A look at the movie “Metropole Cinema”; A refuge called cinema

Charso Press: Produced by Mohammad Ali Bashe Ahangar, it deals with the Iran-Iraq war, the siege of Abadan, the resistance of the people and their solidarity in one of the most important historical moments of that land from a different angle, and in the meantime, it tries with a tone and language full of sting and irony, against the view of dogma and The package that wants to introduce cinema as a luxurious and useless phenomenon and push it to the sidelines, resist. Relying on a love story that sometimes takes on a nostalgic and poetic tone, the filmmaker has tried to create a kind of Iranian “paradise cinema”. to present to the audience that the great love and interest of its central characters for cinema and film screening, turns the cinema hall itself and the gathering place of people to watch the film into an important and influential place whose seats sometimes host people who have come there for entertainment and sometimes They welcome the wounded who, in the vicinity of the Iraqi prisoners, create scenes that scream for humanity regardless of the differences between the two nations.

From the very beginning, “Metropole Cinema” makes its approach to film and cinema clear to the audience by showing famous works such as “Barbadrafte” and with a flashback to the past, it reveals Reza and Siavash’s love for cinema and by bringing the girl The little one with the salt of the cinema cameraman (with the engaging and unexpected performance of Sania Ramezani in the role of Frank’s children), portrays a love arising from the emotions of a teenager, whose feelings and moods continue until youth and in the midst of bullets and war.

The filmmaker’s reference to prominent and popular works such as “Navaran Balls”, “The Godfather” and “Kaiser”, which with the director’s sarcastic and sarcastic tone on the issue of censorship, challenges the domineering view of dogmatic managers and officials, makes one of the funniest chapters of the film. It is said that by changing the title of the film Qaiser and manipulating its script, which is supposed to introduce the Abmangel brothers as SAVAK forces, it has reached its peak and finally leads to heated debates and questions such as wanting cinema or its complete removal as a destructive phenomenon.

In the meantime, the constant change of tones of the film, which sometimes takes a comedic tone and sometimes criticizes the situation with a satirical look, and at the end welcomes the final message of the work with an epic and tragic tone, has made this work by Muhammad Ali to be a composer despite His funny and lovely moments do not have the consistency necessary to communicate with the audience. The long duration of the film, which has reached something over two hours in the festival screening, and has caused events and characters to enter the story that do not have much impact on the central drama of the film, shows “Cinema Metropole” in tense and boring moments. The presence of Paryush Tadesh in the role of a woman who wants to start a cinema buffet and her romantic relationship with Nader along with the story of the execution of the gambler and the presence of Mehtab Nasirpour in that long sequence of obtaining consent for his forgiveness have turned the film into a series of unrelated incidents and events. which do not establish an organic relationship with the central core of the film.

The incomplete characterization of the film, which leaves the audience unanswered about the inner concerns of Frank’s character and the reason for his negative response to Reza at the end of the film, along with the sudden change of position of the city officials, which is not clear in what way in the shadow of the great distrust they had in the filmmaking team. Are they willing to play along and participate in their pre-arranged plan to trap the spy? It all made the film, despite the sudden removal (and outside the structure of the drama) of its characters, become a work that will remain as a memorable film in the history of cinema.

However, with all these qualities, “Metropole Cinema” has the ability to keep the audience with him until the end of the film, relying on the admirable stage design and the appropriate atmosphere creations of the director, who was able to create a romantic and fun atmosphere for the audience. Mohammad Ali Bashe Ahangar succeeds in turning the cinema hall into a safe place for the besieged people, whose presence and birth of talented children in that land becomes a slogan that tells the audience: “Abadan is alive because God wants it to be alive”.

Read more: Special page of Fajr Film Festival