ifilm's exclusive report on Iranian feature ‘Chanel’

Watch ifilm's exclusive report on the Iranian feature film ‘Chanel’ directed by Hussein Kondori, produced by Alireza Shoja-Nouri and written by Hamid-Reza Baba-Beigi, starring Reza Behboudi as well as Mehdi Hosseininia.

The following is a rough transcription of the report.

ifilm: The idea for making this movie came from an ID card.

Kandori: We talked about it and came up with different ideas. It kept moving forward and eventually it turned into a screenplay written by Mr. Baba-Beigi.

Baba-Beigi: It started right here; talks with Hussein Kondori, Sina Saeedian and the other guys who helped.

We came up with different ideas during our discussions, and when we reached the writing phase, many other different things happened.

ifilm: ‘Chanel’ is the kind of movie that is full of incidents and they are happening parallel to each other. This is kind of a bit challenging for the director and a bit confusing for the audiences. Making such a flick can be real risky.

Kandori: It makes it hard for sure. I mean one of the issues we came across during writing the screenplay was that in the current atmosphere of the cinema industry, most films begin with a good opening.

They have a shallow story halfway through the film and an ending. We insisted on having a good story halfway through the film.

Baba-Beigi: The audience, especially the audience of the cinema industry of Iran, enters the cinema halls after the film begins. It meant a lot to us if the audience misses the first ten minutes of the film, he/she might not be able to understand the rest of the movie. He/she might not be able to sort out the complicated issues.

Kandori: Our aim was to have a film full of incidences, events and stories.

Baba-Beigi: Accordingly, we tried to have an interesting story as our second turning point in the film to make the audience follow the story. The audience might not know what has already happened in the film or couldn’t analyze the incidents; but after the second turning point, he/she will follow it.

ifilm: The characters in this movie are dealing with a lot of problems and this could make the movie a bit bitter.

Kandori: No. Not at all. No, I don’t think it’s a bitter movie. But the thing that is exactly happening is the struggle; the struggle among the characters - the struggle of the characters with their surroundings.

By bitterness, it can’t be described as great pain and a catastrophe. I don’t think so.

It’s the struggle people go through in order to gain success. Bitterness means an unchangeable pain, in my opinion.

It’s compulsory, we can resist it. When it’s dynamic and needs efforts, we can’t call it bitterness at all. I don’t think our movie is bitter.

AI/AG