Cinema
آبی و رابی
Ovanes Ohanian · 1931
Synopsis
A sketch film, in several acts. The two heroes, Abi and Rabi, get themselves into physical gags: when one drinks, it is the other's belly that swells; a steamroller flattens one, and a blow of the hammer makes him short and wide. Other acts show three beggars dying of hunger and cold, a prison escape, three thieves at work, the trial of an unqualified dentist, then an act of acrobatics and strength in which the actor lifts a bar of one hundred and four kilos with one hand.
Context
The film was shot from November 1930 with the first twelve graduates of the acting school, financed three-quarters by Grisha Sakvalidze, owner of the Mayak cinema, and photographed by Khanbaba Motazedi, trained at Gaumont. As the negatives that arrived in Iran were partly spoiled, it was shot on positive film stock. The title comes from the names of the two performers, Zarrabi and Sohrabi, and the model was the Danish duo Doublepatte and Patachon. The premiere took place at the Mayak on 2 January 1931, before the press, which gave it a warm reception; the only print burned in the fire at the cinema in 1932.
Who it is for
A silent film, now lost, of which only a few photographs and the account of several of its acts remain. It helps to know that it consists of independent numbers rather than a continuous story.
Prizes and reception
The first fiction feature film made in Iran, well received by the Tehran press; no copy of it survives.