Since I'm doing an academic film class this week centered around the auteurship of Abbas Kiarostami , a director who I think of a one trick pony , I thought I'd immerse myself in the other works of other directors who make up the leadership of Iranian New Wave cinema and it's Jafar Panahi turn
One thing that becomes very clear clear very soon is how "samey" this cinematic movement is. Just about every Iranian film I've seen from this period is very similar in look and feel . The 1948 Italian film THE BICYCLE THIEVES along with other Italian Neorealist films , non professional cast , static camera work etc and the French director Robert Bresson , incidents taking place out of frame etc are major influences , so much so you tend to ask yourself if these Persian directors have any ideas of their own ? Not to be negative I'll always give a film and its makers a chance
As the film starts I had THE MIRROR nailed . A young schoolgirl finishes for the day and her mother isn't waiting for her at the school-gates . I know what's going to happen now . We're going to be watching a remake of Xenophon's Greek myth Anabasis where a Greek army is substituted an individual innocent Persian child finds herself in a potentially hostile environment . Never assume anything because it'll make an ass out of you and me
!!!!! MAJOR SPOILER !!!!!
Halfway through THE MIRROR there is a shock revelation where the fourth wall isn't so much broken but gets destroyed completely . To be fair to the production team I never saw this meta-fictional twist coming but by the same token it's all been done before with such examples being Michael Haneke's FUNNY GAMES from the same year or the 1970s BBC series GANGSTERS. I suppose if you're Iranian and have only seen Iranian films this might seem the most original and shocking film ever made. For those of us having the privilege of living in the West - and it is a privilege - we've seen it all before and destroys the emotional investment we've put it to the first half of the movie. "It's only a film" is a cliché that is very apt here and ironically destroys THE MIRROR
One thing that becomes very clear clear very soon is how "samey" this cinematic movement is. Just about every Iranian film I've seen from this period is very similar in look and feel . The 1948 Italian film THE BICYCLE THIEVES along with other Italian Neorealist films , non professional cast , static camera work etc and the French director Robert Bresson , incidents taking place out of frame etc are major influences , so much so you tend to ask yourself if these Persian directors have any ideas of their own ? Not to be negative I'll always give a film and its makers a chance
As the film starts I had THE MIRROR nailed . A young schoolgirl finishes for the day and her mother isn't waiting for her at the school-gates . I know what's going to happen now . We're going to be watching a remake of Xenophon's Greek myth Anabasis where a Greek army is substituted an individual innocent Persian child finds herself in a potentially hostile environment . Never assume anything because it'll make an ass out of you and me
!!!!! MAJOR SPOILER !!!!!
Halfway through THE MIRROR there is a shock revelation where the fourth wall isn't so much broken but gets destroyed completely . To be fair to the production team I never saw this meta-fictional twist coming but by the same token it's all been done before with such examples being Michael Haneke's FUNNY GAMES from the same year or the 1970s BBC series GANGSTERS. I suppose if you're Iranian and have only seen Iranian films this might seem the most original and shocking film ever made. For those of us having the privilege of living in the West - and it is a privilege - we've seen it all before and destroys the emotional investment we've put it to the first half of the movie. "It's only a film" is a cliché that is very apt here and ironically destroys THE MIRROR