Santuri in Berkeley

My friends and I went to see Dariush Mehrjui's Santuri in Berkeley tonight. I hope I don't offend anyone if I say that I was very disappointed. What is so special about another movie that depicts Iran's social ills? We have seen so much of that over the recent years both in real life and in the movies. I thought the lead actress's performance was not very good, though I thought Radan pulled off his part quite successfully. The role of the father was done very well, too, and of course the homeless drug addicts also delivered a believable account.

Perhaps I am not a fair critic of movies. I believe that cinema is about entertainment. It must be an escape from painful realities of life, which should leave you recreated and entertained in the end. I really dislike movies which make me sad, feeling cheated when the movie is over. In Tehran I once saw a movie, most of which followed some painful experiences I had had in my life. I didn't feel entertained, because I couldn't escape from the realities of my life for the duration of the movie, so I sat there and cried for two hours and the memory of that awful movie continues to haunt me to this day. Even in the genre of "real" and "social consciousness" movies, I enjoyed Offside a lot more than this one. Remember Makhmalbaf's Salam Cinema? It talked about social realities of Iran, but without inflicting pain on the viewer. Those are my kinds of movies. I even liked Bachehaye Aseman and Rang-e-Khoda better than this one.

The music was nice. Ardavan Kamkar, the youngest of the Kamkars Ensemble, had done a good job of bringing excitement to the film through music. Sorry if I am really off the mark here, but I like Kiarostami and Makhmalbaf and Tabrizi movies a lot more, because they provoke thought without too much pain, bringing a much softer approach to real life, occasionally making us laugh.

Have a good evening you all.

Freedom of Expression at the Grand Lake

This past weekend I drove by the Grand Lake Theater again. As I waited behind the traffic light, I pulled out my camera to snap this picture (please forgive its poor quality). The Grand Lake Theater in Oakland is one of the best-known landmarks in the city. Not only is it famous for the impressive restoration job that was done to it, but also for the fact that it is owned by a liberal who uses one side of the theater marquee for posting political messages. This week's reads: "We applaud Secretary of State Bowen for exposing the total insecurity of computer voting!" If you go here, you can see tens of pictures showing the different political messages the Grand Lake has displayed since the 2000 presidential election. Regardless of what the messages say and whether I agree with (or even understand) all of them, my Iranian mind is continually engaged and provoked when I pass the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland.