Mehrjoui is ahead of its time / a lasting romance

Theater News Base: The 480th program of the Cinematheque of the House of Iranian Artists with the screening of the film “Pear Tree” with the presence of Mahmoud Clari, director of photography, Nasser Saffarian, critic and expert, Mohammad Reza Shahbani Nouri, actor and with the performance and expertise of Keyvan Kathisarian on Monday evening, December 13th This collection was held.

After the release of the restored version of “Pear Tree”, a video of Dariush Mehrjoui talking about the experience of making this work, which was produced by actor Hanif Sarvari, was shown.

In this video, referring to his good sense of showing the restored version of his work, he pointed to the quality of the filming of the work by Mahmoud Clary and said: Mahmoud Clary worked hard for this film and as a professional cinematographer showed how much he cares about his work. And he is a character who, with his interest, practice and experience, goes to the selection of films and his work. He adjusts the colors correctly and, unlike the visual media we give each film, it makes the film worse instead of reinforcing and transforming it.

He added: “We tried very hard to find an intact copy of” Pear Tree “and I have to thank Keyvan Kathisarian for planning and showing this film in the Cinematheque of the House of Iranian Artists.” I also thank Ms. Laden Taheri, the director of the National Cinema and the organization of the cinema, for her beautiful, humanitarian and joyful intentions. If the restoration of films in the history of Iranian cinema is a continuous process, it is not only my films that deserve a lot of films to be released as a DCP version.

Mehrjoui stated: The films of filmmakers such as Masoud Kimiaei, Bahman Farmanara, Sohrab Shahid Sales should be converted to the DCP version. They have many first-rate works that they have added to the history of Iranian cinema. I apologize for not being able to attend the Cinematheque program and the “Pear Tree” screening session. I really wanted to see this bouquet that you made with the restoration of the movie “Pear Tree” and it will have a beautiful color and smell, up close and on the cinema screen. Accept my thanks.

In the continuation of this program, Mahmoud Clari, the director of photography of “Pear Tree”, and Nasser Saffarian, along with Keyvan Kathisarian, grew old.

Mahmoud Clary said about “Pear Tree”: “In fact, I did my job in this film and everything that Mr. Mehrjoui said is due to me.” Here I have to thank the efforts of Ms. Taheri, the director of the National Cinema. It is true that they have a definition of a number of tasks in their position, but their management in carrying out the restoration of the “pear tree” is commendable. They are very kind and understand our work very much. I asked him in 2018 for a screening in New York if a digital version of “Pear Tree” could be produced so that we could show the film there. Ms. Taheri made a new digital version of the positive version of the film, and this responsible action was in fact thanks to Ms. Taheri, which is commendable.

He said about his collaboration with Dariush Mehrjoui: “Pear Tree” was my third collaboration with Mr. Mehrjoui after the two films “Sara” and “Leila”. Of course, we were supposed to collaborate on “Shirk” a long time ago, and I was in charge of “Lead” and I lost the chance to appear in it. As a teenager, I had a special devotion to Dariush Mehrjoui’s cinema, and after working with him, I got to know his abilities better. Apart from paying attention to the concepts and type of attitude of Mr. Mehrjoui towards cinema, he is especially first in the discussion of recognizing and understanding the technique of cinema.

Clary stated: He made all the pictures in his mind plan by plan; Something that may not be found in the case of some other directors, and despite what they say we will solve a technical problem, but that problem will never be solved. I learned a lot from Dariush Mehrjoui in the movie “Pear Tree” and the things that I could not understand and I went to perform it with great difficulty and worry, were with his support and encouragement and I saw how everything he said was done correctly. .

Mehrjui and Clary are ahead of their time

Mohammad Reza Shahbani Nouri, the actor in the movie “Pear Tree”, also stated that Mehrjoui and Clary are ahead of their time in this meeting: “Before” Pear Tree “, I acted in the movies” School Mayor “and the series” Dirty Thought “. Although “School Mayor” had not yet been released, some film magazines, such as Cinema Weekly, Cinema Video, and من My Photos, were published. I have an interesting memory about being selected for this film. One day, Mr. Mehrjoui called me and I went to their office and they did not accept me for the role. Mr. Sharifinia was shown my photo on the cover of the magazine and told that he wanted this photo. I said I’m the same person in the picture. But because my hair was tangled in the photo, I looked different. After this meeting, I played in the series “Evil Thought” for 2 months, and then I came to the “Pear Tree” project.

“Pear Tree” is the most enduring film in the history of cinema about first love

Nasser Saffarian, referring to the romantic feature of the “pear tree”, said: “The restoration of films in the cinema is perhaps ahead of the usual employee model in the Ministry of Guidance.” Things can be seen in the images of the digital version of this work today that were not visible before. Seeing the restored version took me back to my youth and Palestinian cinema and the press. A quality not seen in video versions and depicts Mahmoud Clary’s art like a painting more and more before our eyes.

He explained that “Pear Tree” is the most romantic film of Dariush Mehrjoui and in a sense his only film about “Love”: In other works of Mehrjoui we see love from a different perspective. For example, if there is love in “Mr. Halo”, the satirical atmosphere prevents the film from being seen romantically. Later in “Sarah” we see a love that has ended and in “Hamoon” we see a love that has been invaded. In “Santouri”, youthful love also has an appearance, but daringly, “Pear Tree” is the most enduring work of Iranian cinema about adolescent love and first love, and this makes it a few heads and necks higher than other films.

In the end, Keyvan Kathisarian asked Shahbani Nouri to narrate memories of Mehrjoui’s relationship with him on stage.