It's Winter and life is hard in south Tehran, especially when through the quirks of fate, you find yourself at the bottom of the pile and those above you take pleasure in kicking you off the end of the social ladder just because they can. It's a tale of hard working without the expected rewards; of not being able to quit and loose the little you have in order to survive. It is a tale of desperation and not knowing what to do next; of the other man's grass always being greener and history repeating itself on the merry go round of despair.
Others here have faithfully and excellently reviewed the content of the film. What interested me more in this particular case, was how accurate this film was of life within one of the richest oil states in the world. Does this state of affairs really exist when President Ahmadinejad stands before the United Nations and berates the Unites States for its lack of fair play. There are not that many sources of information on the day to day life of ordinary Iranians. One that I turned to was the documentary "Rageh inside Iran". Early in this documentary, Rageh asks his Iranian friend a similar question and receives the following reply. "There is lots of money in this city but it is not shared in a fair way, some people are so poor they crash themselves to the wall. One in seven Iranians live below the poverty line of less than one dollar per day. Ahmadinejad promised them a share in the oil wealth but they are still waiting."
After visiting glitzy shopping malls in the north of the city and talking to both ordinary Iranian people and some self made business women, Rageh befriends a taxi driver and in a private conversation asks what life for the young is like in Tehran. The reply is quite illuminating.
"You have to be cautious in Tehran now, you can't trust many people here. You should be careful choosing your friends and the people you do business with. If you try to live an upright life you will make many enemies who make plans against your money or your life. You might find someone is interfering with your business and you loose out. You could loose your job, your livelihood; you could be framed for a crime, you have to watch yourself." When pressed about whether this is a recent problem or a governmental failure he answers in the following way. "The population is increasing, there is unemployment amongst young people and poverty creates prostitution. The government could do a lot of things to help young people, they could make it easier but it is a fact that kids are turned out into the streets and are exploited in sweat shops."
Rafi Pits has said that men are the dreamers and it is the women who are left to deal with the practicalities of life. In Iranian society, though, there is an ambivalence towards women. Some have been successful in making a career for themselves and the official line is one of equality. Many young women talked freely when interviewed as a group in the shopping mall however there were occasions when asked a direct question in front of their men or male colleagues they seemed confused as to how they should answer. Another aspect of this is that since the form of government is a theocracy, to question a political decision is to question God and this is simply not on. For example the official line is one of gender equality however women are forbidden from riding motor cycles but you may not publicly say this. Instead you must say that only men ride motor cycles which implies it is a matter of choice by women not to ride them. A further complication is that the administration wants to make all creative works, writing; art and film making positive towards Islam. This gives film directors a problem of finding a self regulating line of truth without criticism. Thus making a film of the harsh conditions in the dilapidated south without counterbalancing it with a view of the prosperous north is a fine balancing act. Towards the end of the film, Marhab asks all the right questions without providing any of the difficult answers. Here is some dialog.
"What's the point. To know a trade and be unemployed – what's the point." "I've worked all my life, I'm a technician, I can fix anything – I'm a mechanic I will repair anything, why go through all this trouble". "But I don't like to work, well sometimes, not always. I prefer a good time. Too much work ruins you. Am I right? It's obvious, especially if you are not given your rights and no one is there to see it". After all the work why are you still here? I was just beginning to settle down after a rough, homeless, restless life. The bastards won't let me".
Was this little tirade directed against the administration or his employers. It is so hard to say and that's where the permitted ambivalence comes into play.
This is a film which highlights the problems without providing any of the answers and is probably as far as Rafi Pits thought he could go.
With Iran's administration preferring to trade its oil wealth with its friends in the east but this depending on the construction of major pipelines it may take a little time for the problems outlined in It's Winter to become eradicated.
Others here have faithfully and excellently reviewed the content of the film. What interested me more in this particular case, was how accurate this film was of life within one of the richest oil states in the world. Does this state of affairs really exist when President Ahmadinejad stands before the United Nations and berates the Unites States for its lack of fair play. There are not that many sources of information on the day to day life of ordinary Iranians. One that I turned to was the documentary "Rageh inside Iran". Early in this documentary, Rageh asks his Iranian friend a similar question and receives the following reply. "There is lots of money in this city but it is not shared in a fair way, some people are so poor they crash themselves to the wall. One in seven Iranians live below the poverty line of less than one dollar per day. Ahmadinejad promised them a share in the oil wealth but they are still waiting."
After visiting glitzy shopping malls in the north of the city and talking to both ordinary Iranian people and some self made business women, Rageh befriends a taxi driver and in a private conversation asks what life for the young is like in Tehran. The reply is quite illuminating.
"You have to be cautious in Tehran now, you can't trust many people here. You should be careful choosing your friends and the people you do business with. If you try to live an upright life you will make many enemies who make plans against your money or your life. You might find someone is interfering with your business and you loose out. You could loose your job, your livelihood; you could be framed for a crime, you have to watch yourself." When pressed about whether this is a recent problem or a governmental failure he answers in the following way. "The population is increasing, there is unemployment amongst young people and poverty creates prostitution. The government could do a lot of things to help young people, they could make it easier but it is a fact that kids are turned out into the streets and are exploited in sweat shops."
Rafi Pits has said that men are the dreamers and it is the women who are left to deal with the practicalities of life. In Iranian society, though, there is an ambivalence towards women. Some have been successful in making a career for themselves and the official line is one of equality. Many young women talked freely when interviewed as a group in the shopping mall however there were occasions when asked a direct question in front of their men or male colleagues they seemed confused as to how they should answer. Another aspect of this is that since the form of government is a theocracy, to question a political decision is to question God and this is simply not on. For example the official line is one of gender equality however women are forbidden from riding motor cycles but you may not publicly say this. Instead you must say that only men ride motor cycles which implies it is a matter of choice by women not to ride them. A further complication is that the administration wants to make all creative works, writing; art and film making positive towards Islam. This gives film directors a problem of finding a self regulating line of truth without criticism. Thus making a film of the harsh conditions in the dilapidated south without counterbalancing it with a view of the prosperous north is a fine balancing act. Towards the end of the film, Marhab asks all the right questions without providing any of the difficult answers. Here is some dialog.
"What's the point. To know a trade and be unemployed – what's the point." "I've worked all my life, I'm a technician, I can fix anything – I'm a mechanic I will repair anything, why go through all this trouble". "But I don't like to work, well sometimes, not always. I prefer a good time. Too much work ruins you. Am I right? It's obvious, especially if you are not given your rights and no one is there to see it". After all the work why are you still here? I was just beginning to settle down after a rough, homeless, restless life. The bastards won't let me".
Was this little tirade directed against the administration or his employers. It is so hard to say and that's where the permitted ambivalence comes into play.
This is a film which highlights the problems without providing any of the answers and is probably as far as Rafi Pits thought he could go.
With Iran's administration preferring to trade its oil wealth with its friends in the east but this depending on the construction of major pipelines it may take a little time for the problems outlined in It's Winter to become eradicated.