Cinema
Still Life
طبیعت بیجان
Sohrab Shahid Saless · 1974
Synopsis
For more than thirty years, Mohammad Sardari has kept a level crossing at a remote station: he lowers and raises the barrier each time a train passes, then goes home to his wife, who weaves carpets to supplement their meagre income. Their son is a soldier. The days are all alike, until the morning when he is handed a letter whose meaning he does not grasp: he is being retired.
Context
The film was produced by the Centre of Avant-Garde Filmmakers, with Parviz Sayyad, and shot in eleven days, with cinematography by Houshang Baharlou. The roles are played by non-professionals, Zadour Bonyadi first among them. The director makes his character's muteness and the length of the shots the principle of his mise en scène, which many Iranian filmmakers would take up after him. Released in June 1974, it was shown in competition at Berlin the same year.
Who it is for
A Persian-language film of an hour and a half, with sparse dialogue and long takes. It is worth knowing that almost nothing happens in it, and that this is its subject.
Prizes and reception
Silver Bear and International Critics' Prize at the Berlin festival in 1974; regarded as one of the turning points of Iranian cinema before the revolution.