Iran through the lens of Jafar Panasi

Johathan 2022-04-20 09:02:20

The director of the film personally drove a taxi to pick up passengers on the streets of Iran. Through the chat of 8 passengers, he exposed an ugly but real Iran for us.

Female teachers and male thieves argued on whether the death penalty could prevent crimes. Female teachers believed that special circumstances created crimes and that theft was a last resort measure taken by thieves. The death penalty did not address the root cause of the problem. And the male thief insists that he only robs the rich, not the poor, and the thief who steals the poor deserves to be put to death. If the problem does not improve, it only means that the canon is not strict enough.

The pirated disc dealers believe that they are running a great cultural undertaking. Foreign films will never be released in Iran, and pirated discs can provide a source of creativity for those film majors and major directors.

According to the law, when the husband dies, the wife gets nothing and ends up sleeping on the streets. After a car accident, a man recorded a video will to protect his wife's rights and let her inherit all the property.

The two superstitious old women firmly believe that the goldfish that have been raised for a whole year should be released at the time of birth each year to prolong their lives, otherwise they will die soon.

The quirky little niece wonders why the movie can't reflect the real events, and the released movies are all harmonious movies. For example, it is not a fact that the scavenger boy collects gold, but such a fact cannot be released, and the money must be returned under the direction of the director to comply with the film release system. On the one hand, it is required to seek truth from facts, but if the truth is negative, it cannot be filmed that disturbs the harmony, and the facts must be changed and put on the screen. Which ones should be true and which ones are not?

Knowing that the person who committed the crime will be executed, the old neighbor was robbed by the impoverished acquaintance and did not dare to call the police. I hope the director can make this into a movie one day.

A female lawyer barred from working for three years for a ride to visit a girl who was arrested for going to the stadium to watch a game, went on a hunger strike and was forced to lie.

"Five years ago, the director filmed the film "Circle of Life", which depicts the discrimination and oppression of women in Iranian society, and won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. No filming for 20 years, and no leaving Iran." This film was made during the ban, so the whole film was shot in a taxi. At the end of the film, the two thieves searched in the taxi and said, "I didn't find the memory card." It can be seen that the director's words and deeds are being monitored, and life has become a prison.

Because of the single shooting location and the poor shooting facilities, the whole film is about ordinary civilians talking about various social phenomena in Iran in front of the camera, and then through the director's unmodified lens, we are presented with the death penalty and poverty. Closed, male superiority, superstitious religion, no freedom of speech in Iran.

Iran under the director's camera is really ugly. He exposes the problem to the public eye, trying to find a good way to solve the problem, without escaping from reality, and not whitewashing peace is the first step in solving the problem.

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Extended Reading

Top cast

Taxi quotes

  • Jafar Panahi: Those films are already made, those books are already written. You have to look elsewhere, you have to find it for yourself.

  • Jafar Panahi: I think all movies are worth watching. Depends on your taste.

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