MOI Response and Punishment Questions :)

Moment of Innocence:

This is the second time I've seen this movie (first time being in 227). The only thing I could recall from the first viewing was the ending and the bread and flower metaphor. That being said, I enjoyed it just as much if not more this time around. The masterful blending of documentary and narrative is fascinating to watch, especially when it just jumps from one to the other, for example with the boy and the girl going from being young people recruited for a film to young Makhmalmaf and his cousin in the blink of an eye. It's confusing at first, but once one realizes what is going on, they go with it, it is not unwelcome or an intrusion to the story.

This film is a bit more obvious with its revolutionary themes than Kiarostami's films, seeing as this is a film meant to make a film documenting the times of the Shah and Makhmalbaf's own rebellious past. I cannot specifically recall what the bread and the flower are supposed to mean but my assumption is that the flower is love and the bread is revolution, and she has to choose. I also enjoy the comedic nature in this film, between the mother and daughter and the policemen and the young actor playing him. It added a lighthearted, whimsical feel to the movie. The editing is also extremely well done and turns what would seem a mundane slice of life kind of film into a lyrical and fascinating piece of cinema.

Negar Mottahedeh, “New Iranian Cinema”

2. What were the general restrictions of the “Rule of Modesty”? How does this relate to some of the stylistic decisions we saw in A Moment of Innocence? How did this lead to problems of realism for Iranian audiences when watching domestic interior scenes?

Women were to avoid showing the contours of their body with their movement or dress, and men and women were to avoid looking at each other with desire and were to have no physical contact. In a Moment of Innocence, these constraints are upheld, but because they are using primarily children so the rules are a little less strict, but this is why the adult cousin was always shown off-screen or in the distance, and the women in the story were all properly covered up. This lacks realism because even the most religious of women did not wear their veil in a private setting amongst family members.

3. Paraphrase in your own words Makhmalbaf’s quote about complex metaphors and the plurality of meaning (starting on p. 179). Respond to his quote in relation to our in-class discussion about political content and effective communication to wide audiences. According to Mottahedeh, what were some of the general solutions to the problem of cinematic language and intelligibility?

Since Iranian audiences are not familiar with traditional Western cinema and filmmaking style, Iranian filmmakers must work extra hard to create there own national cinema that transcends typical narrative structure but also allows its native viewers to understand what is going on. They do this by creating allegorical figures, displacing plots, deferring cinematic closure, and using repetition to create a new kind of cinema.

4. What have been some of the key feminist objections to the representation of women under the rule of modesty in Iranian cinema. If these films are claiming a degree of realism, what broad tendencies in the representation of women complicate those claims?

They say that women are represented "as colourful, fetishised spectacles of native primitivism or as domesticated housewives." Also, they are not realistically portrayed because of, again as said above, many women do not veil themselves when they are in private. However, due to censorship, women are forced to dress and act in ways that are depicted as unrealistic, unless the filmmaker utilizes certain tricks like long shots or off-screen space.

5. How is the feminist debate different in the national and international contexts?

Nationally, women demand to be depicted in a less stereotypical light, internationally however, "rather than being concerned about realism, the more relevant question for a cinema like Iran's concerns specific conventions used to construct Iranian women on the screen in the first place." People outside of Iran are unaware (typically) of the cultural nuances of Iranian women and therefore just see the portrayal of women as the culture of Iran rather than as sexist or stereotypical.

6. According to Mottahedeh, what function does the spectacle of color serve in Makhmalbaf’s Gabbeh, and how does this relate to the codes of realism and linear narrative?

"Colour functions to escape, subvert and disrupt the conventional organization of the plot." For example, girls carrying bouquets, the dye-making process and the spinning and weaving of colored thread all interrupt or postpone key points in the plot.