Startup
Ramin Bahrani‘s Goodbye Solo, which no one invited me to see at a press screening but which I was going to pay to see at the Angelika this weekend (largely because of Tony Scott’s review), has reportedly grossed $40,540 from three screens in New York and Chicago. The reason I didn’t go Friday night or yesterday is because I’m only feeling intrigue and/or interest, which is not the same thing as serious hunger.
The synopsis for this film sounds worrying. Worrying because it sounds like a direct rip off of great Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami’s Cannes winner The Taste of Cherry from the late ’90s. Bahrani is presumably also of Iranian extraction. I hope I’m wrong, and not having seen the film, I can’t be sure, but like I said, it sounds worrying – all the more so as Bahrani, in this one interview, quotes Rossellini as an influence. No mention of Kiarostami.
Actually, Bahrani has been pretty up-front about the Kiarostami influence. From A.O. Scott’s “neo-realism” article:
“In Persian culture there’s something called tazmin,” Bahrani told me, “which is a longstanding tradition of poets taking one line or one beat or one idea from an earlier poem, picking it up and putting it in their own poem and going on from there.” His own borrowings are not acts of imitation or homage but rather attempts to absorb and extend what other filmmakers have done.
having spent time in Winston-Salem with Bahrani – the guy was a complete a-hole. He was the kinda person who you had to fight the urge to sucker punch after he wouldn’t shut his smarmy trap. Ask him to do a favor and he’d come up with an excuse. Do something as a favor to him and it’s just what you’re expected to do for him.
I live in the areas where the movie was filmed, so it holds a special place in my heart.
That being said, I truly believe it’s the best film I’ve seen so far this year, right up there with “Tokyo Sonata” and “Three Monkeys.” It’s a beautiful achievement and Bahrani’s finest work yet.
Yeah asshole or not, he’s on a roll.
I’ve never understood why people who have some personality problem with an actor or director can’t appreciate the quality of the person’s work.
I’ve never met Bahrani, so I can’t comment on what he is like personally, but that should have no bearing on judging their work. Whether you like the guy or not, his talent is hard to deny.
If he was merely an asshole, whatever. But the fact that he bragged about abusing the kid in his last film – hitting the kid and calling him a faggot to the point of tears. And yet somehow if we found out Michael Bay was doing this to a child actor, the media would be all over his case. Instead they’re making excuses for his actions. Kinda like how the critics are making culture excuses for why he cribbed The Taste of Cherry. Not like there’s that large of an audience that would know such a thing.
Agreed. The whole ‘persian poet’ riff irritates. He is not a persian poet. He’s a western-based film maker. A rip-off by any other name smells just as sour.
And it ain’t been “Persia” for one hundred years. Using that label just creates a better spin – poets, carpets, a thousand and one nights – than the word ‘Iran’. All I can say is, he better be acknowledging Kiarostami all over the place.
FYI Jeff, I emailed you three or four times (all the way back to November) about getting you a screener and/or inviting you to screenings, and got no response.
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