Frost: I’m also a food critic / I do not know a good-looking Iranian actor / Criticism is not an insult
According to a Fars News Agency radio and television correspondent, the second part of the TV program “Rokh Be Rokh” aired in the presence of “Masoud Frost”, a cinema critic.
At the beginning of the program, Amir Ali Danaei, the host of “Face to Face” in the makeup room, started his conversation with Massoud Frost and asked him as the first question, how do you see the role of makeup in the cinema? To which Massoud Frost replied: Which cinema? Iranian cinema? We do not have a cinema here yet. We have a few movies but we don’t have a cinema yet. Makeup is also serious in professional cinema. In professional cinema, jokes like I’m not a makeup artist are a joke. I believe in the beauty of the actor and that a lot can be done with makeup, and American cinema is the master of this story.
Amir Ali Danaei, stating that he thought he thought the actor’s good looks were not a privilege for him, addressed Frost and he said: “It must be a privilege.” Being good-looking does not only mean plasticity, it means freshness, harmony of the face and a workplace. Some faces do not. But some, like Jim Carrey, can do it all.
“Of course Jim Carrey is not very handsome,” said Danaei. “Yes, but he has a nice face.” I think the good-looking actor is Carrie Grant. I no longer know good-looking Iranians.
Danaei then asked Frost, “Have you ever made a critique of a movie and then felt harsh and remorseful?” Frost replied: No, but I have defined one or two films, but then I have shot them. I mean, I had a positive to a negative, but I did not have a negative to a positive.
Amir Ali Danaei said: Of course you do not see, you see the first 10 minutes! This is the story itself. I myself had a film at the Fajr Film Festival and I was waiting to see if you would get up or not. Frost added: “I also have a record of two minutes. Because at the same time I find out if this director knows or not. Because I am not looking for a story, I want Baladi. If he knows, he can tell any story he likes. In the first two or three minutes, it becomes clear whether he knows his job or not. Sometimes there are some professional films behind a director, but he still does not understand what a camera is? What does far view mean, what does close view mean? Well, I do not sit. Unless I have to criticize it, so I watch the film with torture, and then in revenge I take revenge for this torture.
Amir Ali Danaei said: “Maybe a film can not prove itself in the opening, but it is a good film in the continuation, to which Frost replied:” No, when in the first two or three minutes there are two or three wrong camera movements or three wrong cuts, the rest is known.
I criticize the film, not the filmmaker
Danaei continued the conversation by saying: “Your criticism is harsh, and this critic replied: It is a mixed sex. Criticism style. I remember the first time we talked to a neighbor in a cafe on program seven. Three of the seven programs that went on the air got this program. While Jirani was told that Frost is a man of writing. But he said I knew what I was doing. From there, this kind of criticism, this person, this sharpness continued. This sharpness, if it can be called sharp, because in my opinion it is not sharp, my written criticisms about cinema are much sharper. Speaking of 20, 30% of the brakes, I can say that I even observe. But this sharpness is mine. I am the same in life. If he is angry, it is bad. That is, if you say you are angry here, this is a weakness.
Danaei added: “Anger is not in your words and body, but it is in your tone. You said that Dariush Mehrjoui’s film Hamoon is bad but it is effective, or you used a word about Masoud Kimiaei’s film that could not have been used and said differently, and you would not leave anyone unlucky.
Frost replied: Yes, our film is important. Now, if I sit down and talk about filmmaking like Mehrjoui and Kimiaei, I will definitely see the filmmaker and his age, and the respect I have for all this experience. I’m talking about the film, not the filmmaker. I never intended to insult.
The film critic added: “I was the worst critic of Abbas Kiarostami, according to him, he had two serious critics, one was a French critic and the other was me.” All my criticisms of his films are sharp except for the first one, but I had the utmost respect for myself when I was alive. When he was sick, I called one of his relatives and said I wanted to see him. He said I told him and he was very happy. Every time we saw each other, it was a very friendly and respectful association.
Criticism is not a compliment and sharpness is not an insult
Frost continued this discussion: This kind of view of criticism shows that unfortunately in Iranian cinema we are still before criticism and we understand criticism and criticize the harshness of criticism. We do not understand criticism. Criticism is not positive or negative. Criticism of a good film is to define and analyze it, if it does not have a negative point that something cannot be attached to it by force. American classics are often flawless and can be defined and analyzed without exaggeration.
The filmmaker explained: “It is not true that it is known to see a half-empty and half-full critique, because in my opinion it is to see a half-empty critique of a glass at all.” You are supposed to deliver good goods to me, so as much as you did not deliver good goods to me, I work there. Sometimes a small part may be empty, but the same small part destroys the work, so it is not quantitative.
Criticism is my medium, not my entertainment
The author of “The Dialectic of Criticism” added: “Criticism is my medium.” It is not my fun and entertainment. Veteran and post-critical criticism does not know. The words belong to Massoud Frost, he is not joking, Frost is in the medium of his criticism, he has not insulted or done anything to anyone, and he is not joking with criticism.
Danaei then asked Frost if your political attitude was effective in criticizing you. I am not presenting it in terms of your thinking, but its effect in terms of your body language and expression? Frost replied: Definitely effective. My political attitude is very just and pro-oppressed. Those who flourish production and do productive work. Therefore, I am against speculators. This attitude is not new, it has been in me for a long time and it has taken an ideological form, the ideology of which is not relevant to me now, but it is the basis of this thinking. I think that wherever an oppressed person stands up, he should be defended. Anti-capitalist and anti-terrorist movements must be defended. This attitude brings with it a kind of taste and a kind of view of the world. This is the view of my biological world.
This critic goes on to answer the question, what would you take with you if you wanted to stay on an island for a year? Said 100 classic novels. I enjoy classical music, literature and classical cinema. I consider Hitchcock’s “Dizziness” to be the most important film in the history of cinema, and I love the fall season.
Frost then walked into the room and talked about the dilemma he was concerned about.
Massoud Frost’s request to the new government
The cinema critic further referred to the problem of employment as his concern and stated: I think minus the corona, which is the immediate problem these days, the most important concern of our society right now is employment. You have to plan for work, organize productive work, and employ talented people. Promote a work culture, take practical steps to work, and systematically make labor the top priority of economic issues. Our economy is in a catastrophic state, we are not in the true sense of the word. At the same time, the new government has realized this issue, which also needs to be planned scientifically, professionally and seriously, and at the top of it is job creation.
An artist who does not know humor is missing a job
The filmmaker then went to the “face to face” conversation table and added: “I am very good at listening to jokes and I am a sociable person in general.” I hear good jokes and I tell funny ones. The greatest filmmaker I know, Hitchcock, is very funny. In my opinion, a filmmaker who does not have a sense of humor is missing a job.
He continued: I even have a critique of two Iranian films in which my tone is humorous and with this tone I have had a very serious career. The most important of them is the critique of the film “Seller”, which has a long and serious critique, but it lacks humor.
The author of “Hand in Criticism” added: “When the conversation begins, I will go along with it as far as my biological experience and literacy allow.” I know silence and I listen many times. I think you should listen where you have nothing to say. A person who does not listen well cannot speak in time. As the key to heaven is on earth, so is the key to speaking in listening. I listen to the old man on the ground well and try to learn from this man who is far ahead of me.
Frost continued: “I have a very good relationship with the children.” I listen to the music I like when I write it. When I was a teenager, I started writing, that is, from the age of 16 to 20, I imitated the critic I thought was the best, Shamim Bahar, in the type of sentence and that he clarified the task in the first line. And I saw that the criticisms of this great and respected man are not very true in my opinion. After reaching this point, the tone did not change, it was straightforward and sometimes sharp.
“I have to read a certain number of hours a day, but I’m also flexible, I like to travel,” the critic said of being law-abiding or flexible. The feeling of victory only comes when what I think is very true fits. This is the right thing to do outside of everyone. I repeat the truth on behalf of whoever it is. I do not remember not feeling well, I had osteoarthritis recently, it did not bother me but I was never in a bad mood. Man is always very basic to me. A special human being, not a human being, we human beings, I like people who are righteous human beings like Ahmad Mahmoud, his life, his resistance, his loneliness are very dear to me.
Frost continued: “I recently lost a friend named Asghar Abdullahi, who was a first-rate writer. I saw him the day before he passed away, and that moment of seeing him and consoling him was more important to me than anything.” I told him, “Whenever you want to go, go healthy like yourself, cut well.” In my opinion, death after Corona is trivial, dignified, unprincipled and ugly, which was not the case before. It was possible to establish a dialogue with death.
Facing yourself in the “face to face” mirror
In the next part, Massoud Frost in front of the mirror answered the mental questions that Amir Ali Danaei was asking him. He said: “I miss the immediate pleasures to achieve my goals, I criticize myself for doing wrong things, but I do not blame them and I am still afraid of losing my loved ones.” My mission in this world is to break down and I am on the path because there is no way to reach it, the path is important. I do not feel valued by fame, the only positive thing about fame is that a word is in the right place, first in people’s hearts and then in their heads. I do not accept oppression under any circumstances. In the face of problems, I do not know despair, a living being who hopes to change himself and then change the world. The world is so big, when I talk about changing the world, it means changing a small corner. I tell 30-year-old Massoud Frost to be strong and go your own way. I tell myself in the mirror you have to work a lot harder, you have to learn more from real people and respect them.
Frost: I’m also a good food critic
Massoud Frost stated in the “face to face” cafe: I am a very good critic of food. If I cook the food myself, I will cook it well. I like Gilani food very much. The first spoon turns out to be stewed and loose. When you go to a restaurant, they bring a stew and it fits in for any taste that does not cook the same, so it should have principles in general.
He added: “I have nothing to do with criticizing people, they want to wear whatever they want and … but if they ask my opinion as much as the party has the capacity, I will tell the truth.” I do not criticize anyone and I do not criticize anyone. Sometimes I see someone who can not be criticized, I never criticize him. I do not criticize anything that cannot be criticized, whether it is a person or a work.
In response to the question why you did not make a film? He said: Because criticism is more important to me. If I were producing the film, first Hitchcock, then John Ford, and then Bergman were my choices for directing. None of the Iranian directors. I will play the first role myself. But I do not make films. My favorite actors are Carrie Grant, Henry Fonda, James Stewart, Lino Ventura.
Frost comments on acting and the final cut
In this section, Frost said about acting: the actor is not a mannequin and the preacher of such and such clothes and perfumes and syrups, he is an actor, an actor. Everything should not be sold for money. I do not understand what some actors do after entering the cinema, for example, I got so much billions, a professional broker gets much more, so why did you become an actor? It is true that George Clooney also promotes espresso, but he eats that culture and they keep the limit, they do not fill the door and the wall.
He continued: “A good performer means having a good silence.” I want to write the last review of my life, I say live review. My critique of life is that its size is small, it must be lived across. You have to say goodbye and cut well, whether it is saying goodbye to life or a valuable friend and human being, you have to say goodbye in time, with happiness and with respect. Ziba lived and Ziba went and cut in time.
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