Very Secret Movie club ratings

movie rating
The Child 4/5
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie 4/5
The Son's Room 3.5/5
Stranger Than Paradise 3/5
Dancer in the Dark
4/5
ChungKing Express
4/5
Happy Together3.5/5
My Blueberry Nights
3/5
Wild at Heart4/5
Summer Hours2/5
Revanche4/5
Blue Velvet
4/5
Inland Empire
3.5/5



Tuesday, March 3, 2009

"Tehran Has No More Pomegranates!"


Director Massoud Bakhshi and crew are on a mission to make a film about their hometown, Tehran, but have hit a wall and must explain to their overseers at the Documentary Film Center why their project cannot be completed. They decide to investigate the city’s past in order to better understand the present. What follows is a sarcastic and comic narrative about Tehran’s transformation from a small village into a megapolis of increasing urban mess, pollution, inadequate housing, class gaps and the fatal destiny of its delicious pomegranates. Using an energetic mix of rare archival footage from the past 150 years, unconventional photography, mock interviews and a playful soundtrack, the aesthetic and cultural values of old and new Tehran are brought to life. In the process, director and crew embark on a self-discovery, realizing that while they belong to a drastically transformed Tehran, being a Tehrani is a timeless state of mind. With narration by Nosrat Karimi and music by Mohsen Namjoo. (Fully subtitled)

Showtime: march 4 and 5, 2009, 6:15pm, 8:00pm, & 9:35 pm

Embarcadero Center Cinema, 1 Embarcadero Center, San Francisco

21 comments:

Tara said...

This seems to be very interesting. Thanks for sharing! is anyone interested in having an emergency movie night!?

Sohrab said...

Tomorrow night (either 8:00pm or 9:35pm) would work for me.
I'm planning to watch "To See If I'm Smiling", of the HRW series, on March 5 though. (7:30pm @ the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts)

Hossein said...

Thanks for sharing Sohrab.
I have seen this mockumentary movie"Tehran has no..."
It is little long and in some point the director confused about what he wants to tell and jump from something to something else without any point. By the way,I don't have to tell this because this director needs our support but it is ok to watch it at home and pause it any time and have coffee and tea and play again! and I think (just my idea) it is not good for emergency movie night!! :)

Sohrab said...

thanks for the info Hossein.

I just watched the opening sequence of the movie and enjoyed watching the old images of Tehran ... so I'm going to watch it anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_Gx67F9yaY

LT said...

"tehroon? tehroon ke migan jaaye ghashangiyeh. ammaa mardomesh badan!"

haha! love it :)

the opening scene looked interesing to me too.

why do you say it's boring Hossein?

Hossein said...

Opening scene is interesting but he made it to long in the middle in act two. He made it funny and this funny look made it Mocumentary. He used lots of old footage from old Iran to cover up. He repeated again and again same-thing in some part and jump to different things without any reason. It is cool to watch once but for me it is not kind of Mocumentary to worth to watch it in the theater. :)

Sohrab said...

I've read some foreign reviews of the movie ... a couple of reviewers actually agree with Hossein that there are confusion and disorder in some parts of the plot ... but actually they think those go well with the chaotic scenes of modern Tehran ....

Hossein said...

I don't agree with those review that say those confusion and disorder scene go well for this movie. I see the interfere of director to editor work in this film (Dr didn't let editor do his job freely).

Sohrab said...

hmmmm .. chaos and interference ... now I'm really curious to see it by myself! .... :)

Hossein said...

Hehehe, I made you more curious to watch this! hehehe, This is directors work to make people curious to watch movies. :)
If you watch it, you may see this interference. Unfortunately, we see it in most of Iranian's movies. Directors didn't like to delete those scenes that don't work (from editors view) for their movie. :)

Sohrab said...

hahaha .... I thought we don't have interference problems back in Iran .. :)

Hossein said...

Hehehehe, that's true.... we don't! :)

Sohrab said...

we don't ... "ammaa mardomesh badan!" :)

Hossein said...

Hehehe ;)

Sohrab said...

okay, I watched the documentary ... ... sort of okay, IMO.

Pros: good selection of old/modern Tehran footages and oldies musics, some funny scenes and jokes, the first 25 minutes.

Cons: too much of beating the dead horse, sort of pointless, the last 25 minutes.

Hossein said...

Thanks Sohrab.... I told you that's ok ... did you notice to influence of director to editors job in that?

Sohrab said...

All I can tell you is that a strong editor can make a good 35min documentary out of this 68min work.
to be honest, it's hard for me to clearly distinguish the influences of different contributors. (including mother in low of the director, Ampex, the abdaarchi, the producer, .. :))
All in all, I agree with your perception of the movie ...

Hossein said...

I agree with you about to make 35min documentary out of this 68min :) I wish we could cut for him to make it better movie. :)
I am really impress with your critic too.
Thanks again for sharing your critics and thought.

Sohrab said...

To be fair, I've to add that I met bunch of friends at the movie theater and some of them quite liked the documentary. So "everybody to his own tastes."

Hossein said...

Of course Sohrab, worse movies in the world also has its own fan! yes you are right, its all depends on the tastes but we looked and critics this movie technically and professional way.

LT said...

alright!
thanks for the feedback guys :)
I'll wait to watch it on DVD then...