IT’S WINTER (IRAN, 2006).
Wednesday, 30th January 2008

Iran, 2006. Directed by Rafi Pitts from his own screenplay based on
“Safar” by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi. Photography (Colour):
Mohammad Davoodi. Music: Hossein Alizadeh and Mohammad Reza Shajarian.
Certificate: “12A”. Length: 82 minutes. Leading Players: ALI NICKSOLAT
(Marhab), MITRA HADJAR (Khatoun), SAEED ORKANI (Ali Reza), HASHEM ABDI (Mokhtar), NASER MAHADI (The Boss), SAFARI GHASSEMI (Grandmother).

With this film Iran brings us another master of cinema, someone whose work is quite distinct from that of Abbas Kiarostami or the Makhmalbaf family even if he shares with them a preference for using players who are not professional actors. However brilliant some of the work from Iran has been (and the Eastbourne Film Society has been proud to show such titles as And Life Goes On, The Apple and Kandahar among others), there’s no denying that the sense of coming across a new voice as one does here is welcome. After all it has to be admitted that it helps us to get away from the feeling that most Iranian films take place inside cars travelling long distances while some quest is undertaken that may well prove fruitless!

Rafi Pitts was born in Iran in 1967 although it was in London that he studied film and photography. He may not be the photographer of It’s Winter but the beauty of the visuals in this his fourth feature, albeit the first to be released here, is ample evidence of his rare feeling for images. Indeed this film although derived from a book has been described as a cinematic poem to winter. Here is what Pitts himself has to say about his aims in this work: “The story is inspired by a book I read long ago: “Safar” (“The Trip”) by the celebrated Iranian writer Mahmoud Dowlatabadi. Usually I don’t believe in books becoming films word by word, but impressions of a book can inspire a film. Another influence is the poem “Winter” by Mehdi Akhavan Saless. It’s a well-known work also. The poem depicts the governing power and the cold attitudes of winter. I used it both at the beginning and the end in order to frame the film. This poem gives form to feelings and to sentiments that are often oblique and does so in a beautiful way. I wanted It’s Winter to play out not just as a narrative but also to give form to feelings, to the intangible. It describes the rough life in which we all struggle under pressure to survive a day-to-day life.”

That description by the director may prepare one for the discovery that It’s Winter is one of the most beautiful films to reach us in recent times. Sometimes visuals that are obviously artistic both in terms of composition and of light and shade can seem an imposition, but here the art is so perfectly judged that it ceases to seem self-conscious. It never conflicts with what we see of the ordinary lives of the characters but provides, as nature often seems to do, a beauty that ironically and sadly acts as a counterpoint to the bleakness of life. Pitt’s art extends also to his adroit use of a music score, but it is important to stress that It’s Winter is not one of those worthy films which, earning respect for their art and humanity, nevertheless come across as easier to admire than to enjoy. Here, even though the pace is comparatively slow (that being one aspect of the film which does not differentiate it from the films of the other major Iranian directors), we are at once drawn in to take an interest in the people on screen.

One reason for this lies in the casting: the players give the impression of belonging naturally to their roles. What It’s Winter offers is a clear-cut plot, a strong sense of atmosphere (the setting is Tehran) and characters so real and so rounded that the audience is encouraged to think about them and to make up their own minds as to what makes these people tick. A key figure is Khatoun (Mitra Hadjar), a married woman with a young daughter (Zahra Jafari) living with her husband Mokhtar (Ashem Abdi) in a home where Khatoun’s mother (Safari Ghassemi) is also housed. The winter snow makes conditions harsh, but that’s not the worst of it: Mokhtar finds his job coming to an end and decides reluctantly that in order to continue to support his family he must depart to seek work elsewhere. As the male head of the home, he is the decision maker and on this issue he chooses to ignore the doubts of his wife and the criticisms voiced by her old mother, but he assures them that his absence will only be temporary.

These scenes leading to Mokhtar’s departure prepare the way for the arrival of the film’s main character, Marhab (Ali Nicksolat). It’s ironical given Mokhtar’s situation that this newcomer should be an engineer who has come to the city specifically to look for work. He soon discovers that outsiders seeking jobs are not welcome. That he nevertheless succeeds in finding work is down to the help of Ali Reza (Saeed Orkani), a stranger who soon becomes a close friend – not that this is an ideal answer since Marhab’s new employer (Naser Madchi) proves to be a boss who is reluctant to stump up the wages he has promised.

However before this stage has been reached something has already happened that brings the various threads of the story together: Marhab has caught sight of Khartoun and has started to follow her and even to station himself outside her house. By this time the absence of her husband Mokhtar has gone on long enough for the lack of news of him to suggest that he may have fled his responsibilities despite the fact that he had seemed reliable. Consequently, given the audience’s natural sympathy for an outsider, it might seem natural for us to conclude that Marhab’s behaviour stems from love at first sight and that if he can win Khatoun it would provide the conclusion which, beneficial for all, is what we should wish to happen. But, as I have said, the people are so real to us that we speculate about them, This means that by the time the film has reached its half-way stage we are wondering if Khartoun will succumb to Marhab’s advances, whether her mother is right to suggest that Khartoun always chooses the wrong man and as to how we should be assessing these characters (Has Mokhtar betrayed his family or could he have died? Is Marhab the good man we have taken him for given the comments he unexpectedly makes to Ali Reza about his attitude to his parents?)

The tensions that arise from these uncertainties drive the film to a powerful climax which answers a number of questions, but even then the film’s final scene is one that leaves it up to the audience to decide for themselves how it should be read. It’s Winter may be a small-scale film but it’s an immensely compelling one and for us in England it provides a striking introduction to a film-maker of undoubted talent who is clearly his own man.

Filmography (Title underlined shown by the EFS):
Season Five (1997); Sanam (2000); Abel Ferrara: Not Guilty (2003); It’s Winter (2006).

“A quiet but beautifully orchestrated piece of cinema… genuinely moving”
-Derek Malcolm, Evening Standard.

“Impressively intelligent ****” –Time Out.

“Unusual beauty… a classic approach to Iranian realism” – Variety.

“Remarkable and striking” – Screen International.

“Austerely beautiful, acutely directed, universal in its meaning - Philip French, The Observer.

Programme notes by Mansel Stimpson