For most filmmakers, Picking up a camera is an expression.for Jafar Panahi, it is an act of political resistance. Arrested several times (As recently as July of this year), no travel Film production has been officially banned since 2010 by iranian governmentthe Tehran-based director has continued to explore ways of filming, editing and editing. smuggling his films to the world. Before becoming Public Enemy No. 1 in cinema for the authorities, Panahi practiced a kind of poetic neorealism that characterized many of the country’s arthouse imports. ChildrenWhen sportsWhen fables aboundSince the ban, he has become both perpetrator and protagonist of excursions that blur the lines towards self-reflexion, running the gamut from the witty to the tiring, and under the most oppressive circumstances. Doubled as an example of how to make. Really, what else do you call a movie you made when you weren’t allowed to make it? this is not a movie?
While it would be unfair to harshly judge the work of someone operating under such stifling restrictions, Panahi’s accomplishments have been uneven to say the least since angering the authorities. The very existence of these films is a miracle. Still his latest, no bears, I don’t feel born out of an artist working within strict parameters or being held back by the mother of invention. Virtually a masterpiece by any standard. Once again, the director plays the internationally renowned filmmaker and partly fictional character ‘Jafar Panahi’. Life flows into art again, just like the screen version of Autor trying to make a movie without leaving the country. In this case, he’s calling out literal shots on the Turkish set via a laptop connection that keeps him out. Had Panahi stayed in Tehran, he decent he could have benefited from WiFi. However, he is determined to get as close as possible to what is happening. That’s how the famous filmmaker ends up in a small rural village near the border of his two countries.
Still, the scenery transitions are beautiful, and Panahi can focus on his work when he’s not looking for traffic lights. The owner of the place where he’s staying, a man named Gunbar (Vahid Mobasheri), is a bit star-struck. A wedding is being planned and everyone is in a festive mood. Panahi snaps some snapshots on the roof of the building as residents march down to the riverbank for the soon-to-be fiancé’s feet-washing ceremony. Mainly children and scenery. He briefly forgets that a man with a camera can be considered dangerous.
through the first half no bears, Even when a movie-within-a-movie started mentioning staging a scene in which a real actor obtains a fake passport and an alien suddenly finds himself in the middle of a mob, the filmmaker said he It gives the impression of idling in a meta-playful mode. Late at night, clandestine meetings at the border, where smugglers (humans and others) are trading, slyly emphasize kinship. increase. And his interactions with Ganbar and the elderly woman who keeps giving him unsolicited folk remedies unfold like a gentle comic joke. Do you want to continue?” routine.
Then Panahi changes the tone, and suddenly an edge of hostility creeps into this idyllic Bassman holiday story. Specifically, she may have caught a bride (Dalia Alley) talking to a man (Amir Dhavari) who has been adoring her for years. Accidentally, intentionally — Panahi’s intentions don’t matter to them. The village elders want proof, not to mention the angry groom. They demand to see a painting. The filmmaker shows them the camera pictures. He didn’t take shots like that. Locals still don’t believe him. They want him to take an oath before God, according to a long-standing tradition. It doesn’t matter if he took the shot or not. Just do what they ask and they will leave you alone. Perhaps.
here it is no bears Drop the hammer and reveal the purpose of its title — no man-eating bears roaming the countryside, but help the elders say there that is, Because “our fear empowers others.” An image can liberate, enlighten and communicate, whether it is a single shot or part of an image that he flips over 24 times in one second. They can also prosecute, turn artists into political prisoners, or manipulate them to cause harm. Even the actors in his film projects become conflicted: You make a movie based on our lives, but you don’t consider how it will affect you. We.
Neither real nor fictional Panahi like to have strong weapons, which leads to actions taken by the villagers themselves regarding this situation. Irony and tragedy await at your doorstep.And as his real-life hardships play out in miniature onscreen, you can feel the great cracks beginning to spread across this elaborately constructed hall of mirrors. no bears You don’t have to know Panahi to understand He is currently serving a six-year sentence for “making anti-government propaganda.” Both add a sting to the final act. I felt like I had just seen a truly extraordinary late production produced by one of the greatest living directors of the era, and soon afterwards drove away from the on-screen crime scene. Man, when the screen goes black, you can’t go anywhere.