only dominant, but intensifying rapidly
as the country was moving toward the Islamic Revolution. Forough had always
swum against the current, but The House is Black was a change in
direction.
She didn’t sacrifice her views, of course; the film was as open, heartfelt and honest as her poetry. In fact, her poems are prominent in the voiceover, too. But the change was rooted in something else: the film’s subject matter. This was at once her most universal and most specific work. It wasn’t the type of pained romanticism that alienated as many people as it invited to her poetry. It was an agonizing story of the most estranged section of the population, but elevated from mundane miserablism to heartbreaking poignancy through her sympathetic lens and the sheer brilliance of her words.
She didn’t sacrifice her views, of course; the film was as open, heartfelt and honest as her poetry. In fact, her poems are prominent in the voiceover, too. But the change was rooted in something else: the film’s subject matter. This was at once her most universal and most specific work. It wasn’t the type of pained romanticism that alienated as many people as it invited to her poetry. It was an agonizing story of the most estranged section of the population, but elevated from mundane miserablism to heartbreaking poignancy through her sympathetic lens and the sheer brilliance of her words.
The House is Black - which is a fleetingly lyrical documentary – is shot inside Behkadeye Raji, a planned colony for victims of leprosy in the Northwest of Iran. Upon visiting the institution, Forough was so touched that it compelled her to make her first foray into the world of cinema. This film came as a result of her collaboration with Ebrahim Golestan, one of Iran’s leading directors and producers at the time, who was certain Forough’s poetic vision would transfer to the silver screen and make for a unique perspective on this institution.
The astonishing technical aspects of the film –
its stoic and crisp cinematography and sharp editing – and its moving story aside,
what makes House truly special is the way Forough walks a very fine line
in her criticism of Islam. Here, she’s more implicit than she’s ever been:
never making arguments or passing judgement, but cleverly placing verses of the
Koran throughout. The bleak condition of life among the victims is juxtaposed
to their firm religious beliefs, leaving the audience to wonder about the
deep-rooted status of the religion in the Iranian psyche. Just how far are can
people be pushed before they lose their faith, if at all? There are no answers
given by Forough, only questions asked.
Over the years, since my first encounter with her
poetry as a teen, I’ve always been touched very deeply by her work. Her melodic
words speak to me more personally than any other poet’s. Yet, for all my love
for what she’s done in that arena, it is this film that I always point to as the
pinnacle of her career. I’ve watched it countless number of times and the film’s
shattering final scene still brings me to tears every time. Every single time.
What a beautiful review. Now I seriously want to see this movie. It sounds wonderful, I am interested in Iranian culture, and many of the themes here intrigue me. I wonder whether I can find this in the U.S. Thanks for introducing me to this poet/film-maker, Amir. I look forward to more installments in this series.
ReplyDeleteThanks Stephanie.
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned at the beginning though, the youtube version is the full version and it's almost as good a quality as there is.
Amir, I ran across your link on The House is Black piece on Wonders in the Dark by Allan Fish (which I had re-posted to encourage people to vote for it in that week's poll and it worked! 9 votes, more than shorts usually get in that series and hopefully some of them watched it for the first time).
ReplyDeleteI love the way you put the film in context here, because I knew little about this except that Forugh was a poet who died tragically soon after the movie was shown. It's one of my favorite films of all time (although I've only watched it once - it's one of those experiences I want to reserve for the right moment), and certainly I think one of the greatest, but I didn't know too much about the background.
And nice to see Andrew of Encore is still out there. For some reason I lost track of his blog (I thought it was on my blogroll) and thought he'd stopped writing.
Finally, as for talking to oneself - I find it's often worthwhile. You never know who's listening.
-Joel (a/k/a MovieMan0283)
Joel - Thanks for dropping by. I always appreciate new readers.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you like this film and even happier it's getting a lot more exposure recently after the S&S list. I've been a bit lazy in getting around to newer episodes of this series but I was hoping to give context to some of the lesser known works of Iranian cinema so I'm happy to see I've succeeded a little bit.
And yes, Andrew is around and writing as well as ever. Just on a mini-hiatus at the moment.