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The Night Bus
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Wikipedia article
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'The Night Bus' (; Transliteration: 'Otobus-e Shab') is a 2007 Iranian film directed by Kiumars Pourahmad. The film, which is in sharp monochrome, relates the story of a twenty-four-hour-long journey of two young Iranian soldiers ('Iss' and 'Emd') and a civilian driver ('Amu Rahim') transporting thirty-eight Iraqi prisoners of war, taken from behind the Iraqi line, to a garrison inside Iran. From the details one is informed that the IranIraq War has entered into its third year. The film masterfully depicts the deep inhumanity of acts of war amongst nations by showing the shared humanity of the combatants on both sides. Some scenes of the above-mentioned garrison are reminiscent of those of the 1965 British film 'The Hill'.
In the film, the Iranian characters speak Persian amongst themselves, with a variety of regional accents — emphasising the national character of the war effort, but broken Arabic, comprehensible to a Persian-speaking person, when addressing the Iraqi prisoners. The Arabic dialogues of the film, by the prisoners, are accompanied by Persian subtitles.
Cast
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* Khosrow Shakib': 'Amu' (Uncle), and at times 'Amu Rahim' (Uncle Rahim) and 'gh Joon' (Sir my soul), the bus driver. Although it is never stated, the film suggests that 'Amu Rahim's' own son is an Iranian POW in Iraqi hands.
* Mehrdd Sedighin: 'Iss' (Jesus), the 18-year-old Iranian soldier from Abadan; he is often called by 'Amu Rahim', somewhat derogatorily, as 'Bach'cheh' (Child, Juvenile); as the emotional bond between the two strengthens, 'Amu' calls 'Iss' once as 'Iss Jn' ('Iss' my soul). 'Iss' has entered into military service at the age of 16, when his father was killed while defending Abadan; at the outset of the War, the father had sent his entire family, with the exception of 'Iss', to his brother's home in another Iranian city for safety. Won the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Performance by an Actor for this role.
* Amir-Mohammd Zand: 'Emd', the second and the more senior Iranian soldier/officer. 'Emd' had just started studying in London when the War broke out, whereon he volunteered as an officer in the army.
* Elnz Shkerdoust: 'Reyhneh', wife of 'Emd'. She and 'Emd', along with her parents, had been living in London. When 'Emd' volunteered to serve in the War effort, she returned with 'Emd' to Iran, leaving the parents in London.
* Mohammad-Reza Foroutan: 'Frouq' ('Frouq Abd al-Amir'), an Iraqi POW whose father is Iraqi and mother Iranian. It turns out that two of 'Frouq's' brothers are on the run from the henchmen of Saddam Hossein and a third brother and a sister are in Saddam Hossein's jails, awaiting execution.
* Kourosh Soleimani: 'Sirvn' ('Sirvn Fod'), an Iraqi POW from Iraq's Kurdistan and a recent medical graduate. Prior to the War, 'Sirvn' had been studying medicine in London; he had only returned to Iraq for bringing his family into safety, but forcefully drafted into the Iraqi army.
* Ahmad Kavari: An Iraqi POW and a member of Iraq's Baath Party.
* Mehran Nael: An Iranian tank driver from Esfahan (this as betrayed by his Esfahani accent) who despite having fought valiantly and helped capturing some tanks from Iraqis, seems to be unable to think ill of any one; he appears to live mentally in an Utopian world of his own. Although Mehrn Ntel's appearance in the film is very brief, he shows himself as another extraordinarily talented young actor of the Iranian cinema.
See also
* IranIraq War
*'Persepolis' (banned in Iran)
*'Fortune Told in Blood'
References
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