6. Ahmad’s grandfather’s spiel from “Where Is the Friend’s Home?” (1987)
In this scene, Ahmad’s grandfather is having a didactic conversation on disciplining children through corporal punishment. He regards regular physical punishment as the only acceptable approach for managing disobedience.
The scene reflects the irony of the matter as he does not realize that Ahmad has an acute sense of his moral responsibilities, even at his tender age. His “disobedience” is, in fact, a noble act of saving a friend from punishment while putting his own welfare at stake. He personifies empathy and a precocious sensitivity that the adults around him are completely unaware of.
It makes us question the validity of using violence as a means for nurturing moral and social development of children. This scene also makes us reflect on the dangers inherent in maintaining the status quo and actions removed from critical reflection. It calls out for an anti-oppressive pedagogy, and subsequently a more conscious culture and society.
7. Qassem’s nightmare from “The Traveller” (1974)
Qassem, a poor 12-year-old boy from a small city, finds his way to a football match in Tehran by conning others, but is brought to an unpleasant reckoning when he falls asleep and misses the match. In his sleep, he has a nightmare of being unable to perform on his school test and the looming punishment and humiliation.
This scene exposes Qassem’s vulnerability and innocence that was, up until now, camouflaged by his imprudent actions. Qassem is a victim of physical and psychological abuse that he has seemingly learned to endure over time. Yet his nightmare suggests that the system is very much a part of his subconscious.
The pre-revolution education system and the hostile modus operandi for disciplining children symbolically represents the society in miniature. Universally, even today, there exists a complacent attitude toward exploitation and oppression transmitted through the education system. However, there has been a thrust towards adapting the content and mode of instruction in favor of modernization.
8. Makhmalbaf meets Sabzian from “Close-Up” (1990)
“Close-Up” is a special prototype of Kiarostami’s penchant for amalgamating fiction and reality. The film is based on a real incident about Sabzian, who is indicted for falsely impersonating Iranian film director Makhmalbaf, and deceiving the Ahankhah family. To make the film, Kiarostami had the real convict and the plaintiff re-stage the arrest and parts of the trial.
However, the denouement is even more unique, as Kiarostami arranged for Makhmalbaf to meet Sabzian on his release from prison. While Sabzian was unprepared for the meeting and was oblivious to the shooting, Makhmalbaf had primed his dialogues. This imbalance in the naturalness of Sabzian and Makhmalbaf’s reactions evolved into a superlative scene that marks Kiarostami’s artistic ingenuity. The crucial emotional meeting is shown without audio, on pretext of sound equipment failure.
The scene also closes the loop as Sabzian and the family finally meet the real Makhmalbaf, the common denominator that brought Sabzian and the family together in the first place.
9. Akiko’s taxi ride to Takashi’s apartment from ‘Like Someone in Love’ (2012)
The sequence shows Akiko, a student who moonlights as a prostitute, being driven to a client’s apartment. Akiko’s avocation does not seem very unusual when placed in the context of modern day Tokyo and its fairly tolerant society. However, it is a secret that lends to growing distance between her family and herself, and even makes her avoid her visiting grandmother.
In a visually creative scene, Akiko plays her grandmother’s messages in the taxi as the bright metropolis reflects on the window and sways past her. In this moment, it seems as if she is suspended in a dimension that exists between her past and present.
She settles for a modest reconciliation as she makes the taxi drive past the station to catch a glimpse of her grandmother. In an even more poignant follow-up, Akiko gathers the inexplicable strength to let go of her past, as she wipes off her tears and wears her lipstick to fit into her current role.
The scene succeeds in making the viewer vicariously experience the pathos of Akiko’s predicament as she deals with her multiple identities: a wearied student, a reluctant companion, and a remorseful granddaughter. The collocation of modern city life, and its values with traditional ideals, has a universal appeal.
10. James Miller and ‘She’ discuss appreciation and value of art from “Certified Copy” (2010)
In yet another sequence shot in a car, Juliette Binoche (She) and James Miller reflect on the characterization and perception of the value of art, as they drive toward a Tuscan village.
At one point, James remarks that the cypress trees in the fields are a work of art, but nobody takes enough notice of them because they are not displayed in a gallery. The essence of the experience between the object and viewer has been overtaken by the supremacy of curated art. Art has been reduced to an investment and a status symbol. Yet, if we did not go by the validation of tastemakers, we would realize that art can be found in unexpected places.
The subject had also come up in the trial scene in “Close Up”. Sabzian, the impostor, points out that the family trusted and encouraged his artistic capacities so long as they identified him as the famed filmmaker.
A more recent Washington Post social experiment with Joshua Bell’s music going unnoticed when he played incognito in a subway is another example of our tendency to correlate quality or sentiment with presentation.
Author Bio: Stuti Gandhi is a cinephile who believes that cinema has a spiritual quality and can promote world peace. When she is not indulging in lofty ideals, she likes to watch cat videos, read trivia and fill blank spaces with colour.