Positivity of Iranian films

I'v not seen a lot of Iranian cinema, and of course only the art films, but it seems they feature a really strong visual language with sensitive use of detail - like the feet in the fish pond in Children of Heaven - but this was pretty much lacking in Taste of Cherry. What this film had was that wonderfully rounded and deep Turkish accent talking about the light of the full moon and soft mulberries, which had the same effect for me. It's the thing I like most about the Iranian films I'v seen; they often have this very warm streak that almost seems naive. I guess if you were cynical you could call it romantic, but it's not that. It's something that has been lost in European cinema that obsesses with introspection. And the visual language (I don't know how else to describe it), where it exists at all, is often much colder. For example I think of Kieslowski and Theo Angelopoulos who could both communicate things so well without much dialogue but neither had the optimism of these Iranian film makers. I often hear people say Iranians are some of the friendliest people on the planet, unfortunately I can't go because of visa problems, but if I watch films like The Runner which, to me at least, is so positive I think maybe there is some truth to it.




Done with fish.