Me: You got the art of getting somebody to watch a movie, dont you. Mehroo: Do I? Or the guy who thinks I do. !!
2012-01-24 13:15:28
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I like the way you have written this. I think this piece differentiates between review, discussion and criticism. Usually, people mix them up. I somehow got strange feeling that you are trying to separate art from science at the level of thinking....as much as we can disagree about the whole thing, I think greatest of art forms have come out of very rigorous critical thinking backed by terrific creativity. And Separation is not any different. Making such films needs strong understanding of society and values in which film is set, and then making crucial decisions on what to keep, what to discard, how to design the scene, emotion etc etc. The myth that art is something that 'just happens' and falls from the sky is something we should resist even if it massages our ego. But, yes, Iranian women are so beautiful, and Iranian society itself is not what it seems. I just wish the majority asserts itself!
2012-01-26 07:28:50
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I studied few Iranian films of Samira Makhmalbaf in my last term. She is a fantastic young filmmaker. I recommend "Blackboards". It is just wonderful how deep these filmmakers search for material from their own society. I think the forced censorship in Iran has helped them do it. They have very little space to manoeuvre, and they are forced to work really really hard!
2012-01-26 07:34:25
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Udhav, Greatest art forms doesn't really need to be an output of rigorous rationale. It can be from anything. People whom I have loathed for their socio-political praxis have been exceptional story tellers, for example Jeyamohan. Have you read "Peruvali" by him? Typical JeMo's theological core but how artistically he makes into a short story can awe any good art connoisseur. I do science for my living and have thrown up all other opportunities to do science as it is more fulfilling but it does not stop me from wondering arts which has a theological core. Constructing an intricate theory in a movie always fascinates me, even if I disagree with it. You construct a theory by relaying from one practice to another and vice versa. I think we will be discussing these differences between us more when you write critical pieces on other movies. Should be interesting.
2012-01-26 10:50:21
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Prakash - By rationale, I don't mean all-encompassing scientific thinking. But art itself needs sound systematic thinking. To spin a yarn around an idea, one needs to work really hard on the content and form. The art of making a Nazi propaganda film was simply spell binding. What I am saying is that art is not something that 'just happens'. There is a lot of method to madness.. .
2012-01-26 17:58:40
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Article written 2012-01-24 00:52:08
Have you ever stared at a door for three continous hours without doing anything else? Absolutely nothing else? Not advisable! But I dont think I was given a choice. Or was I? Anyways, I have decided to pen this down and get it out of me.
I am writing this from a cafe in Vienna where she left me three hours ago.It all started with a drunken conversation last night in the room of a tourist hostel where wifi really works. I can say from her hello that she was Iranian. The conversation was a roller coaster ride, from Forugh Farrokhzad to Kader Abdollah. But that isn't the point, she invited me for a coffee today.
I chose a seat close to a window, wait,would it be much more readable if I delineate from here on in a conversation format? By the way, I prefer to call her Mehroo, though that isn't her name.
Mehroo: Salam, not a bad weather for winter.
Me: Not at all, but I do like winter.
Mehroo : I dont think so. You look gloomy today, so unlike that crazy guy who pulled my hair when I was about to leave.
Me: Haha, Did I? Well, I have been gloomy for quiet a while. But that movie made me even more depressed.
Mehroo: A separation, you have seen it? I wish it wins Oscars. But, what is there for YOU to be depressed?
I didnt like the stress.
Me: Well, the meaninglessness of life is depicted to perfection.
Mehroo: Meaninglessness what? I would disagree with you. But tell me more
Have you guys noticed this? Girls usually like to play it defensive. They let us talk and then acutely point out the inconsistencies winning hands down. Nevertheless the game has to be played.
Me: To start with, I do scientific modelling for my living. Do you know whats the most difficult part in a modelling?
Mehroo: I don't. But I do know that you probably don't want me to walk away. So get this straight, spare me from your scientific blah blah.
Me: No, let me complete. It is easy to construct binaries in a model. A completely perfect system and the other extreme. But it is near impossible to model real scenario with all the parameters. Usually, movies too are binary. A good guy-bad guy and so on. A separation stunned me as it has been able to portray real life to near perfection.
Mehroo: Whom do you sympathize with the most?
Me: Do you mark me after this Q and A session?
Mehroo: Nah! The first scene was particularly impressive, both of them are supposed to be talking to a judge but I felt that they are talking to us. Leila has a point.
Me: Sorry...Leila?
Mehroo: Oops, Leila is the original name of Simin. As she mentions in the movie, I do think that the circumstances are getting difficult day by day. The pressure has been multifold on Iran by the west. They don't even take Iranian students for higher studies nowadays. Ridiculous.
Me: I see. But then, would you leave your father who is suffering from Alzheimer?
Mehroo: Probably not. Life is all about making tough choices
Me: No, its about being unable to make one.
Mehroo: We differ, Prakash. Multiple perspectives have made this movie interesting.
Me: May be, Asghar Farhadi did so to demolish me having any perspective on this movie.
Mehroo: You are wiggling away from the initial question still. What made you depressed?
Me: Typical obstinacy. Well, before that how can one define this movie holistically? Impossible. The class warfare between those two families? or is it about that relationship between father and son when his father cant even recognize his son? Or is it about those two children who are caught between a tug-of-war that they are by no way responsible?
Mehroo: You still fall short. Is it a movie which depicts a common human nature irrespective of the fact they are secular or religious? Or is it the other way around, in a way it refuses to accept something like a "human-nature"
Me: True, the scene in which Razieh calls a religious guy to check if she can clean the old man is stunning. She is caught between what is religious and what is human!
Mehroo: Well, sophistry, Prakash! The secular guy too lied in the court that he is not aware of Razieh being pregnant but later went on to confess that to his girl, Termeh. Remember the scene in which he asks Termeh to come back with her mum if she feels that he is guilty? His kid is his consciousness. He puts himself in a lose-lose situation but still is able to smile when his kid believes he is not guilty.
Me: I dont really object that. Infact, everyone in the movie is compelled to lie. Razieh, Termeh, Nadir, Simin, everyone.
Mehroo: I am getting tired of reminding you my question.
Me: Ok. I related myself more with Houjat. He has portrayed a depressed guy to perfection. Going through that phase in life or simply going through life in my words, one can empathize him clearly. He shouts out of anger and inability to wage a judicial war against a more sophisticated middle class guy. Later he succumbs to life in a way when he is forced to take the money.
Mehroo: Thats all?
Me: Mehroo, dont keep on pressing. Those invisible walls formed between relationships and those absurd moments. When Termeh greets her mom with a Salam, I can feel the separation. I needed a hug putting myself under the shoes of Termeh. Depressed souls need a hug now and then.
Mehroo all of a sudden took my hand and placed it between her face and neck. I think the words from my mouth from that point would not have made any semantic meaning.
Me: I still think that well the, yes possibly, the best scene is when Razieh was pleading guilty to Nader in the scene..
My hands were dangerously descending (no, I didn't move). The same heart beat when I write this down! My conjecture is that I closed my eyes. When I opened it, she was laughing out loud.
Mehroo: You should have seen yourself on the mirror!
Me: Wish I could. Coming back to what I said, there are two outstanding scenes. One is when Razieh pleads guilty and one is when the rigid and less-expressive Nadir cries out aloud when he washes his father. Both moved me to tears.
Mehroo: I do think the list can be endless.
Me: Everyone loses. The point of paying money, the attempts of reconciliation between Nadir and Simin, the moment when Houjat bangs himself on the door asking Razieh to make a false promise on Quran to save their debt sinking family, everyone loses. Life is absurd, Mehroo.
Mehroo: Asghar chose to show so. What if the couples reconciled? What if Houjat was able to clear his debts?
Me: Still, it wouldn't have made any difference.
Mehroo: It wouldn't have made a difference if we did not met each other yesterday? It wouldnt have made a difference when you kept your eyes closed? You lie Prakash, shamelessly.
Me: Mehroo, those moments will eventually look absurd later.
I did feel like losing something but all I could do was to utter these out.
Mehroo: It wouldn't make a difference if I walk away, Prakash?
Me: Your stay makes me happy, happy in an absurd way. My prolonged stay with you can make you insane. Am so.
Mehroo: I don't take time to judge people. For one last time, it doesn't make a difference to you if I walk away?
Me: Life is about understanding people rather than judging them. It can make a difference now, but say if we live together, we enjoy the moments, we succeed in profession and then? The whole life is absurd, Mehroo.
She left me before I completed my last sentence, a separation, I would say. But then you only feel a separation when you have felt the intimacy, I did.
Me: Haha, Did I? Well, I have been gloomy for quiet a while. But that movie made me even more depressed.
Mehroo: A separation, you have seen it? I wish it wins Oscars. But, what is there for YOU to be depressed?
I didnt like the stress.
Me: Well, the meaninglessness of life is depicted to perfection.
Mehroo: Meaninglessness what? I would disagree with you. But tell me more
Have you guys noticed this? Girls usually like to play it defensive. They let us talk and then acutely point out the inconsistencies winning hands down. Nevertheless the game has to be played.
Me: To start with, I do scientific modelling for my living. Do you know whats the most difficult part in a modelling?
Mehroo: I don't. But I do know that you probably don't want me to walk away. So get this straight, spare me from your scientific blah blah.
Me: No, let me complete. It is easy to construct binaries in a model. A completely perfect system and the other extreme. But it is near impossible to model real scenario with all the parameters. Usually, movies too are binary. A good guy-bad guy and so on. A separation stunned me as it has been able to portray real life to near perfection.
Mehroo: Whom do you sympathize with the most?
Me: Do you mark me after this Q and A session?
Mehroo: Nah! The first scene was particularly impressive, both of them are supposed to be talking to a judge but I felt that they are talking to us. Leila has a point.
Me: Sorry...Leila?
Mehroo: Oops, Leila is the original name of Simin. As she mentions in the movie, I do think that the circumstances are getting difficult day by day. The pressure has been multifold on Iran by the west. They don't even take Iranian students for higher studies nowadays. Ridiculous.
Me: I see. But then, would you leave your father who is suffering from Alzheimer?
Mehroo: Probably not. Life is all about making tough choices
Me: No, its about being unable to make one.
Mehroo: We differ, Prakash. Multiple perspectives have made this movie interesting.
Me: May be, Asghar Farhadi did so to demolish me having any perspective on this movie.
Mehroo: You are wiggling away from the initial question still. What made you depressed?
Me: Typical obstinacy. Well, before that how can one define this movie holistically? Impossible. The class warfare between those two families? or is it about that relationship between father and son when his father cant even recognize his son? Or is it about those two children who are caught between a tug-of-war that they are by no way responsible?
Mehroo: You still fall short. Is it a movie which depicts a common human nature irrespective of the fact they are secular or religious? Or is it the other way around, in a way it refuses to accept something like a "human-nature"
Me: True, the scene in which Razieh calls a religious guy to check if she can clean the old man is stunning. She is caught between what is religious and what is human!
Mehroo: Well, sophistry, Prakash! The secular guy too lied in the court that he is not aware of Razieh being pregnant but later went on to confess that to his girl, Termeh. Remember the scene in which he asks Termeh to come back with her mum if she feels that he is guilty? His kid is his consciousness. He puts himself in a lose-lose situation but still is able to smile when his kid believes he is not guilty.
Me: I dont really object that. Infact, everyone in the movie is compelled to lie. Razieh, Termeh, Nadir, Simin, everyone.
Mehroo: I am getting tired of reminding you my question.
Me: Ok. I related myself more with Houjat. He has portrayed a depressed guy to perfection. Going through that phase in life or simply going through life in my words, one can empathize him clearly. He shouts out of anger and inability to wage a judicial war against a more sophisticated middle class guy. Later he succumbs to life in a way when he is forced to take the money.
Mehroo: Thats all?
Me: Mehroo, dont keep on pressing. Those invisible walls formed between relationships and those absurd moments. When Termeh greets her mom with a Salam, I can feel the separation. I needed a hug putting myself under the shoes of Termeh. Depressed souls need a hug now and then.
Mehroo all of a sudden took my hand and placed it between her face and neck. I think the words from my mouth from that point would not have made any semantic meaning.
Me: I still think that well the, yes possibly, the best scene is when Razieh was pleading guilty to Nader in the scene..
My hands were dangerously descending (no, I didn't move). The same heart beat when I write this down! My conjecture is that I closed my eyes. When I opened it, she was laughing out loud.
Mehroo: You should have seen yourself on the mirror!
Me: Wish I could. Coming back to what I said, there are two outstanding scenes. One is when Razieh pleads guilty and one is when the rigid and less-expressive Nadir cries out aloud when he washes his father. Both moved me to tears.
Mehroo: I do think the list can be endless.
Me: Everyone loses. The point of paying money, the attempts of reconciliation between Nadir and Simin, the moment when Houjat bangs himself on the door asking Razieh to make a false promise on Quran to save their debt sinking family, everyone loses. Life is absurd, Mehroo.
Mehroo: Asghar chose to show so. What if the couples reconciled? What if Houjat was able to clear his debts?
Me: Still, it wouldn't have made any difference.
Mehroo: It wouldn't have made a difference if we did not met each other yesterday? It wouldnt have made a difference when you kept your eyes closed? You lie Prakash, shamelessly.
Me: Mehroo, those moments will eventually look absurd later.
I did feel like losing something but all I could do was to utter these out.
Mehroo: It wouldn't make a difference if I walk away, Prakash?
Me: Your stay makes me happy, happy in an absurd way. My prolonged stay with you can make you insane. Am so.
Mehroo: I don't take time to judge people. For one last time, it doesn't make a difference to you if I walk away?
Me: Life is about understanding people rather than judging them. It can make a difference now, but say if we live together, we enjoy the moments, we succeed in profession and then? The whole life is absurd, Mehroo.
She left me before I completed my last sentence, a separation, I would say. But then you only feel a separation when you have felt the intimacy, I did.
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