Kiarostami Stuns Venice With Kurdish Tale
By Merissa Marr
Sept 6, VENICE, Italy (Reuters) - If you're after action-packed drama,
Abbas Kiarostami's films may not be for you. (Related
photo)
If instead you're looking for beautiful photography and a simple story
that lovingly explores the rituals of a local population, the acclaimed
director's new film ``Le vent nous emportera'' (''The wind will take us'')
may be just the ticket.
Premiering at the Venice Film Festival Monday, Kiarostami's film follows
the travails of a group of people from Tehran who visit a remote Kurdish
village looking for -- something.
In typical Kiarostami style, that ``something'' is for the viewer to
work out as he deliberately leaves holes in the plot for the audience to
fill in while building the scene with sweeping shots of wheat fields and
the Iranian countryside.
``I prefer the kind of film-making that relies on the viewers' imagination
so that they take part...themselves,'' the 59-year-old director told a
news conference.
The Cannes Palme d'Or winner sets a slow pace to explore everyday events
in the village, like getting milk and drinking tea as well as more startling
rituals such as women scratching their faces in mourning.
The film is already being tipped as a possible winner. As in his other
films, Kiarostami used non-professional actors and spotted protagonist
Behzad Dourani walking down
the street one day. He also used locals from the village, many of whom
had never watched a film before.
``The village was so remote they were not aware of film-making but that
meant they weren't embarrassed by the camera. They were very natural,''
Kiarostami said, speaking in Farsi.
Despite the choice of a remote village in the Kurd-populated area of
Iran, Kiarostami said the film had no political message.
``If viewers have the impression of receiving a direct political message,
it's up to them but it's not my intention,'' said the director who won
the Cannes film festival Palme d'Or for ``Ta'm e guilass'' (''Taste of
a Cherry'') in 1997.
Also in competition Monday, Portuguese director Alberto Seixas Santos
presented ``Mal'' (''Evil'') which follows a theme of physical and moral
evil.
It tells the story of Cathy who becomes infected with AIDS from her
promiscuous husband Pedro and how their lives become entwined with delinquent
Daniel, a drug addict.
``In a film in which the main theme is evil and its power of contamination,
I wanted each scene to influence the rhythm and tone of the next,'' the
63-year-old Seixas Santos said.
``I have taken on problems which I hear about daily on public transport,
in the street, in restaurants, schools, papers, TV and at home.''
Eighteen films are in competition for Venice's top Golden Lion prize
including Jane Campion's ``Holy Smoke'' and Antonio Banderas' ``Crazy in
Alabama.''
The festival ends on September 11.
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