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Unruled Paper
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Wikipedia article
'Unruled Paper' ( - 'Kghaz-e bi Khatt') is a 2002 Iranian film directed by Nser Taghv'i (his first after twelve years), based on an original script by Nser Taghv'i and Minoo Farsh'chi. The film was produced in 2001 by 'Yekt Film'.'Kghaz-e bi Khatt', in Persian, Sreh, [http://www.sourehcinema.com/Title/Title.aspx?id=138109262163].
The principal roles in the film are played by Khosrow Shakibai ('Jahngir') and Hadyeh Tehrani ('Roy'). For his role, Khosrow Shakibai was nominated for the Crystal Phoenix Award, in the category of men, at the 20th Fajr International Film Festival in 2001, received the second Best Actor Of The Year Award From Writers and Critics, in the category of men, in 2002, and was awarded the Golden Tablet from 'Iran Actor Site' in 2003. Hadyeh Tehrani's acting in this film has been praised by many critics as equally superb and laudable.'Mhnmeh-ye Film' (The Film Monthly), in Persian, No. 288, year 20, 'Mordd' 1381 AH (JulyAugust, 2002), Tehran, Iran. For her role, she was nominated for the Crystal Phoenix Award, in the category of women, at the 20th Fajr International Film Festival in 2001. The title of the film is derived from a remark by 'Roy' that she never was able to write neatly on a ruled paper, but this changed when she wrote on 'unruled paper', thus giving voice to the blessings of freedom.
The film, with a strong cast of Iranian actors, received critical acclaim in Iran: Various critics have described the movie's dialogues as pithy and thought-provoking, and the language used as both natural and powerful. The quality of the acting and directing have both been praised as well. Taghv'i attempts to pay attention to the most minute details of the film (for instance, the accuracy with which the separate consecutive shuts match, or the precision of the angles at which the communicating actors look away from the camera). As Tahmineh Milani once has noted,Exclusive interview with Tahmineh Milani, in Persian, Bebin.tv, August 6, 2007: [http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1114158371/bctid1133256614 Part 1] (9 min 8 sec), [http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1114158371/bctid1133451503 Part 2] (8 min 7 sec). accuracy of presentation is one of the hallmarks of Nser Taghv'i's films. The dialogues of the film are replete with terse remarks and critical commentaries on the contemporary political and social conditions prevailing in Iran.Aside from remarks concerning the colours of the school uniforms for girls, which are mandated to be dark and which 'Mangul' utterly dislikes ('Mangul', the young daughter of the family, also dislikes to wear headscarf; she has beautiful long hairs and is clearly proud of this beauty), there are several verbal and visual references in this film to the "chain murders" that took place during 1998 in Iran, with writers, intellectuals and the dissident politicians as the main targets. Of note is the fact that the family home is located in Evin (Darband, north-west of Tehran), "behind the Evin Prison|[Evin] prison".'Mhnmeh-ye Film', p. 88
Plot
The film starts with a scene of a sitting room, empty of people, at some two minutes 'to' 7 o'clock in the morning, and ends with a scene of the same empty room at some two minutes 'past' 7 o'clock in the morning of some weeks later; this passage of time is accurately depicted by the brightness of the natural light that is reflected on the wall of a corridor, that leads to this sitting room, in the initial and final scenes.Since the date of the opening scene coincides with the first day of schools following the summer school-holiday, this date must coincide with the autumnal equinox (explicitly, the first day of the month Mehr in the Iranian calendar), or a day very soon thereafter, should the autumnal equinox fall on a holiday, such as a Friday. With the time of the sunrise advancing in the course of the autumn, the light reflected on the wall at 7 O'clock in the morning must be less bright in the closing scene than in the opening scene. And this is indeed the case. The meticulous attention that Taghv'i has given to the accurate representation of even the most mundane aspects of the film would at first sight seem to be at odds with the fact that with the exception of the opening and closing scenes, in 'all' other scenes where the clock on the wall of the sitting room is in sight, its pendulum is conspicuously motionless. The opening scene depicts some moments before the family starts a very active day (the day at which the two children of the family, 'Shangul' and 'Mangul', have their first school-day after the summer school-holiday) and the closing scene, the end of a protracted Friday night,Since Friday is the equivalent in Iran of Sunday in nominally Christian countries, the night on Friday should be compared with that on Sunday. during which 'Jahngir' and 'Roy' have spent an intellectually and emotionally exhausting night. The motionless pendulum suggests that the events in the intervening period have taken place out of time, or only in imagination. Although the work presented by Taghv'i certainly qualifies as a surrealist art-form, this motionless pendulum serves as a more profound tool than a means that solely hints at surrealism. Taghv'i conveys a number of unobtrusive verbal and visual messages to his viewers. Briefly, Taghv'i and Ms Minoo Farsh'chi, the co-author of the film script, variously refer to the theory of eternal recurrence, as revived by e.g. Friedrich Nietzsche, with a strong emphasis on the importance of having a creative mind thereby to forge room for free will in at least an imaginative world.
'Jahngir' is a draughtsman, or perhaps an architect. 'Roy' is normally a housewife, but has recently started to attend a course on writing film scripts,The course is taught at a school for film making in Bgh-e Ferdows. an undertaking that has been actively encouraged by 'Jahngir'. Taghv'i introduces his viewers to 'Roy's penchant for story telling through a scene in which she tells a bedtime story for 'Shangul' and 'Magul', the story being in reality a popular Persian children's story which is very reminiscent of 'The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids'. This scene also reveals the two children as being both imaginative and highly theatrical. The names 'Shangul' and 'Magul' are the names of two baby goats in the same story; there is no hint in the film however that 'Shangul' and 'Magul' might be the pet names of the children, as opposed to their real names.
'Jahngir' is working on a project that he apparently has initially introduced to 'Roy' as being a villa on an island, but that 'Roy' has later discovered that it is a prison compound on the island.In an earlier part of the film, Taghv'i lets the viewer know about this fact through a scene (of a house party) in which 'Jahngir' and 'Ali' discuss the details of a map prepared by 'Jahngir' and talk about the wall of the compound being four metres high and this height not having been considered as sufficient. Following an intense argument between 'Jahngir' and 'Roy', 'Jahngir' reveals that he himself is deeply unhappy about his project, as his colleagues have nicknamed the prison compound as 'Jahngir's Villa'. An apparently innocuous argument between 'Jahngir' and 'Roy', married already for twelve years, thus leads to an intense and emotional flow of exchanges revolving around the subject matter of how well even closest individuals know each other and the reason why 'Jahngir' reacts nervously to 'Roy's curiosity regarding his past. The deliberately ambiguous circumstance in which the intense discussion between 'Roy' and 'Jahngir' takes place, greatly enhances the power of the words exchanged between the two characters. On the one hand, one is given the impression that 'Roy' is curious because she is preparing her first film script for her class and that she must be using her husband's character in her story. On the other hand, while 'Jahngir' appears to be disconcerted, one cannot escape the suspicion that he may in fact be a willing participant in the creation of the script that 'Roy' is in the process of creating. 'Jahngir' never fails to ease the tension by using his dark humour when the going gets tough. It has been speculated that what one is witnessing is the film, or at least a rehearsal of it, is actually based on the script written by 'Roy', with all the members of the family playing their allotted roles.One finds 'a posteriori' justification for one's suspicions when in the later parts of the film one hears 'Jahngir' talking about his previous agreements with 'Roy' in regard to the script to be written by her. Furthermore, attending carefully to the conversations taking place between 'Jahngir' and 'Roy' throughout the film, one will not fail to recognise parts of these conversations in the draft texts of the final script written by 'Roy'.
The philosophical messages of the film are mostly conveyed by the professor of literature (Jamshid Mashayekhi) who teaches the course that 'Roy' attends. His reflective manners and insightful statements convincingly portray him as a wise academic who has lived a profound life. In a pivotal scene, while being driven by 'Roy' to his home, in the vicinity of "the end of the world", he says:
"'This world in which we live is not fit for working. Before I and you everything in it has already been invented. The world of your story is a kind of a world that you have to create yourself; if you want it to revolve on its axis, it must revolve by your will; when you want the sun to shine, it must shine, and when you do not want it to shine, it must disappear behind the clouds; when you want that it rains, the rain must descend from the sky; if you don't wish that it rains, wish it, and the rain will stop.'"Translated from Persian. It has been striven to preserve the colloquial nature of the conversation.
In the one but the penultimate scene of the film, Nser Taghv'i introduces a visual metaphor, indicative of the intimacy between a husband and wife. This metaphor, which consists of a knife falling from the table to the ground and subsequently being simultaneously retrieved by 'Jahngir' and 'Roy', with the former grasping the handle of the knife firmly in his fist, and the latter fixing her fingers on the sides of the blade. Of note is the fact that in the motion pictures made in Iran men and women are not permitted to have physical contact.It should be realised that knife is a phallic symbol.
Details
Cast
* Khosrow Shakibai: 'Jahngir', husband of 'Roy' and father of 'Shangul' and 'Mangul'. 'Jahngir' is presented in the movie as a protagonist; a kind and liberal husband (however sometimes he demonstrates the repressed emotions of a traditional man).'Mhnmeh-ye Film', p. 90 He gladly entertains the guests and does not even contemplate to ask 'Roy' her reason for coming home after midnight, in complete disregard of the guests that she herself had invited. These aspects are 'dramatically' counterbalanced by his ripostes to some of 'Roy's protests. For instance, when 'Roy' complains about the state of the kitchen following her absence from home for several days, rather than offering a helping hand, 'Jahngir' proposes that she should take rest and leave the cleaning of the kitchen for the next day when she feels fresh.
* Hadyeh Tehrani: 'Roy', wife of 'Jahngir' and mother of 'Shangul' and 'Mangul'. She is depicted as an aspiring writer of film scripts, and desirous of becoming wealthy. 'Jahngir' suggests that she should become a professional writer, while at the same time warns that her strong reliance on her imagination, and her day-dreaming, may prove detrimental to the upbringing of their children ('Roy' is the Persian word for 'dream' and 'vision'). As the time passes by and the plot advances further, viewers are led to wonder whether the film one views is the creation of 'Roy' herself, with all the members of the family the willing participants as the actors of the film.'Mhnmeh-ye Film', p. 91
* Jamshid Mashayekhi: 'Professor (of Literature)', teaching a crash course of writing for aspiring writers of film scripts. He is very philosophical and rather enigmatic, although is very well loved by his pupils. When on a rainy night, after the end of a class, 'Roy' offers to drive him to his home, he says, without being sardonic, that he lives 'very' far, in the vicinity of "the end of the world". While introducing the first feature film made in Iran in the course of one of his lectures, he mentions that on the day that this film was screened in Tehran for the first time, "68 years ago", he was born. One of the advises that he gives to his pupils is to forget all the books that they have read and all the films that they have watched, and begin writing their first film scripts by delving into their own personal lives and experiences. 'Roy' seems to take this advice to heart.
* Arin Matlabi: 'Shangul', son of 'Jahngir' and 'Roy' and the elder brother of 'Mangul'; he is about nine years old. The names 'Shangul' and 'Mangul' are that of two baby goats in a popular Iranian story for children (this story is very reminiscent of 'The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids'). The film does not make explicit whether 'Shangul' and 'Mangul' are pet names, used by the family and friends, or real names.
* Hnieh Mordi: 'Mangul', daughter of 'Jahngir' and 'Roy' and the younger sister of 'Shangul'; she is about seven years old.
* Jamileh Sheykhi: 'Aziz', widowed mother of 'Roy'. She is outright and in many respects looks like someone with her feet squarely on the ground. Yet, when her friend, 'Esmat Khnom', asks her about the pestle, in the most serious tone, she responds that "our pestle gets lost every evening. ... I take it to my bed and during nights put in under my pillow."
* Nikoo Kheradmand: 'Esmat Khnom', a good friend of 'Aziz'. Visiting 'Aziz' on her way back to her home after visiting the graveside of her late husband, 'Ahmad', 'Aziz' asks 'Esmat Khnom' whether she feels a sense of peace for having visited her husband's graveside. After some thought and hesitation, 'Esmat Khnom' answers first that she does not know, and then says 'no'. Later, she says that when she contemplates, she comes to the realisation that in the year since her husband has died, she has not become lonelier than the thirty years that she had lived with him.
* Akbar Moazzezi: 'Ali', friend and colleague of 'Jahngir'. He is the husband of 'Susan Jn' who is a friend and confidante of 'Roy'.
* Soghra Obeysi: 'Susan Jn' (sometimes also 'Susan Joon'), wife of 'Ali' and close friend and confidante of 'Roy'. She surfers from marital problems at home, but does not hesitate to give marital advice to 'Roy'. 'Jahngir', although very courteous towards 'Susan Jn', in her absence shows signs of being annoyed by her inquisitiveness and interference in his private family life. Although 'Jn' (as well as 'Joon') is a term of endearment in Persian (the actual name of 'Susan Jn' being simply 'Susan'), the way 'Jahngir' pronounces 'Jn' in saying 'Susan Jn', signifies a considerable measure of patronising on his part, reflecting his deep irritation by 'Susan's interference in his family life.
* Shhin Jafari: 'Mohandes', a friend and colleague of 'Jahngir' and 'Ali'. We see him only once as a guest at a small party held at the house of 'Jahngir' and 'Roy'.
* Mahmoud Beheshti: 'Taxi Driver'. Although he is only seen twice, his two brief exchanges with 'Roy' are crucial to the plot.
Make-up
* Soudbeh Khosravi in collaboration with Nzanin Emmi and Mohammad-Ali Zarrbi
Special effects
* Majid Shahbzi
Location design and costume
* Fzel Zhyn
Sound Management
* Jahangir Mirshekari
Notes and references
See also
* Cinema of Iran
* Bgh-e Ferdows
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