1. Abbas Kiarostami has successfully combined the documentary aesthetics, long-shot aesthetics and poetry perfected by the new wave of French cinema, with the cinematic translation of poetry or the cinematic interpretation of poetry.
2. This is a moment in film history and a moment of human emotion. Between all the barrenness, barrenness and dilapidation, there is always true love, and there is always a little warmth in the human heart that illuminates our world.
Today I share with you the famous work "Where Is My Friend's Home" by Abbas Kiarostami. Abbas Kiarostami is a famous Iranian director and one of my favorites. This cinematic maestro left us in 2016, leaving us torn apart and heartbroken.
Abbas Kiarostami, he, like Kieslowski, was after me when they entered the world of cinema. This director and his creations are accompanied by my personal life experience, so it is a little difficult to choose his films, many films will enter my mind, and many films I have also studied in different schools. I shared it with my classmates in the video intensive reading class. In the end, I decided to choose his famous work, and to a certain extent, his feature-length debut -- "Where Is My Friend's Home". Because it is this film that constitutes a moment in film history, the beginning of a new wave of Iranian cinema, and also the formation of Abbas Kiarostami's personal style.
This is the first time that the world of Iran has been unfolded in front of the whole world through a movie lens and a movie screen. People can see the Iranian society and the daily life of Iranians through the screen. Abbas Kiarostami and many others are opposed to the stigmatization of the Islamic world and the prejudices and imaginations that have been formed against them because of their unfamiliarity, which has been intensifying since then. The works of excellent Iranian directors have been flattering and lifting the veil, allowing us to see the real Iran, the Iran of ordinary people, and the Iran of Iranians.
This film was filmed in 1987, which was a very interesting year. 1987 was the year when the new Chinese films, which were represented by the fourth and fifth generations, began to ebb or even end as the new wave. It's not that these directors are no longer creating, it's just that the revolution in the aesthetics of cinema that they represent is coming to an end, and it's the year that a new wave of Iranian cinema is aroused, a new wave originating in Europe begins to move to Asia, where The waves are gradually rising everywhere, bringing different revolutions in film aesthetics one by one.
If this is the only case, it cannot constitute the new wave of Iranian cinema. More importantly, Abbas Kiarostami and many excellent Iranian directors have been very successful in bringing together the new wave of French cinema. The perfected documentary aesthetics, long-shot aesthetics and poetry are successfully combined with the cinematic translation of poetry or the cinematic interpretation of poetry. It's a record, and it's a verse at the same time. This is the meeting and combination of aesthetic poles in Abbas Kiarostami's lens.
With this film, Abbas Kiarostami initiates a cinematic visual expression of bitter tenderness - it is bitter tenderness rather than an artificial expression of emotion, it is in some kind of nakedness, in some kind of To put it bluntly, it is the most genuine and simple emotion that emerges from the barrenness. Although the heavy bitterness still exists at the moment when this emotion emerges, this bitterness cannot weaken the tenderness in the slightest, nor can it weaken it. It's true, it's the kind of power that can light up the whole world.
After the basic outline and positioning of Abbas Kiarostami's film, we move on to this film.
The clue of the movie is quite simple. A primary school student found out that he took a classmate's workbook by mistake, so he wanted to give it back to him, but he didn't know his surname or where he lived, only a general name of the area where he lived. , so he went to search, he searched for a dusk repeatedly, until nightfall, he still could not find his friend. However, the director successfully constructed such a simple story into a poem in a movie. It is a poem about the land, a poem about children, a poem about the true love that exists deeply among children.
At that time, Iran was under a repressive religious regime, with political repressive policies on the one hand, and extreme rule of religious fundamentalism on the other, so Iranian films not only did not talk about the country, but also had a series of unbelievable moral restrictions, such as not being allowed to Use actresses. Since then, the policy has been loosened a bit by using actresses, but not showing their faces. So Iranian directors have little choice, in terms of what we imagine about movies today - this movie director can just change careers, because they do nothing, even actresses are not allowed to use, and any social issues are not allowed to touch.
It is also under such high pressure that Iranian directors have started a new wave of Iranian films. Therefore, the new wave of Iranian cinema is not only an aesthetic miracle, but also an interpretation of aesthetics, it is also an interpretation of all filmmakers: what is necessary to make a film? For a film artist, what materials might he draw from? This film answered, the new wave of Iranian cinema answered, and the directors of Iran answered - that is a genuine concern for society, that is a deep sense of responsibility for society, and more importantly, a sense of responsibility for the film. A love that cannot be self-sufficient. In the midst of our social responsibility and our love for movies, it is our deep understanding and recognition of people, and this "people" refers to ordinary people, even the little ones among ordinary people.
That's the choice of this film, and the choice of that generation of Iranian directors, they tell the story of the child, they show the world of the child. The children they choose, most of them in the movies are children from poor families in rural areas, they choose the lives, viewpoints, their experiences, and stories of these children to create the sky of Iranian cinema, to expand the world of Iranian cinema, and this The world conquered Europe, conquered the world's filmmakers, and it became a moment in film history. In addition to the increasingly sophisticated and cumbersome European art films, and the increasingly luxurious and extravagant Hollywood films, the road to a true third film was opened.
The film has shown us its political and economic foundations, its aesthetic foundations and its artistic limits from the very beginning.
The film begins with the door of the classroom, which is slack shut, constantly quivering and opening and closing, as the substrate for the opening credits, and when the film ends, it stops abruptly, and we return to the world outside the classroom again. It doesn't have any tricks, it doesn't have any luxurious design, and it's the most ordinary record. The entire film is naturally divided into several large segments, and each segment is composed of documentary long takes that take on a completely different color because they were shot live on a hand-held camera.
One of the important factors in the formation of Abbas Kiarostami's films and the poetry that overflows in his shots is the steady movement of the hand-held camera. It does not take tracking, recording, and scheduling as its main purpose or basic pursuit. On the contrary, it takes capturing beauty, capturing poetry, and capturing the subtle display of the little protagonist's soul as its purpose.
Much later, in 1995, Nordic director Lars von Trier put forward the "Dogmar 95" manifesto, marking the beginning of an era with hand-held cameras, especially those under digital technology. In fact this era was carried out as early as the late 80s, already by Abbas Kiarostami in the 90s, already by Iranian directors, although it was not entirely digital at this time.
In "Dogma 95", European directors deliberately exaggerated the use of hand-held cameras to mean shaking, trembling, and technical "substandard". On the contrary, in this film, the long shot of the hand-held camera is invisible, and it is hardly noticed without deliberate observation. It blends with the environment, with the scenery, especially with the inner world of the little protagonist. and its lens melts into the landscape of the low-level rural society in Iran it faces, and the camera melts into the spiritual landscape of the characters. It was also when I first encountered Abbas Kiarostami's film that I was shocked by it, captured by it, and completely fascinated by an important element of him.
At the beginning of the film, there are children in a classroom, noisy because the teacher is not there, the most ordinary morning in a rural elementary school, then the teacher enters, and then there is a somewhat comical situation, although this comedy also brings With a certain bitterness: the late teacher justified himself, I was late because I had something to do, I was late, you can't be disciplined, how can I trust you if you don't follow discipline.
At this moment, even though we may not have had such an experience ourselves, we firmly believe that this is the scene of a typical rural primary school, and this is the daily state of a typical rural primary school. Furthermore, there was a dispute over the writing of the homework in the workbook. One of the protagonists, Muhammad, was forced to admit that he did not do the homework in the workbook for the third time. He did not obey the teacher's repeated warnings. The cry of despair, all this is in the so clear and sympathetic gaze of the protagonist of the film, Ahmed, the long shot shows the delicate scene between the three characters, the teacher's reprimand, Mohammed desperately wants to escape from this. The mental state of the scene, and Ahmed's sympathetic but helpless expression. The movie brings us into this story in such a typical situation.
The first act of the film gives a basic definition of the plot. Muhammad has repeatedly failed to write his homework in the workbook and has been given an ultimatum by the teacher, who told him that he would be expelled if he did so again. After this situation, the two children brought back together, Mohammed fell, and Ahmed helped him up, which became a foreshadowing, and led to the pair of water-soaked trousers at the back, and the red-brown trousers became A little suspense.
Moving on to the second paragraph of the story, Ahmed returned home and found that he had taken Muhammad's notebook by mistake. He wanted to explain the seriousness of the problem to his mother, but he was not heard at all, and finally he ran away from the house, Going to the area on the mountain he knew to find his classmates to return the notebook, he started a journey of search, that is, "where is my friend's home".
The title of "Where Is My Friend's Home" comes from a poem. At the same time, the title brings out Abbas Kiarostami's films during this period, which is also a common feature of Iranian films at this time. On the subject of finding and the way. It's not a long road trip, it might just be in the mountains, in the countryside, but it involves finding and acquiring some kind of ultimate meaning.
The little protagonist Amud travels back and forth between the mountains twice. At the same time, it is a peculiar picture scroll and a peculiar composition displayed by the unique natural scenery of Iranian movies. Running in the big panoramic shot naturally forms a very beautiful and poetic picture.
Amud is lost again. The film uses vision very cleverly to complete a certain suspense. For example, when the businessman's son appears, he holds a wooden door and window, which covers his face, so we expect him to be Muhammad, by the time he finally showed up we found out he wasn't and he told Ahmed that my name was Muhammad, but too many Muhammads, so does your Muhammad have a truck at home? Are there sheep in your Muhammad's house? This way of distinguishing many Muhammads also clearly shows the inequality between rich and poor in the Iranian countryside, the ways and paths that people in the Iranian countryside identify and identify with each other, and then Ahmed is pointed to a Muhammad's house with sheep , he encountered the old man, he seemed to get help for the first time, the old man said I will take you there, and finally he was taken back to Muhammad's house where he pointed him.
Such a process of going back and forth between the mountains and the mountains to find friends has itself become a process of revealing the heart of the little protagonist Ahmed. At the same time, it constitutes a poem in the Iranian countryside. The most important way to use it in the film is to use it in long shots. It seems to be careless, but in fact it is very delicate and accurate to use color, composition, camera position, and the position of the protagonist in a specific composition to complete the exposure of his inner world and the capture of poetry.
In the movie, the little protagonist Ahmud is almost the only warm tone, the worn rust red fur vest he wears and other colors around him, such as Mohammed's light green top, such as the light blue among the clothes his mother is drying , such as those doors and windows painted in sea blue paint on the street, creating a contrast between warm and cold tones. In the scene at home, the film constantly used the house's colonnade and mother's laundry to block the foreground of Amud. On the one hand, it captured the light very accurately. The transparent texture formed on the clothes forms the beauty of the picture, and at the same time, the foreground constantly blocks the little protagonist to show that he has no control over the environment.
The most important feature of Abbas Kiarostami in the film is his bitter tenderness, but there is not a lot of emotional exposure in the film. Not only is there no emotional expression, but the little protagonist is basically a place where he does not show his emotional power. What's more, there is hardly any effective communication in the film, not only is the child's voice completely ignored, Amud repeats again and again that I took my classmate's homework, he will be expelled, I will give it to him, and The mother used all kinds of commands to say, go shake the little brother, put the bottle in the little brother, get the diaper, and go get some hot water, constantly responding with commands like "all his statements, all his pleading".
If it is said that the children are in a state of being completely ignored and ignored, the highlight in the film is the old man who leads the way. He talks constantly, but Amud, who is so worried, doesn’t listen to a single word. It contains so many scruples, so many longings, so many stories of being abandoned by the times and by relatives. In Iran, young people are also experiencing the process of flocking to the city and the old being left behind. At this time, the audience suddenly realized what the businessman who sold the iron doors in the previous paragraph was doing. The iron doors and windows he promoted were replacing those extremely exquisite wood-carved wood-paneled doors and windows made by the old man. The disappearance of an ancient skill, an ancient era disappears.
During the round trips and searches again and again, in addition to the changes from dusk to night, the film selects dark white mud walls in three large scenes, and the mud walls form strange alleys, stone The contrast between the steps, and then the film transitions to an alley that is basically made of stone walls and winding stone steps, and the visual style and the rhythm of the whole shot starts to change.
And after nightfall, Ahmed walks with the old man to form two complete long-shot sequences, they go back and forth, and the camera completely repeats the scene. Therefore, the audience can see the projection and vignetting of the lights projected by the wood-paneled doors and windows and the stained-glass windows, and the division and composition of the picture formed by the light and darkness in the film. There is an old man walking and the little protagonist Amud. Amud is impatient but never dares to reveal it. He is worried and forced to listen. All the old man's talk expresses a sense of despair, pain, and sympathy. Loneliness and poetry.
The film's intangible details frame the story precisely and convey the emotion precisely. For example, when they finally arrive, a panorama shot of the donkey from earlier tells him that he is just back where he started. Then, about the details of the dog, the little protagonist finally got rid of the old man. The old man said that I can't walk, you can go. Ahmud was scared by the dog when he started to run home, and then the old man said: "I tell you this That's why I want to walk with you, you go, I'll watch you."
The long-shot sequence that follows is quite touching. The camera abruptly abandons the little protagonist and follows the old man, we see him enter the house, take off his shoes under the stairs, revealing round heels, worn socks, and then he ascends the stairs, goes into the tool room, and puts away the wood, although there is no People need, he is still working, he is still making those beautiful wooden furniture. Then he went to the sliding window that had been opened earlier, the camera was shooting the old man from outside, the old man was embedded in the sliding window, and he closed the window. An idle pen, but it can also be said to be a poem, about loneliness, about aging, about poverty, and about the abandoned people in the turbulent world.
The mode of "bitter tenderness" opened by Abbas Kiarostami will have a happy ending and a happy ending. In the second half of the story, nothing the audience feared happened: Ah Mudd was not punished, not reprimanded by his parents, and then the next day finally came, Muhammad, almost trembling with fright, just as the teacher was about to come to his desk, the late Ahmed entered, and he made a The choice that the audience had already thought of, he completed his homework for Muhammad, so two identical notebooks appeared.
At the last moment, the little flower in Muhammad's notebook that was caught between the pages reminded us of that moment in the night, when the sluggish old man stopped to wash his face, and Ahmed couldn't bear it anymore, and the old man handed him a A small white flower, tell him: Put it in a book.
The movie came to an abrupt end at this moment. A moment in film history is also a moment of human emotion. Between all the barrenness, barrenness and dilapidation, there is always true love, and there is always a little warmth in the human heart to illuminate our world.
dictionary:
1. The New Wave of Iranian Cinema
In 1969, Iranian director Darish Mehri's "Cow" took the lead in opening a new wave of Iranian films. In the mid-1970s, a group of film students and enthusiasts established the "Free Film" organization to shoot 8mm experimental short films. 1987 In 2008, Abbas Kiarostami's "Where is My Friend's Home" started the second new wave, and the representative characters and works include Majid Mediji's "Little Shoes", Jafar Panasi's "Little Shoes" White Balloons, Mossen Makmalbaf's "Kandahar", Abbas Kiarostami's "The Lover Under the Olive Tree" and "Gone With the Wind", etc.
2. Dogma 95
Dogma 95 (Dogma 95) is a 1995 film by Danish directors Lars von Trier, Thomas Winterberg, Kristin Levine, Soren Kla-Jabuksen The movement of cinema, which emphasizes the purity of film composition and focuses on the true story and the performance of the actors themselves. Lars von Trier and Winterberg developed ten rules that a Dougma film must follow: 1. Shoot live, no props or sets. (The filming must be done in the place where the story takes place.) 2. Cancel the silent source music. 3. Shoot with a portable camera. 4. Do not create special lighting effects. 5. No visual effects and color filters are used. 6. There shall be no superficial scenes, such as murder. 7. Must be a modern theme. 8. No genre films are allowed. 9. The format of the film must be 35mm. 10. The director's name does not appear at the beginning and end of the credits.
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