Shirin
Retrospective of a Cinematic Master
/ Feature Documentary / Iran / 2008 / Colour
In Persian / Arabic, English subtitles
No Premiere
Rated: Parental guidance advised for viewers under the age of 15. Individuals under the age of 15 are not admitted into cinemas unless accompanied by an individual aged 18 or over.
- Come back soon to see screening dates
Synopsis
This daring experiment by Kiarostami is considered by some critics to be a turning point in his career, marking his return to using film instead of digital technology, and foreshadowing his move toward exploring more traditional narrative structures in ‘Certified Copy’ and ‘Like Someone in Love’. A challenging and immensely satisfying film, ‘Shirin’ should be followed like a work of classical music – with one’s emotions.
Over the course of the film, the camera features 112 Iranian actresses, among them Hedieh Tehrani, Niki Karimi, Leila Hatami and Juliette Binoche, while they view a film version of ‘Khosrow and Shirin’, a 12th-century work by the Persian poet Farrideh Golbou that involves a love triangle between a Persian king, an Armenian queen and a Persion sculptor.
The film these women watch is a figment; it is present in the film only in the form of an elaborate soundtrack.
Because we never see what the women are watching, only their faces carefully framed in static images, we have a wonderfully intimate view of the spectators of this tale, which turns on themes of female self-sacrifice. It’s fascinating to realise that Kiarostami shot all of the footage before knowing what the ‘film’ the women ‘watch’ would be. Their emotional reactions to the story envelop the audience, provoking in us a complex response to the soundtrack of Golbou’s poetry, the images of the spectators, and Kiarostami’s magnificent cinematic construction.