In the middle of the turbulence and suffering brought on by the Islamic Republic of Iran and other Muslim governments, artists are flourishing. Perhaps the political turbulence gives them the passion to tell stories that give hope and reveal beauty in dark places. Perhaps it is the challenge of having so few resources for moviemaking, or so few opportunities to speak out about their lives to the rest of the world. In "the land of the free," movies are as expendable as popcorn. In the Middle East, visionaries and artists are turning to filmmaking as a lifeline, a megaphone with which to call upon the rest of the world.

American audiences are a hard sell for such pictures. This is partly because the U.S. studios want to earn easy money off their own products, so they saturate the market with their mostly mediocre work, keeping foreign films to limited engagements in out of the way art-house theatres. But it is also due to the flawed impressions most Americans have about the region. After all, movies have taught us that Arabs are just bomb-toting terrorists bent on our destruction.

There is so much more to the story.

The Middle East According to American Movies


As I think back and count Middle Eastern characters I have seen on the big screen, I am troubled to realize how many were portrayed as psychopathic villains. In Rambo-genre films I saw as a teenager, the only difference between Nazi soldiers, Vietnamese soldiers, and Arab warriors on a jihad was the accent. Later, American action films like True Lies and Executive Decision gave us villains that were more than action figures; they had personalities and political agendas. We were being conditioned—foreigners are dangerous, violent, and evil. It's what we've been trained to expect.

The most common response to the events of September 11 was "It's like a movie." The idea of a Middle Eastern terrorist putting a bomb on an airplane was all too familiar. Most people know that the big screen gives us an insufficient representation of Arabs and others. But the steady dosage of caricature that the average American receives has angered and stirred into action those who feel slighted by the trend.

At EthicsDaily, Cliff Vaughn reports on action taken by Arab Americans in protest against negative Hollywood stereotypes. He then shares perspectives from journalists and anti-defamation activists about the effect of Hollywood on American assumptions about Arabs, and about the struggle to give the public a fair and balanced idea after September 11.

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Not all American films oversimplify the issues. More serious war films like Three Kings,The Siege, and last year's Black Hawk Down offer much more realistic portrayals of American/Middle Eastern conflicts. Three Kings explores the politics and anti-American sentiments that threw fuel on the fire of the Gulf War. In The Siege, Middle Eastern terrorists strike at New York, resulting in a state of martial law. The Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee complained that the film would encourage Americans to accept unfair stereotypes of Arabs. But the film was far more fair and accurate than most; at least it included among its heroes an Arab American agent (Tony Shaloub) who offered perspective on the whole conflict and struggled with divided sympathies. Black Hawk Down, on the other hand, is too busy portraying realistic military endeavors to explore the motives, minds, and hearts of the people firing back.

In a recent online discussion, critic Peter T. Chattaway pointed to more familiar favorites, some of which you might have sitting beside the family VCR: "I watched … Disney's Aladdin [recently] and I was reminded of the controversy over how that film gave the villain the most obviously Semitic features, while making the hero, his girlfriend, and her father look rather attractive or 'normal' by American standards." He adds, "I don't think the villain of that film is made to look especially religious, so at the very least, the film cannot be called anti-Islamic."

Chattaway lists other, older films that may have affected the perspectives of American moviegoers: "I am reminded of the Bible epics that came out back in the '50s and '60s. Some, like the 1956 remake of The Ten Commandments, tried to make peace between Arabs and Israelis. Egypt is … the villain in that story, but in his introduction to the film, Cecil B. DeMille encourages us to think of the Pharaoh Rameses as an atheist dictator like those in the Communist states of that period, so the film's portrayal of ancient Egypt does not really reflect on modern Egypt in any significant way. Other films, like the 1961 King of Kings, seem to demonize the Arabs somewhat; in that film, the cruel King Herod the Great is introduced by the narrator as 'an Arab of the Bedouin tribe,' when in fact he was an Edomite. Then there is 1959's Solomon and Sheba, which may be somewhere in between."

Lawrence of Arabia, however, gives the Arab world a fairer shake. "Arab tribal conflicts are made to look pretty 'barbaric,' sure, but there is a certain logic and code of honor to them nonetheless, and the film never gives us any reason to assume that the Europeans are morally superior to the Arabs, in this regard," says Chattaway. "If anything, the film encourages us to look down on the Europeans for refusing to give the Arabs better weapons with which to fight against the Turks. But would any of us, today, really say it's a bad idea to prevent the Arab world from getting its hands on the most modern or destructive Western weapons?"

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Faced with such poor options, an American moviegoer will have to travel off the beaten path to find richer, more truthful portrayals of these cultures. Fortunately, more and more video stores are responding to the rising tide of interest and inquiry. Most Americans should be able to find Middle Eastern titles at their local video store.

But where to start?

The Middle East According to its Own Moviemakers


One recently acclaimed foreign title underlines the problem of the American media's misrepresentation of Arab peoples—the recent American-made film Maryam, directed by Ramin Serry. Set during the Iran hostage crisis, the film offers the perspective of an Iranian American teen who must deal with the news, the negative stereotypes, and conflicting sympathies.

Doug Cummings praises Maryam: "In many ways, the film speaks to historical questions of identity that surely confront many Iranians, both in America and abroad. If the film highlights one of the major world events of modern times and its impact on American culture, it inevitably asks the question Where have we come since? Despite its unassuming style, the film has important things to say to Americans about Iranian American life and the way patriotism can often become a form of intimidation—a good perspective to remember during current events. It's a thoughtful film, especially for teenagers, that should not be missed by families seeking accessible, well-crafted movies for discussion."

To read an interview with Ramin Serry, visit Iranian.com.

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At Flickerings, the official Web site of this year's Cornerstone film festival, Mike Hertenstein offers a close look at the outstanding wave of new films coming from Iran. (Many of these films will be featured in a special program at the festival.) He writes, "The rise of Iranian cinema over the past decade has been described as one of those brief, shining moments of national cinema remembered ever after as a Golden Age, taking its place alongside German Expressionism, French New Wave, and Italian Neo-Realism. If this indeed is Iran's moment in the cinematic sun—and if our only considerations were those of the greedy film buff—prudence might dictate we enjoy it while it lasts. Of course, reasons for consideration of Iran extend beyond its film output: and even more prudence would suggest we seize the opportunity offered by such films to get past stereotypes employed so often and so cynically to simplify geopolitics in a confusing world."

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On another page of Flickerings, Hertenstein gives in-depth examinations of Iran's master directors, including Dariush Mehrjui (The Cow), Abbas Kiarostami (Close-Up, A Taste of Cherry, ABC Africa), Mohsen Makhmalbaf (Gabbeh, Kandahar), Jafar Panahi (The Circle, The White Balloon), Majid Majidi (The Color of Paradise, Children of Heaven). These names may not be as familiar as Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, Ron Howard, and Woody Allen, but most critics will agree that their work is often superior.

Doug Cummings (Chiaroscuro) applauds this surge in excellent Iranian art: "Iran has a long history of art appreciation, many formidable philosophers and poets, and a thriving film culture with many critics and magazines. In the '90s, their art cinema experienced a New Wave and began winning many of the major awards at international festivals. Many of those films are just now beginning to trickle into our hands. Iranian artists and filmmakers have been challenging the theocracy and suffering for it, as well—Tamineh Milani, for example, has been imprisoned for making her film, Two Women, and faces the death penalty. Facets Multimedia has begun a petition … calling for her release here."

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Viewers interested in visions of Middle Eastern experience beyond America's borders have a wide variety of excellent titles to choose from. Several Christian-media critics have been sharing summations of their favorite Iranian films and filmmakers.

Mohsen Makhmalbaf's Kandahar is a movie set among the Taliban. It is notable among films about the region in that Makhmalbaf did not cast professional actors, but instead used the people he found along the way. Mike Hertenstein offers a thorough exploration of the film at Cornerstone's Imaginarium, calling it "a miracle of a film. Kandahar is prophetic in more senses than just foreseeing future events. It is prophetic in the sense which that word means also telling the truth, with power and with poetry."

"It was genuinely provocative to see the Afghani landscape and people through Makhmalbaf's lens," writes J. Robert Parks (The Phantom Tollbooth). "With all of the news I've seen in the last several months, the movie Kandahar was the first time I felt like I was actually inside Afghanistan."

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Peter Chattaway calls Kandahar "a rich portrait of trial and trouble in Afghanistan" that arrived in the U.S. "just as Americans were searching for explanations for the terrorist attacks." He mixes his praise with criticism, saying that the film suffers somewhat from Makhmalbaf's insistence on using residents of Kandahar instead of a professional cast. He says the film proves that "hiring non-actors isn't always a sign of artistic superiority."

Critics outside the religious press had similar reactions. "The issues raised by [Kandahar's] questions turn out to be closely allied to those raised by war," writes Jonathan Rosenbaum (Chicago Reader). "The widespread speculation that Afghanistan may not occupy American attention spans for long, especially once the war on terrorism moves to a new locale or our government announces another policy shift, only intensifies the urgency of Afghanistan's problems, which the defeat of the Taliban in no way makes irrelevant. Thanks to the shifting tone and manner of Kandahar, we wind up responding in many different ways at once, and if the overall effect is still scattered, the burden of making sense of it all—as art and as reality—reverts to us. Considering the responsibility we've already assumed, that's as it should be."

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In The Circle, director Jafar Panahi's camera follows several Iranian women through a few hours that pass in real time on the streets of Tehran. These women are disliked, abused, rejected, desperate, and driven to crime. They have to keep their heads properly covered, and are deemed worthless unless they are married. Most of the time, they are simply ignored. It is hard for an American to imagine an environment like this.

Yet this documentary is as naturalistic as movies come. Several scenes let the constantly moving camera roll for several minutes uninterrupted—we follow the women down busy streets, into buildings, up stairways, through kitchens and hospitals, without a break. But it doesn't drag. The film keeps his haunted heroines in close-up, and yet there we're always aware of the encroaching dangers. It's a Kafka-like maze of oppression, and there's no escape in sight.

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Opening in a limited engagement across the U.S. right now is the highly acclaimed Baran. It's the latest from the supremely talented director Majid Majidi, whose Children of Heaven and The Color of Paradise have become two of my favorite films.

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Jonathan Foreman (New York Post) writes, "[Majidi's] beautiful, deceptively simple 'neo-realist' films are notable for the honest, moving way they depict the world of work and the struggles of ordinary, 'simple' people. [They] also tend to be faster moving and less pretentious than those by some of his critically favored countrymen. Baran isn't quite as powerful as [Majidi's previous films]. Yet it's a far more impressive and affecting piece of filmmaking and storytelling than most movies put out by Hollywood this year, and offers, as a bonus, a glimpse into a fascinating, contradictory society."

"Baran isn't a political movie, but a love story," writes Stephanie Zacharek (Salon.com). "At times it's almost a romantic comedy. But its very accessibility—it's gorgeously shot and never ploddingly earnest—could make it the first Iranian film to be widely seen by American audiences who aren't necessarily hardcore art-house denizens. Moreover, it reflects some of the political realities in the Middle East that many Americans are just now becoming aware of."

Mike Clark (USA Today) says, "Baran is a movie about sacrifice, but it's also about fear; authorities often show up to ensure that the workers are Iranian, which means the Afghans must flee in hurried exits. Even without its topicality, Baran would be a natural audience-pleaser. The characters are strong and accessible, and … Majidi has long established his credentials as a visual poet."

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To explore further the films of Iranian filmmakers, look for a new book by Hamid Dabashi—Close Up: Iranian Cinema, Past, Present, Future. Doug Cummings also refers us to an article by Godfrey Cheshire, "one of the preeminent Western experts on Iranian movies."

As Christians, we are called to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. That includes terrorists and the nations where they grow in power and influence. We are also called to care for the poor and the suffering. That includes loving our world-community neighbors, wherever they are struggling against poverty and oppression. I have begun to realize that, while I find it easy to pray for faraway nations, I know very little about them. The more I learn, the more I realize I have been lazy and hard-hearted, happy to swallow the abbreviated information spoon-fed to me by the evening news. Thus I discover that I am part of the problem. Jesus, his disciples, and bold apostles like Paul offer a much different model. They marched into foreign territory and built relationships with people of many cultures.

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Movies certainly do not offer us relationships with foreign peoples. But these Middle Eastern testimonies can offer us a first step, a truthful and informative vision of the daily lives, pressures, trials, joys, and blessings experienced by Iranian men and women. These films have given me a greater appreciation of my own freedom, its fragility, and the need to use my time and freedom wisely and responsibly.

While I have been challenged, entertained, and deeply moved by some of these films, I find that watching the news has become more difficult. As Solomon reminds us, "With increasing wisdom comes increasing pain." That pain reminds me of Christ's own heartbreak on the cross, as he looked out on his persecutors and said, "Father, forgive them." It also pains me to realize the hardness and prejudice that have existed in my own heart, provoking the plea, "Father, forgive me as well."

Hot from the Oven


The top-grossing film at the mainstream movie theatres this week also takes place in the Middle East, but this is no gritty tale of reality. The Scorpion King, as you probably know from the relentless commercials, stars The Rock of World Wrestling Federation fame.

The critic at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops writes that the film "is what most moviegoers would expect: plenty of battles stapled onto a thin story line with a charming lead whose popularity was won by his wrestling histrionics. The saving grace of this routine film is that it doesn't take itself too seriously. The Rock has been well cast—considering his limited acting abilities—in a role that requires him to do little more than flex his big muscles and stare at the camera with his signature furrowed brow."

Michael Elliott (Movie Parables) says, "The Rock earns his descriptive moniker, demonstrating all the emotional depth of his namesake. He has the bulk and a wryness that fits, coupled with the most expressive eyebrow work seen since Groucho Marx." Elliott observes that here we have a hero who depends on a sorceress to tell him the future, following a long tradition. "King Saul turned to the witch of Endor during a time of trouble; King Nebuchadnezzar had a staff of magicians standing ready to interpret his dreams; Ahab put his trust in the prophets of Baal; and the list goes on to this day. Wasn't it the Reagan White House that relied upon the 'vision' of an astrologer?"

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Several critics find it a complete waste of time and resources. Paul Bicking (Preview) disapproves of the "graphic violence, scantily clad women, and sexual innuendo." And Bob Smithouser (Focus on the Family) argues that viewers should question the virtue of these heroes. "The assassin and the sorceress … are a strange pair to be rooting for. The hero is a killing machine. The heroine is skilled in the occult. Hollywood sure has a way of convincing us that evil can be good." Phil Boatwright (Movie Reporter) says the film offers "some vague storyline, but unlike Star Wars or Indiana Jones, there's little wonder or even excitement. Any life lessons? Oh, please."

On the other hand, family-friendly critic Holly McClure (Crosswalk) calls it an "exotic looking, incredibly choreographed, and thrilling story. I have to hand it to The Rock: His bigger-than-life performance makes his starring role debut a hit. In other words, he rocks!"

Mainstream critics found it too much muscle and not enough mind. "Did I enjoy this movie?" Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times) asks himself. "Yeah, I did, although not quite enough to recommend it. Because it tries too hard to be hyper and not hard enough to be clever. For its target audience, looking for a few laughs, martial arts, and stuff that blows up real good, it will be exactly what they expected. It has high energy, the action never stops, the dialogue knows it's funny, and The Rock has the authority to play the role and the fortitude to keep a straight face. I expect him to become a durable action star."

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Director Barbet Schroeder's Murder by Numbers is a grisly, intense murder mystery with Sandra Bullock as the troubled cop on the case.

Mainstream critics are busy comparing it to television's popular series C.S.I. But religious press critics are busy questioning the appropriateness of its graphic violence. The USCCB critic says, "Despite its veneer of psychological insights, Murder by Numbers is pretty much by-the-book. It succeeds more as a creepy thriller than as the astute character study it wants to be."

"Unfortunately," says Paul Bicking (Preview), "the dialogue has a large number of obscenities and crude sexual comments. However, both Cassie and the boys learn that they have to face up to what they've done in the past."

Phil Boatwright and Steven Isaac (Focus on the Family) are troubled by the way the film's two villains unleash violence that might inspire young, ill-tempered viewers: "Following the Colorado Columbine High School massacre," writes Boatwright, "the story of two dysfunctional teenage sociopaths could be of interest, I suppose, to those studying criminal behavior. But … this film doesn't seriously examine antisocial behavior. I wondered if this production might somehow trigger a copycat crime." And Isaac asks, "Will a troubled teen watch it and pattern his or her own deadly plot after it? Will it further desensitize others to matters of life and death?"

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Crush, starring Andie MacDowell, is the romantic comedy of the week, but its focus lies in the fragility of female friendships instead of on whether the guy gets the girl.

The USCCB critic writes, "The film is supposed to be about forgiveness and the enduring bond of female friendship. But the predictable proceedings are more bitter than sweet as the [filmmaker] borrows from other such films (Four Weddings and a Funeral comes to mind) without improving on the material."

Annabelle Robertson (Movieguide) writes, "The story makes a 90-degree turn in the middle of the movie, shifting gears from lighthearted chick flick to blinding tragedy in a surprising turn of events. Writer/director John McKay never completes the turn, however. Without the necessary depth of character for such a drastic switch, the movie ends up wrecked beside the winding English road, and the audience is left wondering what to feel."

"There are dangling loose ends in Crush," writes Marie Asner (The Phantom Tollbooth). "The ending seems tacked on and unfinished, or could this be a lead-in to a sequel? All in all, writer McKay had too many storylines for director McKay to deal with."

Pondering the film's underdeveloped romance, Michael Elliott (Movie Parables) suggests, "Perhaps the love relationship in the film might have been more believable if we had seen it develop beyond the quick 'slap and tickle' sexual stage. But we did not. Thus, all the professions of love, romance and matrimony that follow strike us as being foolish and naÏve. Anyone who has lived into her forties should certainly know that sex and love are not interchangeable terms." He does admit, "The trio of actresses share a nice chemistry and do provide moments of warmth and humor."

Next week:Joshua is the latest big-screen Christian hero. But are Christians the only ones glad to see him?


Related Elsewhere



Past review roundups are available in the Film Forum archives.

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