What we're missing on Iran

I'm watching Crimson Gold, an Iranian film by Jafar Panahi (director) and Abbas Kirostami (writer.) It was actually not shown in Iran because the state decided it was unsuitable for viewing; the director wouldn't allow himself to be finger printed for entry to the US, so he wasn't present at the American premiere. That's two marks in it's favor.

The movie pretty much demolishes the line between social commentary and great storytelling, which was only ever drawn by reactionary critics, anyway. I certainly am no expert on Iran, but this movie gives a picture of Iranian society that is completely different from anything i've seen elsewhere in American media. You won't get it in news articles on Iran, and you won't get it from biographies of upper-middle class Iranian exiles.

The film follows Hussein, a pizza delivery man slash small time thief, as he goes about his relatively mundane business in Tehran. He is a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war, and has somewhat ambiguous health/mental illnesses. All of his experiences reflect the class divisions within Iranian society, the paralyzing forces, simultaneously invisible and manifest, that extend beyond religion and politics, coloring every social interaction.

To judge from the press coverage, there are only two groups in Iran, the enlightened, pro-West upper-middle class and university students, and the oppressive clergy who have a monopoly on political power. A month ago i saw a post on Juan Cole's website from an Iranian who revealed, somewhat apologetically to us Western liberals, another group of Iranians: the ignorant poor who have been tricked by the mullahs into voting conservatives like now-president Ahmadinejad into power.

Meshugah pointed out that the foreign media in Iran are likely bound to the large urban centers and don't come into contact with the poor much. This makes sense and seems generally consistent with the media's M.O. in areas like the Middle East. But you'd hope that these journalists* could at least speak to some experts on the Iranian society like the woman who posted on Cole's blog.

I wouldn't say Crimson Gold is polemical. In fact it unfolds in an almost meandering way, and the scenes seem almost improvised, almost Cassavettes-like. But there is an undercurrent of building rage that provides consistency and coherence. This film takes an unflinching view towards the workings of social class that some will no doubt denounce as caricature. Personally, i find this movie to be very sincere and i think that it rings painfully true.

*Obviously there are good and great journalists working in the Middle East and elsewhere. Dahr Jamail and Robert Fisk would be just two examples, both of them working in Iraq currently (EDIT: as noted in the comments, Dahr Jamail isn't in Iraq anymore.) Also, Dilip Hiro's writing on Iraq is very good, i recently read The Iranian Labyrinth which gave an interesting analysis of Iranian society's many centers of power and touches on issues of class and the enduring social significance of the Iran-Iraq war that are central to this film.

Jake recommended this movie to me and made many of the points that i'm repeating above, so, you know, props.