Educational Media Reviews Online

In the 1950s, '60s and '70s, Iran had a thriving film industry, producing about a hundred films a year in the years before the revolution. Then it all came to a screeching halt, and the films and the equipment to play them on were banned.

Ehsan Khoshbakht introduces the world to this disappearing panoply of B-movie melodrama. He uses clips from over 90 films (each one subtitled) to show the themes and distinctive character of Iranian cinema. His critical commentary is interesting, thoughtful, and wide-ranging. This is a very effective introduction and overview of a hidden chapter in cinematic history, and an important window into Iranian society during those times.

Khoshbakht assumes a certain amount of knowledge, so if using this film in class, it wouldn't hurt to have some background information ready (about the Shah, or the 1979 revolution) and the definitions of some words, such as sigheh and jahel.

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