In the screening list in September 2016, Xiaoxitian Art Cinema arranged a memorial exhibition for Abbas. I didn't know him well. I bought a ticket to watch "Where Is My Friend's Home" entirely because of the movie poster. .
In the special blue background, the swirling old trees, the rough courtyard gate, and the children looking out, I thought it was a story with a magical theme before, but what I didn't want the movie to unfold was a realist picture. The plot is simple, but the theme of the story is clear, there are not many characters, but the social relations are fully displayed.
The film is very comfortable to watch, and the flow of life is smooth, but after watching it, it can make people reminisce for a long time. This is the film review I wrote on the tenth day after watching the film. At this moment, I can still remember those impressive pictures in my mind.
The silent status of children
From the theme of the film, this film revolves around "children" and "rules". The point of "child" is easy to find, because the child is the protagonist, whether it is on the poster or the title of the movie, you can easily realize the existence of the child. The film begins with an old wooden door that creaks and sways back and forth. The sound is filled with the sound of children chatting, and the angle of the camera is directly on the door latch, which is the perspective brought by the child's height.
It should be said that the child has appeared as the first protagonist at this time, but it is hidden. The first person to really enter the picture and attract attention is an adult (the children's teacher). After he entered the door, he began to dominate the scene, yelling at the students to be quiet, and after packing up his jacket, he then asked the students why they didn't know how to maintain discipline, and began to check their homework. In a film dominated by children, the first dominant character is an adult, and Abbas is trying to tell us the "silent status" of the "child" in the adult world, or "the weaker position" in more modern terms. .
This status is more apparent in the second half of the film. The mother who did the laundry didn't believe the little protagonist's words at all. In her eyes, the child's words could only be excuses; the grandfather sitting at the entrance of the village didn't care about the little protagonist's problem of not being able to buy bread, and was completely immersed in what he should do as an elder. The disobedient children are taught a lesson; the businessman who sells iron gates expresses this kind of "disobedience" and "don't care" to the fullest. Ignore the little protagonist's inquiries over and over again. The same words were repeated in the helpless mouth of the little protagonist, but everyone present seemed to be unable to hear, and no one responded.
Perhaps, what we are talking about here is the relationship between authority and individuals. There is an obvious misalignment between the positions of fathers (grandfathers, mothers) and children, teachers and students, adults and children. In the existing logic of social rules, one side is the person holding the loudspeaker, and the other side is the person who opens his mouth but does not make a sound. In this order, respect and fairness naturally become issues worthy of attention.
The word "rule", the rule-breaker
, from the teacher saying "homework should be written in the workbook", to the grandfather saying "you can forget to give pocket money, but you will never forget it" when talking to someone. are directly and even naked. As for the rules of the school, the rules of old and young... The children are actually listening and doing them carefully. If the little protagonist hadn't listened to the rules taught by the teacher, he wouldn't have been in a hurry and had to send the homework back at night. For friends, there will be no plot development. Even when it was hard to find a friend's house, he finally gave up the task he started by following the rules because of the "it's late, don't disturb them" rule.
However, teachers and elders who tell the rules to their children have become the real rule breakers. The teacher didn't let the children be late, but he was late in the first act. The grandfather asked his grandson to be polite and obedient, but he did it by deceiving the children that he didn't have a cigarette in his hand.
This is a very ironic setting, but also a real situation. Adults are the makers of social rules (rules) and breakers at the same time, they make their children abide by the rules, but they themselves flout the rules. Moreover, the movie implies that in such a social reality, in many cases, tasks can only be accomplished by breaking the rules. For example, the little protagonist finally uses the unruly method of "helping the same desk with homework" to successfully help the same desk. "Escape from danger", and this kind of successful result was never achieved by his breathless running again and again.
A metaphorical symbol of a beautiful vision
However, Abbas did not express the theme of "children" and "rules" very heavily, but showed it with children's brisk running and tireless searching. In the world of simple and innocent children, failure and exhaustion are not such heavy burdens. Their logic is pure, and even if they are lost, happiness is happiness, even if the happiness only comes from the last tablemate and not being criticized by the teacher. Abbas shows the childishness in a natural and full-bodied way, without the pretentiousness and rigidity of the stage. Of course, the adults are not all cold-hearted. The mother secretly brings food to the little protagonist, and the old man from the neighboring village who is a craftsman accompanies the search. The little flower caught in the workbook is all from the real world. The warmth and kindness of children are the root of children's happy growth and our hope.
Finally, talk about the metaphor of doors and windows in the film. I don't have an in-depth understanding of the social situation in Iran, but I can clearly feel that Abbas uses traditional handmade doors and windows as symbols representing Iranian traditions. On the street late at night, the beautifully crafted and beautifully patterned wooden windows projected graphics on the walls of the street under the light of the house. The graphics represent Iranian aesthetics and are metaphors for history and culture. However, the iron doors that merchants sell everywhere, which will not break for a lifetime, eventually occupy the position of wooden windows and doors, and more and more people who move to the city also forget the wooden doors and windows. Urbanization and commercialization will inevitably have an impact on the rural culture and traditional culture of Iran. Whether this evolution is good or bad, Abbas did not comment too much, but the beautiful window lattices reflected on the wall Shadow painting, has expressed an attitude.
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