Zamestan – Rafi Pitts

una storia tragica, di amore, disoccupazione, sguardi, convenzioni, morte, in un ambiente così freddo che di più non si può, la neve lo evidenzia.

tutti stanno male, speranze non ce n'é, nessun sol dell'avvenire all'orizzonte.

Rafi Pitts è bravo, solo un suo film, Il cacciatore, è passato nei nostri cinema, nel 2010.

buona (gelida) visione - Ismaele

 

 

…Set against this austere and unwelcoming environment is a haunting and exotic song whose words mirror both the opening scenes and the sense of isolation. "They won't answer your greeting for their heads are lowered into their collars... for the cold is too bitter, too harsh." As well as providing a themic beauty that rises above all we see, the song maybe lends a useful insight for Westerners. Because of its strategic position, Iran (Persia) has always been the target of political machinations, but its long history had for many years - longer than many civilisations - held the promise of colourful mysteries, ancient civilisations and inexplicable ways. The latter has gradually been eroded, but the former still holds true, with present world powers aiming to 'encourage democratisation', with poverty-increasing sanctions and demonisation creating a hotbed of terrorism.

Yet it is not incumbent on Iran to understand western values (except for its own survival) - it is for the West, with greater resources at its disposal, to understand Iran. Although non-political, this frosty window into a country that has become almost closed to Western eyes, easily conveys the futility of winning hearts and minds through rhetoric. In purely cinematic terms, it has a quiet, stark beauty and a fragility of construction as one character unknowingly supplants another only to repeat a cycle that has as its end in unthinkable personal despair. It is a style that is not easy to relate to but one that is as fresh and crisp as anything that has come out of a land that cinema has sometimes almost forgotten.

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…It's Winter has been repeatedly described as bleak, but this fails to acknowledge its visual poetry (Mohammad Davudi's cinematography is consistently excellent), its arresting location work and sense of place, its dramatic and thematic depth, its brief but memorable upbeat moments, and the hold it can exert over the willing viewer. There's an honesty to both the drama and the social commentary that springs in no small part from the naturalistic performances from a primarily non-professional cast – Marhab's speech about his poor employment prospects doubtless comes from the heart, given that the man who plays him, Ali Nicksaulat, is not an actor by trade but an engineer who works in the very district in which the film is set. It's an absorbing and haunting film that cares about its characters and their fate, and while specifically Iranian in identity, speaks clearly to a far wider audience.

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