The Mirror of the Soul: The Forough Farrokhzad Trilogy
Studio: Facets
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The literary tradition that filmmakers in many cultures find the most affinity with is, obviously, that of the theater. Iranian cinema, however, exhibits a surprising amount of cross-pollination with its poet class. Verse has held sway over Persian cultural endeavors for most of the past millennium, so this shouldn’t be surprising, but it has led to a unique cinematic approach exemplified by polymaths like Abbas Kiarostami who, in addition to directing films like A Taste of Cherry, is also an accomplished screenwriter, painter and, yes, poet. This broad-based (and thoroughly artful) approach to movie-making was ignited by 1963’s The House Is Black, a documentary about a leper colony, written and directed by poet Forough Farrokhzad. The film contrasts Farrokhzad’s dark, emotional incantations about the colony with the dry, factual intonations of its male narrator. Though it was her only film (she died in an automobile accident four years later), it served as the catalyst for the Iranian New Wave. The Mirror of the Soul collects three documentary segments directed by Nasser Saffarian, each focusing on a different aspect of Farrokhzad. Disconnecting the poet from her films or from the life she led is a curious approach when the seamless way the three inspired each other is one of the defining reasons the subject is so fascinating. But, in a peculiarly Iranian way, Saffarian does a splendid job at highlighting her separate accomplishments while emphasizing the collective impact they all had.
This article appears in May 9-15, 2007.