From its premise, Mohsen Makhmalbaf's The Cyclist sounds like a film from the Italian Neo-Realist Tradition of Vittorio De Sica ala The Bicycle Thief. The protagonists in both films represent the under-privileged working class - victims of socio-economic disparity who must endure a daily struggle just to make ends meet.
Although Makhmalbaf shows a great deal of compassion to the plight of the migrant, he is interested in exploring other avenues as well.
Not content with merely documenting the events that unfold, he quickly strays into the more subjective, stylized world, reminiscent of Federico Fellini, who as it happens, also "abandoned" his Neo-Realist roots.
The Cyclist resembles in part, one of the vignettes in Fellini's masterpiece La Dolce Vita the Miracle at the Field, where two rural children claim to have sighted the Virgin Mary. The media circus and the carnival like atmosphere that ensues are similar in both films.
The grotesque, distorted portraiture of Fellini is employed liberally by Makhmalbaf. The skewed camera angles, the chiaroscuro compositions and wide-lenses all help in creating a surreal, phantasmagoric atmosphere.
Makhmalbaf's film occasionally even ventures into lurid melodrama especially the scenes of Nasim's wife in the hospital - however these are more reminiscent of the silent expressionistic works of Murnau and Dreyer, rather than the lush, Technicolor dreamscapes of Douglas Sirk. Also, the melodrama is used more as a satirical device to exaggerate the absurdity of Nasim's situation, and of man's inhumanity against man, rather than as a ploy to evoke an emotional response from the viewer.
In only his third feature length film, Makhmalbaf is already brimming with confidence. He paints with broad strokes and is unafraid of using grand gestures.
Moharram Zaynalzadeh as Nasim is perfectly cast in the title role. His long, bearded face and stoic expression convey the lament and yearning of the cyclist. The shawl draped across his head gives him the appearance of a medieval monk. He becomes a Messianic figure a holy martyr who through the course of the film bears the sins of others.
The cycling exhibition at times resembles a passion play where Nasim is continually crucified. It resembles the masochistic acts caused by religious fervor pious acts of self-sacrifice, where catharsis is attained through extensive suffering.
The most potent symbol of the film is the wheel. It is a recurring motif that appears at various junctures in the film. It is a metaphor for the ritual of human existence and represents the cycle of life and death.
When Nasim watches an old man attempt suicide, it is under the wheels of a truck. When he dreams that his son is falling into a well, it is the large spinning wheel of the pulley that is once again the culprit.
Circularity in general is a very crucial element in Makhmalbaf's oeuvre. From the stunt motorcyclist in the spherical pit, the well that Nasim and his son dig, to the cycling exhibition the film is rife with such imagery.
At the end of the film, Nasim fulfills his task and has completed 7 days of non-stop cycling. But now he is unable to stop. Despite repeated pleas from the crowd and his son, he continues circling the empty square.
The exercise has fully become a Dantean circle of hell a never-ending vicious cycle for Nasim.
This striking image brings to mind the films of German auteur Werner Herzog, particularly Stroszek and Even Dwarfs started small. Both these films also end on a rather ambivalent note with a truck circling endlessly around an empty space. The protagonists in these films also happen to be outsiders; marginal characters that exist on the fringe of society - like Nasim.
The absurd ending also evokes the literary works of Albert Camus, where Sisyphus, a character from Greek Mythology, is doomed to roll a rock up a hill for all eternity, only to watch it tumble down as he reaches the top.
The Cyclist assumes the role of the Absurdist hero that Camus talks about in his essay The Myth of Sisyphus.
Although Nasim succeeds in achieving his goal, the ending of the film is a far cry from a "Triumph of the Human Spirit" movie that comes out of the dream factories of Hollywood.
Nasim's wife continues to battle for life in the hospital, so even though he has overcome this particular obstacle, his respite will be brief. He will have to resume his daily struggle if life is to go on. Makhmalbaf does not sugar coat this harsh reality for the viewer.
The vicious cycle keeps perpetuating itself over and over.
The wheel keeps on turning.
Although Makhmalbaf shows a great deal of compassion to the plight of the migrant, he is interested in exploring other avenues as well.
Not content with merely documenting the events that unfold, he quickly strays into the more subjective, stylized world, reminiscent of Federico Fellini, who as it happens, also "abandoned" his Neo-Realist roots.
The Cyclist resembles in part, one of the vignettes in Fellini's masterpiece La Dolce Vita the Miracle at the Field, where two rural children claim to have sighted the Virgin Mary. The media circus and the carnival like atmosphere that ensues are similar in both films.
The grotesque, distorted portraiture of Fellini is employed liberally by Makhmalbaf. The skewed camera angles, the chiaroscuro compositions and wide-lenses all help in creating a surreal, phantasmagoric atmosphere.
Makhmalbaf's film occasionally even ventures into lurid melodrama especially the scenes of Nasim's wife in the hospital - however these are more reminiscent of the silent expressionistic works of Murnau and Dreyer, rather than the lush, Technicolor dreamscapes of Douglas Sirk. Also, the melodrama is used more as a satirical device to exaggerate the absurdity of Nasim's situation, and of man's inhumanity against man, rather than as a ploy to evoke an emotional response from the viewer.
In only his third feature length film, Makhmalbaf is already brimming with confidence. He paints with broad strokes and is unafraid of using grand gestures.
Moharram Zaynalzadeh as Nasim is perfectly cast in the title role. His long, bearded face and stoic expression convey the lament and yearning of the cyclist. The shawl draped across his head gives him the appearance of a medieval monk. He becomes a Messianic figure a holy martyr who through the course of the film bears the sins of others.
The cycling exhibition at times resembles a passion play where Nasim is continually crucified. It resembles the masochistic acts caused by religious fervor pious acts of self-sacrifice, where catharsis is attained through extensive suffering.
The most potent symbol of the film is the wheel. It is a recurring motif that appears at various junctures in the film. It is a metaphor for the ritual of human existence and represents the cycle of life and death.
When Nasim watches an old man attempt suicide, it is under the wheels of a truck. When he dreams that his son is falling into a well, it is the large spinning wheel of the pulley that is once again the culprit.
Circularity in general is a very crucial element in Makhmalbaf's oeuvre. From the stunt motorcyclist in the spherical pit, the well that Nasim and his son dig, to the cycling exhibition the film is rife with such imagery.
At the end of the film, Nasim fulfills his task and has completed 7 days of non-stop cycling. But now he is unable to stop. Despite repeated pleas from the crowd and his son, he continues circling the empty square.
The exercise has fully become a Dantean circle of hell a never-ending vicious cycle for Nasim.
This striking image brings to mind the films of German auteur Werner Herzog, particularly Stroszek and Even Dwarfs started small. Both these films also end on a rather ambivalent note with a truck circling endlessly around an empty space. The protagonists in these films also happen to be outsiders; marginal characters that exist on the fringe of society - like Nasim.
The absurd ending also evokes the literary works of Albert Camus, where Sisyphus, a character from Greek Mythology, is doomed to roll a rock up a hill for all eternity, only to watch it tumble down as he reaches the top.
The Cyclist assumes the role of the Absurdist hero that Camus talks about in his essay The Myth of Sisyphus.
Although Nasim succeeds in achieving his goal, the ending of the film is a far cry from a "Triumph of the Human Spirit" movie that comes out of the dream factories of Hollywood.
Nasim's wife continues to battle for life in the hospital, so even though he has overcome this particular obstacle, his respite will be brief. He will have to resume his daily struggle if life is to go on. Makhmalbaf does not sugar coat this harsh reality for the viewer.
The vicious cycle keeps perpetuating itself over and over.
The wheel keeps on turning.