Iran movie-makers reluctantly withdraw hit tale of thief-turned-cleric
IranMania News
May 15th 2004
TEHRAN, May 15 (AFP) - The makers of Iranian box office smash "The Lizard" have reluctantly decided to withdraw their film in the face of opposition from the clerical regime to its tale of a thief-turned-cleric, the student news agency ISNA reported Saturday.
"The judiciary and the culture ministry have not banned the movie, except in a few towns, but they have advised us to stop screening it," the film's financier Manushehr Mohammadi told ISNA.
"As a result, the film has been withdrawn from cinemas in provincial towns since yesterday (Friday) and will be pulled from movie theatres in the capital between now and next Friday."
Mohammadi said he and producer Kamal Tabrizi had taken the decision reluctantly but had "seen no obvious alternative."
The film shattered box office records here, grossing more than eight billion rials (around 930,000 dollars) since its release on April 21 as an estimated 900,000 people rushed to see it before its widely expected withdrawal.
The movie was only formally banned in a handful of cities, including the northeastern pilgrimage city of Mashhad, as well as the towns of Kerman, Urumieh and Rasht.
But its irreverent subject matter offended several influential hardline clerics, including Ayatollah Ahmad Janati, head of the Guardians Council, a statutory watchdog charged with enforcing Iran's Islamic constitution.
Awarded the prize from the public at the Tehran international film festival in February, the film is the story of Reza (The Lizard), who got caught one time too many and is sentenced to life in jail.
Injured in a prison brawl and hospitalized, Reza takes the chance to change his identity by stealing a cleric's robe and turban and slipping out undetected. Quickly realizing the benefits of being a cleric in Mashhad, he decides to carry on with the charade.
He preaches in the prisons and even at weekly prayers on Fridays, the main day of worship for Muslims, to crowds captured by his goodness and simplicity.
Little by little, and against his grain, Reza becomes not only a man who his respected, but one who respects the principles of religion.
http://www.iranmania.com/news/160504a.asp
Jaffar Panahi is probably one of my favorite directors in the world of cinema. Anyone who wants to get a short-hand lesson in what the despots who dictate Iran's domestic policy are really like, should check out any of his three major feature films, especially "The Circle", which I believe was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Film category.