[CIMC-work] (film) FW: Working-class heroes in Tehran
Chris Kaihatsu
ckaihatsu at myrealbox.com
Sun, 13 Apr 2003 10:43:46 -0500
> This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand
this format, some or all of this message may not be legible.
--MS_Mac_OE_3133075426_3246311_MIME_Part
Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit
----------
From: steve zeltzer <lvpsf@igc.org>
Date: Fri, 04 Apr 2003 18:44:11 -0800
To: UPPNET <lvpsf@igc.org>
Subject: Working-class heroes in Tehran
http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-skin4apr04.story
MOVIE REVIEW
Working-class heroes in Tehran
'Under the Skin of the City' is a censure of Iranian society, but it's
also great storytelling.
By Kevin Thomas
Times Staff Writer
April 4 2003
"Under the Skin of the City" is an apt title for a film that zeroes in
on an urban working-class family and reveals both its daily struggle for
survival and
its dreams of a better life. The predicament is universal, but that the
family happens to live in Tehran reveals challenges and hardships that
are inescapably
critical of Iranian society, especially concerning the plight of women.
But this splendid film is no mere polemic, for Rakhshan Bani-Etemad,
often called the first lady of Iranian cinema, is above all an
accomplished
storyteller and dramatist who understands the evocative power of sound
and image. It's no wonder that Iran's film critics voted her film the
best of 2001;
it also won the grand jury prize that year at the Moscow International
Film Festival. And Bani-Etemad struck a chord with Iranian audiences,
who made
her film a box-office hit.
In an inspired touch, Bani-Etemad, best known for "Narges" (1992) and
"The Blue-Veiled" (1994), both daring in their defense of women, sets
her story
against the parliamentary elections of 1998, which carried hope of
reform. A TV newscaster singles out Tuba Rahmat-Abdi (Golab Adineh), a
worn,
middle-aged factory worker, to ask her about the elections but cuts her
off as soon as she says shyly that she hopes elected officials will
believe in God
and be concerned with the issues of housing and welfare. At the end of
the film, when TV newscasters catch up with Tuba again, she has become
blunt
and outspoken.
Tuba is developing a job-related lung disease but soldiers on. Her
decidedly older husband, Mahmoud (Mohsen Ghazi Moradi), is lame and
stays at
home and is out of touch with the times. The other mainstay of the
family is her eldest son, Abbas (Mohammad Reza Foroutan), an ambitious,
hard-working gofer for a garment manufacturer. Abbas is the family
dreamer: He wants his younger brother, Ali (Ebraheem Sheibani), a high
school
student and casual dissident, and middle-school-age sister, Mahboubeh
(Baran Kowsari), to have the college education he could not afford. His
immediate goal is to gather enough money to obtain a foreign work visa
and head for Japan to make more money than he could have ever hoped to
make
at home. Abbas also longs to be able to court a beautiful clerk in his
boss' high-rise office.
There is nothing wrong with Abbas' dreams, and Bani-Etemad is implicitly
critical of a government that makes it not only so difficult to pursue
them but
also downright dangerous. She is also critical of a society in which
Tuba's miserable eldest child, Hamideh (Homeira Riazi), now pregnant
with her
second child, regularly returns to her family for refuge after her
debt-ridden husband brutally takes out his frustrations on her.
Hamideh's plight is echoed by that of her younger sister's best friend,
who is subject to terrible abuse from her older brother.
What keeps these developments and more from being hopelessly grim are
the loving ties that surmount petty differences and sustain the family
through
adversity. Yet there is a limit to just how much love can do, and the
increasingly suspenseful "Under the Skin of the City" takes its leave at
just the right
moment, causing us to wonder if, with the Rahmat-Abdi family, that limit
has been reached.
'Under the Skin of the City'
MPAA rating: Unrated
Times guidelines: Complex adult themes
Golab Adineh ... Tuba
Mohammad Reza Foroutan ... Abbas
Baran Kowsari ... Mahboubeh
Ebraheem Sheibani ... Ali
Mohsen Ghazi Moradi ... Mahmoud
A Magnolia Pictures release. Producer-director Rakhshan Bani-Etemad.
Screenplay Bani-Etemad and Farid Mostafavi. Cinematographer Hossein
Jafarian. Editor Mostafa Kherghepoush. Production designer Omi Mohit. In
Farsi, with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour, 33 minutes.
Exclusively at the Music Hall, 9036 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310)
274-6869; the Town Center 5, 17200 Ventura Blvd., Encino, (818)
981-9811;
and the South Coast Village 3, 1561 W. Sunflower Ave., across from South
Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, (800) 555-TELL.
--MS_Mac_OE_3133075426_3246311_MIME_Part
Content-type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>(film) FW: Working-class heroes in Tehran</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<BR>
----------<BR>
<B>From: </B>steve zeltzer <lvpsf@igc.org><BR>
<B>Date: </B>Fri, 04 Apr 2003 18:44:11 -0800<BR>
<B>To: </B>UPPNET <lvpsf@igc.org><BR>
<B>Subject: </B>Working-class heroes in Tehran<BR>
<BR>
<TT>http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-skin4apr04.story<BR>
<BR>
MOVIE REVIEW<BR>
<BR>
Working-class heroes in Tehran<BR>
<BR>
'Under the Skin of the City' is a censure of Iranian society, but it's<BR>
also great storytelling.<BR>
<BR>
By Kevin Thomas<BR>
Times Staff Writer<BR>
<BR>
April 4 2003<BR>
<BR>
"Under the Skin of the City" is an apt title for a film that zero=
es in<BR>
on an urban working-class family and reveals both its daily struggle for<BR=
>
survival and<BR>
its dreams of a better life. The predicament is universal, but that the<BR>
family happens to live in Tehran reveals challenges and hardships that<BR>
are inescapably<BR>
critical of Iranian society, especially concerning the plight of women.<BR>
<BR>
But this splendid film is no mere polemic, for Rakhshan Bani-Etemad,<BR>
often called the first lady of Iranian cinema, is above all an<BR>
accomplished<BR>
storyteller and dramatist who understands the evocative power of sound<BR>
and image. It's no wonder that Iran's film critics voted her film the<BR>
best of 2001;<BR>
it also won the grand jury prize that year at the Moscow International<BR>
Film Festival. And Bani-Etemad struck a chord with Iranian audiences,<BR>
who made<BR>
her film a box-office hit.<BR>
<BR>
In an inspired touch, Bani-Etemad, best known for "Narges" (1992)=
and<BR>
"The Blue-Veiled" (1994), both daring in their defense of women, =
sets<BR>
her story<BR>
against the parliamentary elections of 1998, which carried hope of<BR>
reform. A TV newscaster singles out Tuba Rahmat-Abdi (Golab Adineh), a<BR>
worn,<BR>
middle-aged factory worker, to ask her about the elections but cuts her<BR>
off as soon as she says shyly that she hopes elected officials will<BR>
believe in God<BR>
and be concerned with the issues of housing and welfare. At the end of<BR>
the film, when TV newscasters catch up with Tuba again, she has become<BR>
blunt<BR>
and outspoken.<BR>
<BR>
Tuba is developing a job-related lung disease but soldiers on. Her<BR>
decidedly older husband, Mahmoud (Mohsen Ghazi Moradi), is lame and<BR>
stays at<BR>
home and is out of touch with the times. The other mainstay of the<BR>
family is her eldest son, Abbas (Mohammad Reza Foroutan), an ambitious,<BR>
hard-working gofer for a garment manufacturer. Abbas is the family<BR>
dreamer: He wants his younger brother, Ali (Ebraheem Sheibani), a high<BR>
school<BR>
student and casual dissident, and middle-school-age sister, Mahboubeh<BR>
(Baran Kowsari), to have the college education he could not afford. His<BR>
immediate goal is to gather enough money to obtain a foreign work visa<BR>
and head for Japan to make more money than he could have ever hoped to<BR>
make<BR>
at home. Abbas also longs to be able to court a beautiful clerk in his<BR>
boss' high-rise office.<BR>
<BR>
There is nothing wrong with Abbas' dreams, and Bani-Etemad is implicitly<BR=
>
critical of a government that makes it not only so difficult to pursue<BR>
them but<BR>
also downright dangerous. She is also critical of a society in which<BR>
Tuba's miserable eldest child, Hamideh (Homeira Riazi), now pregnant<BR>
with her<BR>
second child, regularly returns to her family for refuge after her<BR>
debt-ridden husband brutally takes out his frustrations on her.<BR>
<BR>
Hamideh's plight is echoed by that of her younger sister's best friend,<BR>
who is subject to terrible abuse from her older brother.<BR>
<BR>
What keeps these developments and more from being hopelessly grim are<BR>
the loving ties that surmount petty differences and sustain the family<BR>
through<BR>
adversity. Yet there is a limit to just how much love can do, and the<BR>
increasingly suspenseful "Under the Skin of the City" takes its l=
eave at<BR>
just the right<BR>
moment, causing us to wonder if, with the Rahmat-Abdi family, that limit<BR=
>
has been reached.<BR>
<BR>
'Under the Skin of the City'<BR>
<BR>
MPAA rating: Unrated<BR>
<BR>
Times guidelines: Complex adult themes<BR>
<BR>
Golab Adineh ... Tuba<BR>
Mohammad Reza Foroutan ... Abbas<BR>
Baran Kowsari ... Mahboubeh<BR>
Ebraheem Sheibani ... Ali<BR>
Mohsen Ghazi Moradi ... Mahmoud<BR>
<BR>
A Magnolia Pictures release. Producer-director Rakhshan Bani-Etemad.<BR>
Screenplay Bani-Etemad and Farid Mostafavi. Cinematographer Hossein<BR>
Jafarian. Editor Mostafa Kherghepoush. Production designer Omi Mohit. In<BR=
>
Farsi, with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour, 33 minutes.<BR>
<BR>
Exclusively at the Music Hall, 9036 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310)<BR=
>
274-6869; the Town Center 5, 17200 Ventura Blvd., Encino, (818)<BR>
981-9811;<BR>
and the South Coast Village 3, 1561 W. Sunflower Ave., across from South<BR=
>
Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, (800) 555-TELL.<BR>
<BR>
</TT> <BR>
<BR>
</BODY>
</HTML>
--MS_Mac_OE_3133075426_3246311_MIME_Part--