http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,12589,1205028,00.html
A comic film that dares to mock the powerful Islamic clergy has become
a surprise box-office hit in Iran's staid theocracy.
The Lizard, which tells the story of a thief who escapes prison by
posing as a cleric, has struck a chord in a society where satirising
mullahs has long been strictly taboo.
Tickets for the film sold out days in advance of the opening last week
in a country where cinema attendances have declined sharply in recent
years.
Tehran cinemas have added extra showings after midnight to accommodate
demand for the film.
"It's popular because of the sole fact that people are not accustomed
to someone in such a special position in the community being made
light of," the film's director, Kamal Tabrizi, told the Guardian.
"In other countries, it's an old joke. But here, it's new."
Before last week, there were persistent rumours that the film had been
banned by state censors, who vet every film and book to ensure
compliance with "Islamic values".
Initially, the film was approved by the ministry of culture and
Islamic guidance but after its premiere at the country's international
Farj film festival in February, the ministry launched a review and cut
four scenes, totalling one minute, Tabrizi said. The opening was
delayed for two months to avoid any conflict with the mourning period
during Shia religious holidays.
The head of the country's judiciary, Ayatollah Mamoud
Hashemi-Shahrudi, known as a hardline ideologue, viewed the film in
advance with many other senior figures in the clerical establishment.
Some of them brought their families to watch, Tabrizi said.
The main character, Reza the Lizard, greets a woman as a "chick" until
he corrects himself and refers to the American film maker Quentin
Tarantino as "brother Tarantino". The satire stops short of the
jugular though, and the film ends with the hero finding God.
Some clerics have complained bitterly about The Lizard, but Tabrizi
said others have approached him and praised the film as carrying an
important message.
"Clergy have told me: 'You have touched upon our weak points in our
relations with people'," Tabrizi told the Guardian. In the film, Reza
attracts a large following at a struggling mosque with his sermons in
blunt, street language even though he has to fake the Arabic chants.
"People find a connection with him. This is what the clergy sometimes
lacks ...," Tabrizi said. "If you take the upper hand, you become
isolated. You have to be with the people, to get close to them."
--
"Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You."
- Attrib: Pauline Reage.
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See: <http://www.Video2CD.com>. 35.00 gets your video on DVD.
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