Fish & Cat

Fish & Cat

English poster of the film
Directed by Shahram Mokri
Produced by Sepehr Seifi
Kanoon Iran Novin
Written by Shahram Mokri
Starring
Music by Christophe Rezai
Cinematography Mahmoud Kalari
Distributed by Filmiran (Iran)
Iranian Independents (International)
Release dates
  • 6 September 2013 (2013-09-06) (Venice Film Festival)
Running time
 134 minutes
Country Iran
Language Persian

Fish & Cat (in Persian : ماهی و گربه; transliterated as Mahi va Gorbeh) is a 2013 mystery drama slasher[1] Iranian film directed by Shahram Mokri. The film tells the story of a group of university students camping at a lakeside for Kite-running competitions, all through a without-a-cut single shot.[2] The film was first premiered in the Venice Film Festival on 6 September 2013.[3] The film won the Special Award in 2013 Venice Film Festival and the FIPRESCI award in 2014 Fribourg International Film Festival.[4] In September 2015, Fish & Cat became one of ten shortlisted Iranian films for Iran's submission for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards[5]

Fish & Cat is inspired by the true story of a restaurant that served human flesh in northern Iran at late 90s. Iranian actors Babak Karimi and Saeid Ebrahimifar along with some other young theatre artists have acted in the film.[6]

Many critics believe that Mokri’s screen representation is an innovative and technically impressive film.[7] The film was screened in Iran in few cinemas like Azadi cinema complex and Kourosh Complex in Tehran and Howeyzeh cinema complex in Mashhad.[8]

Plot

A number of students have traveled to the Caspian region in order to participate in a kite-flying event during the winter solstice. Next to their camp is a small hut occupied by three cooks who work at a nearby restaurant.

Cast

  • Abed Abest as Parviz
  • Mona Ahmadi as Nadia
  • Ainaz Azarhoush as Parvaneh
  • Nazanin Babaei as Shirin
  • Mohammad Berahmani as Boy
  • Siavash Cheraghipoor as Father
  • Saeed Ebrahimifar as Saeed
  • Alireza Esapoor as Guard
  • Neda Jebraeili as Mina
  • Shadi Karamroudi as Maral
  • Babak Karimi as Babak
  • Mohammad Reza Maleki as Jamshid
  • Faraz Modiri as Kambiz
  • Milad Rahimi as Shahrooz
  • Arnavaz Safari as Asal
  • Nima Shahrabi as Twin
  • Pouya Shahrabi as Twin
  • Khosrow Shahraz as Hamid
  • Pedram Sharifi as Pedram
  • Parinaz Tayyeb as Maryam
  • Samaneh Vafaiezadeh as Ladan

Production

Fish & Cat is a film about time. How you can make a perspective in it and break that. This film was interesting for me to make and that was because of its method of production. Insisting on narrating a story in a single shot and try to break the time which goes ahead.

Shahram Mokri[9]

Technic

I like the paintings of Maurits Escher, where you can see a change in perspective in the same visual. In my film, I wanted to give a change in perspective of time in one single shot. So the idea for the film came from his paintings.

Shahram Mokri,[9] in an interview with The Hindu[10]

Gradually subverting a gruesome premise drawn from a real-life case of a backwoods restaurant that served human flesh, the film builds an atmosphere of tension as a menacing pair descend on a campsite where a group of college kids have gathered for a kite-flying festival. But as the camera doubles back and criss-crosses between characters in real time, subtle space-time paradoxes suggest that something bigger is going on.[11]

Music

Mokri wanted a kind of music that combined minimal music with horror Z-movies style of music, so he asked Kristoph Rezaee to compose it.[12]

Critical reception

Manohla Dargis from New York Times wrote: " It’s a tour de force — the cinematographer is Mahmoud Kalari, who shot “A Separation” — and as quietly political as it is brazenly cinematic." [13]

Steve MacFarlane from Slant Magazine wrote: "The film is a game: Shahram Mokri challenges his viewers to grip parallel narrative threads in what feels like suspiciously real time, rather than to assemble or contextualize any metaphorical ones."[14]

Alissa Simon from Variety wrote: "“A highly original, compelling feature, filmed in one long, bravura shot establishing Shahram Mokri as a distinctive talent.” [15]

Awards

References

  1. ↑ "یک غافلگیری ایرانی / گفت‌و‌گو با شهرام مکری و سعید ابراهیمی‌فر درباره "ماهی و گربه"". Khabar Online.
  2. ↑ Clarence, Tsui. "Fish & Cat (Mahi va Gorbeh): Film Review". hollywoodreporter.com. Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  3. ↑ "Fish & Cat (2013) Release Info". Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  4. ↑ "Iran 'Fish and Cat' wins top award in Venice film festival". Press TV. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  5. ↑ http://blogs.indiewire.com/sydneylevine/iran-shortlists-10-films-as-potential-oscar-submissions-20150925
  6. ↑ "Shahram Mokri to Take Part in Three International Film Festivals with "Fish and Cat"". Fars News. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  7. ↑ "Iranian film 'Fish and Cat' wins at Vietnamese film festival". Press TV.
  8. ↑ "خرید بلیت سینما: فیلم ماهی و گربه". cinematicket.org.
  9. 1 2 3 "ماهی و گربه". The Official Website of Shahram Mokri.
  10. ↑ "Young Iran's love for horror". thehindu.com. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  11. ↑ "Fish & Cat 2013". http://www.nziff.co.nz/. External link in |website= (help)
  12. ↑ "مهندسی‌شده فیلم ساختیم / "ماهی و گربه" در گفت‌و‌گو با شهرام مکری و سعید ابراهیمی‌فر". Khabar Online.
  13. ↑ Dargis, Manohla. "New Directors/New Films Highlights Include 'Fish & Cat'". New York Times. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  14. ↑ MACFARLANE, STEVE. "Fish & Cat; Film Review". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  15. ↑ Simon, Alissa. "Venice Film Review: 'Fish & Cat'". Variety. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  16. ↑ "Mahi va gorbeh - Awards". IMDb.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/6/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.