A Phenomenon for the Cinema(Mirkarimi – Hamidi)

by Nicholas Mayhu

Some movies are momentary, some are hourly, some are weekly, and some of them are permanent. You keep thinking about some movies for a long time when you watch them. Sometimes, it is because of the story and the situation that the audience can identify with and sometimes, it has emotional reasons when you watch a romantic movie. Basically, if a movie can attract the attention of the audience, they will remember it for years.
Important factors play a significant role in this regard and it seems that screenplay is the most important one. Now I want to talk about a movie that not only has a great screenplay but also includes other factors that absorb viewers for a while.
Reza Mirkarimi is an Iranian filmmaker who is internationally well-known but not as much as Abbas Kiarostami. I saw his new movie called So Close, So Far (2005).

His film serves as a multivitamin pill. It means that no matter how strict you are, there is a certain amount of every vitamin you expect and this amount is much higher than the average of today’s movies. A respected and rich doctor, who has operated on many patients’ bodies for many years and saved their lives, accidentally learned of his only son’s illness at the end of the year before Nowruz, who has a few weeks left to live. According to the usual screenplays, you are definitely waiting to see if the boy recovers and survives or dies, but the point is the story takes you to another world. A doctor who didn’t and still doesn’t believe in the existence of God faces a situation where he feels God with every bit of his body and soul. The strange thing about this movie happens during two middle scenes, when the doctor meets one of his old students in an old guest house in the desert. At first, we imagine he will leave soon to get to his son who has gone to the desert with his friends to watch the stars.
It is noteworthy that the metaphor used in this movie for the doctor’s son who loves the stars and the sky could be discussed in a complete, detailed and separate article, but what surprises everyone is the entry of a girl into the story. Elham Einali (Hamidi) who is a famous Iranian actress plays the role of that girl. She is a small girl who has a rural accent. Costume design also helps us to see her whiter and more innocent. The girl who was once the doctor’s student accompanies him during two middle scenes and it seems the place of the professor and the student has changed in the philosophical world around them.
Don’t misunderstand me. Contrary to the idea, there is no slogan at all, and it is the stunning act which excites the audience; the audience who is used to advice sees a pure character with a subtle and intelligent act.
For example, there is a scene where the girl – played by Elham Einali (Hamidi) – is upset by her professor’s harsh words and tries to change the discussion and when she sees that her professor is disrespecting her beliefs, while walking towards the door, she suddenly stops. Without turning her face completely, she says only one sentence with a very slight and sneaky look of shame and full of meaning, and with the same strange and hard accent she has: “Professor! I think it’s not your son who is sick…” and she doesn’t continue the dialogue unbelievably which is implicit in the meaning. It means that you are the one who is sick not your son. I’m not sure if it was the director’s suggestion or Einali’s choice, but it created a magnificent moment.
I can write hours and pages about this movie; a movie that can give birth to a phenomenon like Abbas Kiarostami for Iranian cinema and also introduce an actress named Elham Hamidi (Einali) to the world. I realized she was one of the most famous actresses in Iran. According to the writer, this woman’s face is similar to American actresses and can be seen more in Hollywood.