Last week I saw the movie Women Without Men which I’ll write a review for later in another blog. In this blog I want to talk about movies that are made or can be made in free societies such as America or Europe or elsewhere. What good is all the attention and controversies about Iran if we can’t make good use of it.
I think there should be more movies with an Iranian twist made outside Iran where there is no restriction or censorship. Just top of my head I can think of a few like Maryam (2002) or House of Sand and Fog (2003) or Unveiled (2005). There is also the imfamous Not Without My Daughter (1991) or The Stoning Of Soraya M (2008).
I’m sure there are more that I’m missing but after seeing Women Without Men I thought why aren’t more movies made from a historical perspective? We have 50 years of Pahlavi dynasty which produced the leaders of the 1979 revolution and a whole lot of stories which were never told under the Monarchy. Had Iran became a democracy there would have been many movies made about that era. Some are made but they are cheezy and under censorship and women wear scarves! So they are no good.
Hollywood makes a lot of movies or even re-make of old movies about newsmakers or fascinating people from different walks of life. For example, movies about Martin Luther King or Malcolm X or Lincoln or Nixon or even Clinton in Primary Colors or Nelson Mandela and so on and so forth. Sometimes there are several movies made about a person or an event or a story.
Iranian directors and filmmakers have done a good job making movies about Iran after the revolution and life under Islamic Republic. Considering the censorship and the problems the regime puts in their way, by and large they’ve done a good job. There are a lot more stories to be told when some day the censorship goes away like after the Shah but until that day movies can be made outside Iran which will find its way into Iran like all other movies anyway.
I think the problem of not having enough Iranian movies is probably the money and with limited resources it is very difficult to make good movies and then these movies get a reputation of being made on the cheap. But they can still be made and become successful. Iranian actors don’t have to play foreign roles to get accolades like Shohreh Aghdashloo getting an Emmy for her portrayal of Saddam’s wife in House of Saddam. She or someone else can play Shah’s wife and be in a good movie or a mini series. Or an American actor can play and Iranian character in a good movie like Ben Kingsley playing Mossadegh, he played Gandhi and he can play Mossadegh.
If you know of some good Iranian movies made outside Iran please post them. I’m sure if any Iranian movie was made outside Iran i.com has it listed here somewhere, problem is you have to know the title to look for it!
