Since the mid-1900s Iranian filmmakers have been subjected to strict censoring regulations imposed by their federal government. Due to this, filmmakers have discovered that they could create movies revolving around children to avoid these restrictions. This paper will critically examine the role of children in Iranian cinema with reference to the prolific, Majid Majidi’s Children of Heaven (1997). I. History of Iranian Cinema Before 1979, Iranian cinema was ignored by the country’s leaders. Films were among the forms of art considered forbidden, and for many pious families going to the cinema was tantamount to committing a sin. The main reason for this was that cinematic representations of women and love upset the delicate dualism which …show more content…
Directors had to find innovative ways to replace women in their films. In addition, “the political struggle between the Iranian government and Western powers, ordinary Iranians were perceived as rough, ruthless and outlandish people lacking in humanity” (Sadr 227). Their solution lied in children. In Iran, children do not have nearly the amount of restrictions that women do so their presence in film is substantial (Massoumi). Since the 1940’s children have starred in several films since the Italian Neo-Realism movement …show more content…
They were used to create a more humane vision of Iran. This new wave of cinema was globally acclaimed as they started winning awards at festivals such as the Berlin Film Festival (Sadeghzadeh). By the 1980’s, stories revolving around children in small villages and trips to cities began to enter the Iranian film industry (Sadr 231). Children of Heaven is the epitome of this type of movie. It was “the first Iranian film to be nominated for an Oscar (for Best Foreign Film)” (Sadr 231). Children of Heaven itself concerns the young son and daughter of an impoverished urban family who learn the value of shoes when they lose the girls only pair, only to find them on the feet of a child who is worse off than they are. (Cardullo 168) The children of Children of Heaven, Ali and Zahra, had to fulfill the roles of their parents in order to take care of themselves and the poverty-stricken family. “The main thing that stands out in the movie is the high moral values of the children in old Tehran and burden of responsibilities they need to shoulder from such a young age”
Turim, Maureen, and Turim-Nygren Mika. "Of Spectral Mothers and Lost Children: War, Folklore, and Psychoanalysis in The Secret of Roan Inish." Sayles Talk: New Perspectives on Independent Filmmaker John Sayles (Contemporary Approaches to Film and Media Series). Ed. Diane Carson and Heidi Kenaga. Detroit: Wayne State UP, 2006. 134-57. Print.
...ome to us at an interesting time, before the Revolution, 40 percent of Tehran movie theaters were showing pornography. The function of this office is purification as well as promotion for the arts.” The first part notions the Western stereotype of the Orient since the same as the time when it was discovered, but now the people of the Orient realize the stereotypes and are changing the way they see themselves because of these stereotypes. It is only by correcting these assumptions, stereotypes, and misconceptions of the Orient at the heart of society today, the media can Orientalism be fixed. The Eastern people must be allowed to sympathize in movies and films to humanize them and have intimate interactions. Otherwise, the Orient will be continued to be known incorrectly as a place with people who are without reason, screaming, protesting, and in swarming mobs.
One can gather that socialism was on the rise and supported by many of the working class. From the co-op in The Crime of Monsieur Lange to the Communist party’s support of Madame Nozière, public opinion was shifting away from supporting a patriarchal society. What was once taboo became more popular topics of discussion, such as the pornography in Baptiste’s possession, Estelle’s miscarriage of Batala’s child, fathers taking their daughters’ innocence, and ousting men of unnecessary power. A film, while not necessarily factual, focuses on culture and values. Cinema is an art form that reflects what the directors and actors, and by extension, the general public, believe.
The. Wojcik - Andrews, Ian. Children’s Films: History, Ideology, Pedagogy, Theory.
Film making has gone through quite the substantial change since it’s initial coining just before the turn of the 19th century, and one would tend argue that the largest amount of this change has come quite recently or more so in the latter part of film’s history as a whole. One of the more prominent changes having taken place being the role of women in film. Once upon a time having a very set role in the industry, such as editing for example. To mention briefly the likes of Dede Allen, Verna Fields, Thelma Schoonmaker and so forth. Our female counterparts now occupy virtually every aspect of the film making industry that males do; and in many instances excel past us. Quite clearly this change has taken place behind the lens, but has it taken
An extreme precaution taken by the Iranian government is banning Western music, film, television, writings, and books (Iranian’s par. 1). It is believed by the Islamic leaders that all of these forms of entertainment are a “soft war” of propaganda being used against their rule
Au Revoir Les Enfants and La Lengua de la Mariposa: A Closer Look at European Films
Censorship influences our lives in a wide range of ways, it influences the music we listen to, the films we watch, the books we read, and numerous different parts of our lives. There has been open argumentation throughout the years whether censorship is influential and worth the contention between various points of views which pops up the question of should movies be censored? The answer of many people would be no. However, many standpoints diverge given that censorship improves our reality in the light of the making people more courteous.
Classic narrative cinema is what Bordwell, Staiger and Thompson (The classic Hollywood Cinema, Columbia University press 1985) 1, calls “an excessively obvious cinema”1 in which cinematic style serves to explain and not to obscure the narrative. In this way it is made up of motivated events that lead the spectator to its inevitable conclusion. It causes the spectator to have an emotional investment in this conclusion coming to pass which in turn makes the predictable the most desirable outcome. The films are structured to create an atmosphere of verisimilitude, which is to give a perception of reality. On closer inspection it they are often far from realistic in a social sense but possibly portray a realism desired by the patriarchal and family value orientated society of the time. I feel that it is often the black and white representation of good and evil that creates such an atmosphere of predic...
One could easily dismiss movies as superficial, unnecessarily violent spectacles, although such a viewpoint is distressingly pessimistic and myopic. In a given year, several films are released which have long-lasting effects on large numbers of individuals. These pictures speak
Youth have a certain quality and charisma that has made making films about them not only an interesting endeavor but also fundamental to cinema (Shary, 2002). Representative of hope and change, children are viewed as the future. Youth culture, with its ‘here today and gone tomorrow’ kind of dynamic, suggests that children are also the future of film. For decades the film industry has relied on young audiences for patronage and also looked to youth for inspiration and just the kind of material that makes a relevant and refreshing script (Shary, 2002). Youth-oriented film has subsequently become a genre all its own (Shary, 2002). A history of American youth cinema would indicate no different. It is thus interesting to explore youth-oriented films and how films across time, namely Lolita (1962), Marathon Man (1976), Rain Man (1988), Kids (1995), and The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), have depicted youth culture, specifically the theme of “Coming-Of-Age.”
The investigation will be conducted in the form of an interrogation (interview) on female children ages 6 to 10. In identifying children’s minds, they should be able to accommodate with various set of questions that are related to Walt Disney films.
Early Hollywood cinema and the average American citizen of the time looked at the taboo topic of homosexuality from the same point of view. This viewpoint conveyed was that homosexuality was immoral; therefore it was made illegal to partake in any homosexual acts. Moreover, before the decade of the 1960s, in the laws of sodomy, there was a law that prohibited sexual contact between people of the same sex. Therefore homosexuality was seen as a crime punishable by law. An example of this would be………………………….
Roth, Chris. “Three Decades of Film Censorship…right before your eyes”. The Humanist. Vol. 60, No. 1. January/February 2000.
Lyden, J. (2003). Film as religion: myths, morals, and rituals. New York, USA: NYU Press.