Iran,a portrait through literature and cinema.
“Iran, in its
former incarnation as Persia, created the world's first empire, produced
titanic figures like Cyrus, Darius, and Xerxes, and is one of the great fonts
of world culture.”
Stephen Kinzer
Considering all the countries in the Middle East Region, Iran is the one that has fascinated me the most. Although, the first
thing I learnt many years ago is that Iran was not Arab but Persian, my first impression on this country came from literature. Many
authors have been attracted by this misterious land all through history, describing
this strangely exotic but illustrated country called Iran.
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| The physician by Noah Gordon |
The first contact I had when I was still at school was through the best-seller from Noah Gordon: The Physician, that depicted how civilized Iran was at this time. The book tells the story of a young Englishman that came from London through a painful and exciting journey to study medicine in Iran. Describing the medicine faculty of Isfahan, you can see the modern methods even more sophisticated than those used in the western World thanks to the contribution of one the most wisest men of the Islamic world , Avicenna (Ibn Sina). He did not only master the field of medicine but also the field of chemistry, astrology along with many others. This book, although it can’t be considered a master piece of modern literature, it’s quite accurate on its historical descriptions. The comparison of the impoverished London with the shining Isfahan by the end of the 10th century is undoubtedly hard to believe nowadays. Those blaming the Islamic World for being “archaic” on everything related to science should review this part of the history and see how civilizations can evolve and everything needs to be analyzed within its context.
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| Painting of Iran in the XVIII Century |
Going six centuries ahead on history, my second
impression was through a French novel. In the 18th century, while
most Europe was still under absolutism, Persia was an exotic land country as
Montesquieu described in its well-known “Lettres
Persannes”. This book, written in 1721, described the fictional trip of a
couple of Persians that went from Isfahan to Paris in an exhaustive trip to
visit the monarchy of Louis XV (“Le Roi bien aimé”) and discover the “strange”
culture of French people. All through the book, mostly based on stereotypes,
you can notice the smart way the author uses to criticize the French society of
this period without suffering the censorship.
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| Shah of Persia |
“Oil creates the
illusion of a completely changed life, life without work, life for free. Oil is
a resource that anaesthetises thought, blurs vision, corrupts.”
Getting back to Modern Times, the description I have
liked the most so far is the one shown on the book
of Kapuscinsky: “The Shah of Shahs”. This book reveals the period that
starts from the 50s until the end of the 1970’s with the fall of the
pro-western regime. It describes the emerging middle class, the unlimited wealth
produced by oil and the opulence of the Shah accused of massive corruption. His refusal to launch some reforms largely
ignoring the uprising claims for democracy triggered the revolution. That eventually led to the tragic
events that took place in 1979 as a result of the longstanding resistant
movements formed by different factions including pro-democracy protestors,
intellectuals, Islamic movements and even communists that were looking to strengthen
the relationship with the USSR.
At the end, with the
return of the beloved Ayatolah Khomeini, the dictatorship of Shah gave its
way to new form of dictatorship even more repressive than the former one.
Enrooted in fanatic Islamism and lack of fundamental freedoms, The Islamic
Republic entered a new era of isolation that lead it get involved in the first Gulf war
with neighbour Irak in the 80s and eventually to be included on the famous “Axis of Evil” by former
president J.W.Bush. The recent French movie:
“Nous trois ou rien” offers a satiric and humorous vision of this recent
period of Iran history. The director describes the story of his parents: two Iranian
refugees who had to leave their home country after fighting against the Shah
and how hard it was to get used to their new life in France. Not only it depicts the
tragedy of refugees but it’s also full of humour along with a fantastic soundtrack.
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| Nous trois ou rien |
Finally, to end up with this historical transition,
the last five years have been one of the most thrilling on Iran modern history. After the reforms taking place after the victory
of moderate Rouhani over Ahmadineyad, Iran is on the spot back again. After the failure of the “green movement”
led by Mousavi looking for some reforms, the former Kingdom of Persia has been
on the headlines since the supposed nuclear program started to get developed
against the will of most of the western countries fearing the threat of a powerful
armed Iran in the Middle-East Region. Following harsh negotiations with
some difficulties, Iran finally managed what seemed to be impossible under
Ahmadineyad regime: to restart the trade
after more than 40 years of near complete isolation. Despite all the
religious extremism, the controversial position towards Israel and the weight
of the Chiism as opposed to the Sunni traditional allies of the western World (such
as Turkey or Saudi Arabia), Iran has gained an increasingly important role in
the international context
Thus, the recent signature of the historical
agreements on July 2015 in Wien allowing a “peaceful” nuclear program
and lifting the sanctions has opened a new era on Iran position towards the
rest of the World. First of all, it has allowed many businesses to boost and
the demand from foreign countries has turned Iran into the new "Promised
Land" for foreign investors. As a matter of fact, their economy is
expected to
grow on a 8% average annually and the recent visits from its president to
countries like France or Italy show how interested they are on attracting foreign
capitals. Besides some sectors like motor industry, uranium, agriculture (they are first
1st pistachios producers worldwide) oil industry and services sector
should encourage massive investments in the coming years. It’s important to bear in mind Iran
has the second largest population in the Middle East after Egypt with around 80
million people. Over 60% are estimated to be under 30 years old and the
workforce is highly educated.
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| Taxi Teheran |
To describe this new period, where modernity along
with restrictions are still living together, the fantastic movie Taxi
Teheran by Panahi is a great example on how Iran can become a modern
country while tackling all its paradoxes.
The outstanding director manages to escape censorship by recording the
movie from his own “taxi” offering a unique vision on Iran Society, without any
western bias, but reflecting still repressive policies on human rights and
respect on minorities.
The history of Iran is full of passion and tradition, going from ancient Persia to the modern
Iran, there is a great evolution that has taken place not always on a positive
sense. However it’s time to reconsider our vision on this wonderful Land that
is once again opened to offer to the humanity its priceless legacy. The elections celebrated might suppose a turning point in the openess of persians to rest of the World.
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