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Undoubtedly Mohsen Makhmalbaf is the best known contemporary Iranian film director. His films, most notable Marriage of the Blessed and The Actor, are extremely emotional and characterized by a compelling cinematic dynamism as well as a daring mix of surrealism and satire. Stardust Stricken provides a cinematic introduction to Makhmalbaf in terms of both his early life and works. This rather rough documentary by Houshang Golmakani, a leading Iranian film critics, combines interviews with the director with sequences from his films to develop both topics. Makhmalbaf was born in one of the poorer sections of Tehran and as a teenager was engaged in clandestine political actions as part of a guerilla group he had helped to form. While attempt to disarm a policeman he was shot and arrested. After four years in jail this was prior to the revolution, an experience dramatized in his film Boycott, Makhmalbaf turned to the cinema as his chief means of political expression. This documentary touches on the process by which Makhmalbaf started off as a fundamentalist filmmaker and underwent a radical transformation. Makhmalbaf speaks about this life, childhood, political and cultural activities, and his personal cinematic style.Makhmalbaf's characters endure deeply personal trials in nightmarish environments that bring out the director's ability to disturb his audiences. Clearly Makhmalbaf is an idealist forced to confront the failures of the revolution to bring about the desired transformation of his country into a perfect Islamic Republic where the ills of society would be ended. Marriage of the Blessed, in which Makhmalbaf tells of a photojournalist who returns from the Iran Iraq war shell shocked and disillusioned, is the director's key work in as much as it was the controversial film that made it difficult for him to get clearance from the censors for his next several films. The result was a move away from explicit political commentary to a more, I hate to say it, secular humanism, as seen in his successful films Gabbeh and Once Upon A Time, Cinema. However, I must admit I have my suspicions as to the darker meaning of his film The Actor, where a popular comedian despairs over his inability to make a serious film. Gong e Khab Dideh, Zendegi, Asar va Andishehayve Mohsen Makhmalbaf is a 70 minute documentary in Farsi with English subtitles. The more familiar you are with Makhmalbaf's films, the more you will obviously get out of watching this. I have only come to Makhmalbaf's works lately and I know it is not only his cinematic flair but his precarious political position that makes his films so powerful in my mind. I mean, this is a man who lives in a world where he can be executed for making films. I watch more than my fair share of foreign films and Makhmalbaf is the first filmmaker in quite some time to make me really sit up and take notice. In his case, finding out more about the details of his life provides great insights into his films, even when they are not clearly autobiographical. I especially liked the section where Golmakani develop's Makhmalbaf's cinematic theory just by using scenes from some of this films to make each point. After you have checked out several of Makhmalbaf's films, this documentary will prove to be well worth your while.
ISBN: B00005JHAT
Author: Director: Houshang Golmakani
Category: Film
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