DesertTalkies Film Reviews!

  Golden Blood (Talad Khoon)  [2022] Direction by Ebrahim Sheibani  Starring: Zahra Hatami, Shahab Hosseini & Bahar Ghasemi Language: Farsi I often hear that China is going to be the next superpower, or that India will have its golden age soon. But I think people are ignoring that Iran is the next big thing in terms of film (I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again).  Anything that has been done by a director in the western world has probably been done by an Iranian director. The difference is that Farsi movies are three times more intense, five times more poignant, and ten times better to watch. I’m a Farsi movie convert, everybody, what can I say.  What I realized from this movie in particular was that class divide. I’ve mentioned it before whilst talking about Farsi movies, but it is very interesting how all the Farsi movies have coincidentally looked at class divide, whatever plot the movie may have. Iranian Farsi movies have done such an excellent job ...

 Bi-Madar [2022] Starring: Pejman Jamshidi, Mitra Hajjar, Amir Aghaee Director: Seyyed Morteza Fatemi Language: Farsi 'A finger is sometimes cut by a blade, sometimes with a piece of glass, sometimes with a knife, sometimes with a piece of paper. But all bruises are different from one another. Some cuts are a never-healing pain.' If this little snippet doesn't give you an idea of what this movie is like, I don't know what will.  Nobody knows how to show class divide in a film like the Iranians. Here's installment two of me watching foreign language movies on my flight.  One would think that motherhood is universal, and this movie, if anything, proves that. The story follows Amirali and Marjane, a wealthy couple living in urban Iran. Marjane longs for motherhood, whilst Amirali is passionately against it. However, this changes when Marjane finds a surrogate, Mahrouz, who is a poor, single woman trying to escape from an abusive relationship with her brother whilst sim...

  CHILDREN OF HEAVEN [1997] Starring: Mir Farrokh Hashemian, Bahare Seddiqi, Reza Naji Direction by Majid Majidi Language: Farsi I had originally seen this movie in 2011, but I was too young to fully understand the meaning or significance of the movie. However, for some reason, the movie has come back to my mind of late and so I decided to watch it. Let's just say that the Iranians are the kings and queens of heart-wrenching cinema. I plan to explore that statement over the coming weeks. Showcasing the relationship between siblings through a child's eyes was especially powerful. The fact that it didn't win the academy award for international feature film in 1998 just shows that the Oscars aren't everything, I guess.  The psyche of children really came to light in this movie, and the innocence and fragility of them was so endearing to see. It really put my problems into perspective - the fact that shoes were the focal point of such giant issues for the children really ex...