Asrar ganj dareheye jenni (1974) - full transcript
A team of surveyors and
road-engineers
left the valley...
for the track-less heights
on the hills.
The man who was walking
ahead of the line...
had began with admiring
the beauty of the mountains,
and had soon drifted into
describing his love...
for this land... this vast,
open country...
that possessed a force
of magic...
in all its serene and vacant
hills and deserts,
its broken villages and
meagre fields.
His friend agreed with
him and said:
"Yes. This is a beautiful
region."
"Pity it is all so wild and
lonely."
The man who was now
thinking of the road...
that was to be built,
looked around...
to find a suitable spot...
to place the surveying gears.
It seemed to him that where
he was was good enough.
So he ordered the tripod
to be placed there.
THE GHOST VALLEY'S
TREASURE MYSTERIES
A view arranged by
Ebrahim Golestan
Where are you, beast?
Get along. It's finished.
Move! We finished.
Get along, bastard! It's over.
Get moving, damn you!
Ma Ali!
It's daddy. Hide yourself.
We'll tease him.
Ma Ali, you can't guess!
You don't know!
Wonderful. Wonderful.
You can't guess!
The Knife! Knife. Knife. Knife.
Where is the knife?
The beautiful knife?
Come on. Come along!
Help! Oh, God! Help!
He's gone mad!
My husband's gone nuts!
Help me, Rajab.
He's gone silly.
Where is my brother, Seyed?
Where is he?
What's the matter?
Ali's father's gone nuts.
Mr. Abbas, help me,
my husband's gone crazy.
None of my business.
Mr. Mayor, please help me.
My husband's gone nuts.
He was nuts.
Mr. Mayor, please,
he was about to kill our cow.
Nonsense.
I tell you, he drew the knife.
To hell with him!
I tell you, do something, please.
Where is he now?
Near our home. He was about to
cut the throat of the beast.
God damn this job. They don't even
let you eat your fruit in peace.
Where is the Reverend?
Oh, God! Please,
father, help me!
My husband's gone crazy.
He wanted to kill our animal.
Please stop this praying. Help me.
He wanted to kill me, too.
- Brother, brother!
- What is it, Sis?
Help me!
Come on, speak!
What is it?
He came home dancing,
then he jumped on me.
Then he went for the animal.
What for?
How could I know?
He's gone mad.
If the animal dies, if he is
injured,
then we will be finished.
Why did you kill it?
Why did you do this?
Why did you kill the animal?
Beat the devil out of him.
He's crazy.
Go get the donkey.
Pull, God help you!
Daddy? Come.
Where have you been?
- I won't.
- Come.
What's wrong?
Don't cry, my dear
Ahmad-Ali.
Why crying? A man
does not cry.
You think they beat me?
To hell with them, how could they?
Beat me?
Don't be a child.
Don't. I will buy you things.
- What do you want?
- Nothing.
- What do you like?
- Nothing.
You mean you want new clothes?
Beautiful clothes? Toys?
Nothing.
- A big knife?
- No.
- Slings?
- No.
- Fire-works?
- No.
A flute? All right.
It'll be a flute, then.
Do you smell?
They're roasting meat.
It's the smell of grilling,
coming from all over.
Don't cry. Listen to what
the animal is saying.
The animal is saying:
"You sacrificed me for them..."
"you killed me to thank God and to
give them a piece of my meat..."
"but uselessly, because they
snatched me from you..."
"And they cut me up themselves;
they stole me..."
"to fill their bowels - with your
silly intention."
What is your name?
What do you need my name for?
What was your name, you said?
I didn't say. I said what
do you need it for?
If you don't want it,
give it back.
This is stolen goods.
Stolen goods? Yes.
Do you buy stolen goods or not?
You're firm -
I said you're firm. Listen.
This is the fourth time you're
bringing such things to me.
Fact is, you scare me.
Yeah, I'm scared.
I see that you're firm,
wise, intelligent.
I'm afraid of you being
wiser than me.
I can't accept anything from you
before I could trust you.
Take them back, and take
them to those...
others you have been
dealing with.
I haven't done any business
with anybody.
If you want to sell them to anybody,
be careful, be cautious.
Why cautious?
I have not stolen them.
Be cautious.
What sort of price did
they offer you?
Who're They?
You're the first.
And those before me?
I tell you you're the first. I was
passing by, I saw you.
I thought you're
wise-looking...
trustworthy, and I told
myself go to him.
When you bought the first lot nicely,
I brought the others to you, straight.
Didn't I tell you you're wise. That's
why I am scared of you.
You're wise.
Thank God you're wise.
We can work together,
if you have some more.
I have!
Do I?
I wouldn't know. I don't
know how much you have, or...
who has given these
to you, or what.
Enjoy having them,
and thank your God.
Is there anybody who knows
that you have these?
Myself and my God.
He has washed them this time.
He has also started to ask
for higher prices.
Never mind, weigh them.
Don't buy by piece.
Don't let him know what
he's got. Pay him by grams.
Suppose he makes them heavy
by putting dirt in them?
Shake it off, and don't
be over-greedy.
What does he look like?
How old is he?
A very tall man, heavy set.
About fifty years old.
From which part of the country?
South-east, I gather
from his accent.
He says from the central
parts, though.
Perhaps he's not the main
man, only a cover.
Wish we could know
the main man.
If we could, things
would become easier.
I fear somebody snatching
it from us.
I fear you bungling it up.
I have done my best so far.
This is the eighth lot.
I fear you bungling it up.
Bring him to me once...
or I may come to you when
he is coming.
He does not say when
he is coming.
It is better if I take
him to you.
- Let's hope.
- Why hope?
If he comes. He should
come to you only if he's wise!
You know well...
You should know well...
You should know...
that if he goes away from you,
it'll be you the loser.
I know that he wants
to scare me,
but he is not bluffing,
either, I think.
He looks like someone that
has high connections.
There is no big deal without
high connections.
It's useless to be scared.
- I fear failure.
- It hasn't been a failure.
So far I have done my best.
I have washed...
all objects he's given me.
I have said he's from
the South...
and I said he claims he's
from the central parts.
Actually he's from the North.
He didn't look believing the objects
being from the South,
but he did not show that he
thinks I'm lying either.
But if he finds out that
I was lying, it'll be over.
He is on the trail of the peasant
and he watches my moves, too.
And he has his connections
with the higher-ups.
Come on, have guts, screw your
courage up to the sticking-point.
Push on as far as you can...
if there'll be a difficulty,
we'll see it ahead of time.
Time is now.
If it was only once,
we could gamble...
and do it and do
away with it.
But now it's different.
A slightly wrong step
and you skid the whole way, right
down to the bottom.
This is the bottom. Pull yourself
together. Put on the pressure.
Sometimes you press on...
but nothing comes out.
Oh, how I am sick of
your soft nature!
It's too full of yoghourt.
You can't find the short-cuts.
You want to be somebody.
You have the ambition but not
the guts to get it.
You fear to do things, yet you want
the things to get done.
Fate has come to you, and you want
me to use it for you?
Fate was drunk, giddy when it
called on you, wrongly!
If it wakes up, it'll turn green and
pale by seeing what he's done.
Did that peasant come to you, or
to that antiques dealer?
You think it's practical to be
straight and simple minded...
in a business which
is all crookedness?
The antiques-dealer threatens you?
Fool him then.
See which way the wind blows and
set your course that way.
You are ahead of him, now.
Don't let him overtake you.
What he knows of this, we know.
But all that we know, he does not.
Don't let him know this peasant
and where he comes from.
Don't sell all to him.
Sell the smaller objects.
Bruise and break the objects,
deface them. Sell gold, not antiques.
The main thing is the peasant
himself. We must keep him.
We must guard him.
We must let nobody have him.
There he comes again!
Come on in.
Thanks.
Come on. You'll get tired
standing there.
- Good morning.
- Good morning to you.
Lovely day, have some tea.
Would like to sit inside?
No thanks, I must get a car.
Where is the tea?
Which way you're going?
Teheran.
- Here's the tea.
- Thanks.
Come on, it's good.
- Where do you come from?
- Hossein-Abad.
You work in town?
Hossein-Abad. We've been around
this area for so long...
and yet I don't know
where it is.
On the other side...
The second village.
You run a shop.
Oh, no. Shop!
I thought you're going
to town for supplies.
I'm on business, though.
I thought you're getting supplies,
because I've been seeing you
often, recently.
I thought you could perhaps get
some supplies for me, as well.
Why did you get up?
How much is the tea?
Why do you get up?
How much?
It's nothing. Besides no car has
come. Have more tea, then.
You have quarreled?
Why quarrel?
I want to help you.
Shucks! You're finishing
him off, if you're not lying.
Why lying? Am I crazy? He
wouldn't ever, never, go into the hills...
now he goes regularly, so many times.
It's either opium or heroin, surely.
You've seen it yourself?
At all?
Of course I haven't.
See what? It's obvious.
You're sure?
What do you mean?
If you want to chuck me off...
and claim you've discovered the case
yourself, well, that'll be another story.
I thought I am doing
you a service.
Service my foot! You're
grabbing the bastard's business.
Suppose I am. Will I be alone
in this, partner?
You're a civil servant.
I am not, I am a teacher.
I won't spy on people.
Come on, get off that. You're not in
favour of selling heroin, are you?
This is spying,
I won't do it.
Look here. An employee of the State
should help the State...
especially when It is
to the good of the Society.
What do you mean "spying"? His
assistant says he is doing it.
Are you O. Kaying him?
He's either doing it or not.
If he is, it's bad. Society is
harmed, people are in danger.
The duty of every honorable
citizen is to intervene.
I say you owe it to your God,
to your intelligence...
to your mother-land
to do what you must.
Is this spying or treason?
And if he is not involved in
such activities...
then you'll find that out and
the innocent is saved.
Which again is good
and honorable.
Which part of this is spying?
Spying is a crime when it
is for a foreign power.
I am the State, not
a foreign power.
You're a gendarme and I am a
teacher.
Have I ever asked you
to teach these boys?
I won't do a thing against
the public.
What contraband, dear fellow? The
man is not even from the village.
You're right. The poor man was only
asking about my sister's husband.
His only concern
seems to be that jerk,
as he's asked everybody
only about him.
I think the jerk owes
him money.
I haven't seen him myself.
He may be an undercover agent.
It's all tricks.
Certainly it's a trick.
They make you spy on me
and me spy on you.
Drug traffic is just
a sham pretext.
Surely you're right.
You're educated.
Hey, boy! You, there!
Good day, Mr. Mayor.
What was he telling you,
that gendarme?
What gendarme?
The one who comes here
often recently.
Haven't seen him.
He investigates your brother-in-law's
complaint that you beat him up.
I beat him up because
he'd gone crazy.
You were there, yourself.
What complaint?
You beat him up and you took
all his belongings away.
What belongings? He had
nothing. My poor sister...
she neither dares to return, nor if
she goes, there is anything to live on.
And the jerk, he's never there.
He is roaming...
the neighboring villages
for work.
We must send him to
a mad-house.
I am sure he will do us some harm
if we let him free.
Please do something, sir.
You mean the gendarme did not
call on you at all?
Not at all.
What does he want then?
You're the Mayor.
How should I know?
Perhaps he comes here
to spy on us?
You mean our charcoal-making?
Honestly this Government
is anti-public.
Throughout the centuries
our ancestors...
used the woods to
make charcoal.
Now they say it's illegal,
you must have permits!
Perhaps the gendarme comes
here on this account.
Bright boy! Of course.
Can't you see?
And I am called the Mayor!
A Mayor who cannot
cut the trees!
What is the use of being a Mayor
if you cannot cut the trees?
Really!
Fed-up! Just fed-up with all
this old rotten junk.
One does not live forever!
I need money...
I need good life,
I need happiness.
Hurry up and finish with him!
What can I do?
It is useless if you let
him to be on his own.
Suppose something happens
to him.
Suppose he changes his mind.
Suppose he is arrested or grabbed
by somebody else...
or falls from a window, or simply
explodes, or something.
What could I do?
Fool him, scare him, cheat him, put
him on dope, I just don't know...
Do something!
Where is my blasted
cup of tea!
Invite him over.
Ask him to come over.
In our village we use charcoal.
Oh! That's old fashioned.
In our village it's very cold.
What is the weather when you have
money? Buy kerosene stoves.
People there would be jealous
and may cast evil eyes on me.
Who are the people when
you have money?
With money you can shut their eyes,
you can turn them into your slaves.
One should live right. Good life, nice
home, good food,
and above all a good wife.
She should be faithful, full-bodied,
satisfying - not of course a wrestler.
Wife I have. I have a wife.
You do? How many?
Is not one already too many?
One? Just one?
One is God, only.
How many eyes do you have?
One? Two!
How many fingers?
One?
Ten!
Hour many teeth?
Thirty two!
How many hairs?
God knows!
God himself - how many prophets
did he have?
One hundred and twenty
four thousand.
They were all His tools.
Woman is the tool for a man.
The more, the better.
Come on in.
Come in and sit.
They'll be here soon.
Shit! Do you swap your chastity
with one skewer of grilled liver?
Do not overfeed your body.
You should keep this moveable.
Charge as much as you want,
but 50% is my commission.
Let's go, it's raining.
Let us praise the God
and the Prophet.
Believers praise the God.
Bad Omen!
Look at these, Mr. Majid.
Don't get involved!
Don't you see it's stuck.
Much better! They be damned!
Nonsense. Help!
Me helping this?
To hell with its owner.
What do you mean the owner?
Help the animal.
Help the driver.
He hasn't done anything wrong.
So you're here. Good!
Come on rain! Pour!
I'll buy some more.
Where are you? Come
and see, Mr. Mayor!
Reverend! Ma Ali!
Come and see!
Come my dear Ali.
I've brought you the flute!
- Be careful!
- Boy, bring my chair.
Bring also that flute.
Wonderful, wonderful.
God be praised.
Oh, Mr. Mayor. How are you?
Oh, papa!
Come, come to me.
Look, I've brought
you your flute.
It's big, isn't it?
It shines like gold.
You happy now?
Didn't I promise a flute?
Why did you come?
I've come.
Where have you been
all this while?
You were away,
you stay only a day whenever
you come.
I am always here.
I am here.
We were told that you're in town,
that you've gone nuts.
Nuts yourselves. Could a person
who owns these be nuts?
Stupids! Whoever is
richer is wiser.
We never knew you had money.
Know now, bastards!
Am I nuts?
I'm the one chosen by heavens.
When you killed the bull,
everybody said you're nuts.
I killed the bull to have
my luck rise!
No one knew one's luck would
rise if a bull is killed.
The bull's luck would rise,
you thought?
Go again to those who
thought I'm nuts.
I want to stay here with you.
Stay with me? Where have you
been when the plough broke...
when I was sweating
in the hills?
When the beast was moaning and
the knife was too dull to cut?
When the bull was kicking, trying
to push his horns into me?
"Stay with me", huh!
What are you doing here?
Let's go.
- I won't.
- Come, I say!
I won't, this is my home.
Don't be fooled by this rubbish.
Rubbish yourself, silly!
I'm telling you, these will bring
you bad luck.
Shut up, stupid!
- I say come!
- I won't, I won't, I won't.
My dear sister, my sweet
sister, these are all tinsels.
Sir, if you allow me
I'll kick them out.
These are all sham;
dirt, sister, dirt!
That's you, dirt. Get out!
I won't. Let go.
Get the hell out of here.
Come, let me tell you something.
It's not even worth
spitting on.
You don't fit with my new life.
Stay, if you want to,
but don't expect much.
I was not told it
needed water.
Of course a bath needs water,
and the heater needs oil.
The fridge runs either on
kerosene or electricity.
And a gas-cooker needs gas.
I never thought of that. I thought
they're all...
automatic.
But of course there are no
problems...
once the money's there.
Oh, money!
But such equipment don't
match such houses.
New instruments change
the situations,
they change the forms
and the essence.
And it's good, too.
Take the bath for example.
The mud walls do not withstand
the spilling of the showers.
We'll need plumbing,
we'll need drainage, we'll
need water, and also tiles.
We need tiles?
Yes.
From floor to the ceiling?
The telly was saying this when
I was in Teheran.
By the way the T.V.
set is not working, either.
Allow for the time, and
be willing to spend money.
We'll do.
It's the end, by God.
I can't take it anymore.
Why do you nag?
Nothing has happened.
What else do you expect,
worse than this?
Nothing's wrong. Your sister
returned to her husband.
And her husband
has become rich.
- To hell with him.
- You're jealous.
What jealousy? Everything
is falling apart.
And the jerk, with his golden chair
and his chandelier...
with his colorful contraptions
is fooling you all.
All of you, from that silly girl to the
mayor to the reverend, all.
And that teacher, Majid,
who used to shout a lot...
He has now become the
jerk's docile servant...
building for him silly shaped
buildings. Look at that!
You're blind to bigger things.
And look at him, he is coming.
God damn times like this!
And you're happy with digging
holes to plant saplings...
when on the other side roots are
being cut up and trunks sawn off.
I tell you the end is here.
This is not a place
to live in.
I'm leaving this place.
To go where, silly man?
I'm going.
I'm going to the other side of the
hill where a road is being built.
Don't be silly, don't.
Why should you?
What's happened?
He's piqued because his sister's
husband has made it rich.
He mentioned my name.
He thinks it's bad you're leveling off
the hill and are building the house.
But he was saying he was going to
join the road builders, himself.
Well, that's the human
nature for you.
He has a passionate nature,
otherwise he is a good boy.
He's loud-mouthed. He doesn't
know how to behave.
One should not get piqued
and quit one's own place.
We are the grass of this land, we
grew here. Why going from here?
He won't go anywhere.
Go to where?
To get to where?
All our ancestors stayed here,
patiently, quietly.
People who are passionate and
shouting don't get anywhere.
They only shout.
First we'll flatten
out all this.
The house that we are building must
match the spirit of our time.
Must match what?
The spirit of our age.
As for the national tradition,
the heritage of our
glorious past...
must always be our
guiding light...
the basis of our endeavors,
our inspiration...
In fact a superior
infra-structure -
How many times you say these?
Talk about the house!
We'll cut up all this.
We'll flatten the hill-top here.
Nonsense! I say the house,
you keep saying the hill!
We must change its interior, to make
room... for the kitchen, the shower.
However, we'll keep the exterior,
the façade as traditional as it is.
The important is the exterior and
you only talk of the interior.
It is the exterior that attracts people,
that people will see.
But people have seen
the exterior.
Hell! Let them not
see it anymore!
Well, we can always retouch the
exterior. It's easier, you're right.
One gets used to interior. But it is
the exterior that counts.
It should look pretty.
Marble or tiles?
- You require a prompt performance?
- What?
- You want it quickly?
- Yeah, double quick.
Plastofoam. This synthetic material
resembles stone from a distance.
- Where does it come from?
- Beg your pardon?
- Comes from Europe?
- Comes from the oil.
Why have you covered this?
Excellent, now! Well done!
You understand me now!
You're a learned man, but you also
know how to use your knowledge.
You're useful.
By the way, I've heard that you're
been winking at my wife.
Don't deny. Also don't fear.
It's all right.
I am about to marry again.
Marriage?
Yes, marriage.
Sir, the poles are all cut and
ready for the ornaments.
Ornaments?
Could I forget what they did to me?
They beat me, threw me out.
If they ever come close,
close will be...
these barbed wires.
Paint! Paint 'em white!
Everything white!
All kinds of white!
I won't come.
I won't come with you.
Shut up! You do what
you're told!
I won't, I won't, I won't!
Leave her alone!
Such a sweet girl.
And you're standing there,
silly man? Do something!
Well, she does not feel like it.
She has a right.
I won't. I cannot say yes to his
marrying a second wife.
Oh, don't be rash,
have a little patience.
I won't.
Come, Majid.
Don't go back on your word.
People are waiting.
To hell with people!
You must not force her.
Nobody has explained to her
the reason. Have you?
Come on, hurry up! Enough!
What are you waiting for?
Make her go!
What are you waiting for?
Make her go!
The wedding, my dear child,
is just a pretext.
We want to show to other people
what a lovely place we have...
and what a lovely building; and so
obtain new prestige for our village.
It'll be excellent for our village.
You must help your native land.
It is to your own good.
Accept! One must be committed,
engaged, responsible.
You must submit to the
Will of God.
People have come from all over.
Don't keep them waiting.
Let go of your individual concerns
for the sake of the community.
It's a sin not to comply. Lots of
expenses are involved.
I'll arrange for divorcing her the way
I arranged for her wedding.
- She spoiled her dress.
- And she hasn't got another one.
Bring her her original dress.
Fine! Everybody's here.
Allo, allo. One, two,
three, four.
Ladies and Gentlemen.
It is my utmost honor
to submit humbly and happily
to your eminences...
the greetings and feelings of
the noble masses of our village...
on the occasion of this
august feast.
But where are the villagers?
Nobody's behind the barbed wire.
Today we celebrate not only...
the joyous wedding of
our eminent couple...
but also the eye-boggling
achievements lavished on us...
coming from the blessed fount of
our beloved bridegroom.
If our tongue is short for praise,
long is the expression...
of this proudly erect structure that
tells with its golden brilliance...
of the power and glory,
the wealth and the might,
the will and the mind of its
dearly beloved founder.
A structure coming out from the
fertile womb...
of our ancestral traditions to fuse
with the latest techniques...
and aesthetics of the great
American masters...
such as Buckminster Fuller.
Do you understand a word?
If our proudest achievements
in the past...
consisted of one dome
and two minarets,
the exigencies of the modern
times require...
one minaret and two domes.
Domes that are not hemi -
but full spheres.
Their roofs not prone to rains,
since water...
does not collect on curves.
Their windows small and few,
to prevent infiltration...
of light and seasonal changes.
Such qualities are not only in tune
with climatic conditions...
but also with our
historical chastity
and ancestral wisdom of closing
one's eyes...
on extraneous elements!
This is our clear
cry for today
and our legacy for the future!
He talks much.
He always talks much.
Let him talk so.
People get impressed.
Furthermore, the duality of these
domes indicates...
the duality in the cosmic order.
It stands for the day
and the night...
the Good and the Evil, the New and
the Old,
the Right and the Left.
The East and the West,
the Thesis and the Antithesis.
The God and the Devil,
and etc & etc.
He knows a lot, but he's
an ass, still. I know.
This soaring, scintillating
tower is the symbol of...
a man standing between
two worlds...
like a rocket penetrating
the celestial heights...
a light-house on the shores
of the turbulent seas
and, in a word, a MAN between
two beautiful maids!
Here comes our
poet-laureate, Sahba.
He is a top man in
the PEN club.
On behalf of the literary world
I would like to offer...
congratulations to the beautiful
bride and the happy groom.
If poetry has any function, it is to
extol occasions like this...
the marriage of Beauty
and Benevolence.
I am in deep ecstasy
and inspired.
Therefore I must recite. However...
usually I read my poems.
This time, to embellish and to
accentuate the word...
I am procuring you with
this charming muse...
who will read the Ode.
Why the villagers are not there?
The barbed wires were for them!
They are not here, anyway.
They are behind their own wires.
Hell! I wanted them behind
my barbed wire.
Well, theirs is more safe, with less
trouble for you.
It's cold, start up the fires!
Why are these artists
Only the blind ones would come
Oh, you all! Do not dance
about so much!
Why are you here?
Go home.
Enough with your silly acts;
you fools!
Yes, laugh! Make them dance...
be happy as long as you
can buy them.
But watch the shaky legs
of your chair.
Well, he was shouting
all the time.
He was "protesting",
"demonstrating"!
What was that?
It's the road-builders, dynamiting
the rocks.
Well, yes, he was nagging really.
You always need a strong man
to get things moving.
When we were building the house,
the village boys would
sneak in at nights...
to piss on the cement powders.
They never asked themselves about
the capacity of their bladders.
Which is the more productive - their
bladders or the cement factories?
Well, take it as their way of
expressing themselves.
Against what? The man
is rich, so they're against him.
Where does his wealth
come from?
That isn't the question.
The question is what to do
with his wealth.
What does he do?
He does not. I am trying to.
Difficult, though.
He's surrounded with crooks.
Have you seen the Lady?
His wife's mother?
Mother? My foot!
It's all tricks.
She's got plans for everybody,
from old folks to babies.
She's sent the man's child
to a boarding school
and now wants to send him
off to Switzerland!
She's opened a fashion boutique for
that sissy relative of hers.
As for her husband, her
book-keeper really.
She is preparing a night
club in the capital...
with red velvet wall-covers,
cushions on the floor,
and mirror-covered ceilings.
With this man's money!
And she is playing with the
man's first wife,
and manoeuvres to have me, too.
And you brought me here
to paint a portrait!
This is the least if one
has greater plans.
This is not a simple pleasant.
He is an opportunity.
He must be grabbed.
To do what?
Something worth doing.
Before all else...
to eradicate the parasites.
Then to build, to develop,
to use the occasion.
This is the secret of success,
to exploit the opportunity.
How long does the
opportunity last?
As long as you can spend
money, and could work.
When everything depends on one
single man's money...
how could you be sure he'll keep
you, and let you work?
I'll satisfy him. I'll pretend
that I don't want to be here.
You mean you will bluff?
But you haven't got cards.
I'll play with theirs. The whole
thing is my pack of cards.
You don't believe?
You're against?
I'm a painter.
You're a pessimist.
You have no faith.
I have my beliefs,
I have my thoughts.
You are half-hearted.
I have my doubts. I question.
To question is to waste time.
To use time is the thing to do.
By the way, what happened to the
inn-keeper who guided you here?
He also goes about with a lot
of questions.
My boss does not like him,
does not trust him.
Dirty old man!
At his age!
Finally the bird went back
to his mother...
telling to himself "I was a fool to
go beyond my limits."
And he began to cry...
After a while the bird
began to worry...
fearing the big black bird
swooping on him.
There's the spade.
I'm dying under this load.
What are you doing?
I'll give you half.
Only half, you?
Be generous!
- Who're you?
- Who do you think I am?
Are you a ghost?
I'm the gendarme.
I'm scared.
You should be. And me thinking you
were in narcotics!
Who's with you?
Speak! Come out,
all of you!
You scared me.
Why did you come here?
Is it forbidden? Why did you?
I'm the gendarme.
How should I believe you?
Are you blind? I'm a
commissioned officer.
I am too.
You are?
Where from?
Don't you see?
I'm a plainclothes man.
You're bluffing.
Where is your gun?
Detectives don't have guns.
They've got brains!
Where are your papers?
Beat it!
I'll throw one at you if
you're not careful.
A grenade?
All gold. Let's have it together.
Shut up you dirty thief!
These are all archeological
relics.
You should have informed
the Ministry...
of Arts and Culture, and not...
steal them yourself. Let's go!
- Don't come close!
- Put it down!
Beat it!
I said put it down.
If you had any degree of
honor...
you would have known that these
objects should be safeguarded.
Because they are the fatherland;
they are the history
and Fatherland means the
history of the Past!
O.K. Go on, but don't
come close!
Not close? Are you
threatening me?
Was this safeguarding?
Don't, don't throw.
I say, don't.
You shoot, if you can.
I won't shoot at my fellow-country
men.
Oh, come on.
No, I won't. I don't fire on
my compatriots.
You have no fire.
What is this then?
- It's empty.
- It's very much loaded.
Then fire if you can.
I don't fire at you.
I don't shoot thieves.
Then shove it up your ass.
It was really loaded, I say.
Then shoot some more.
Don't make me shoot.
Shoot as much as you can.
Why should you really shoot
at all? Let's talk.
I don't have anything to
talk about with you.
A duty-abiding man of law has
nothing to say but the law.
How many bullets are there
in your gun?
Our supplies are unending,
you stupid ass!
Perhaps you are a duty-abiding
man. However, you're not polite.
Gendarmes should not
be foul-mouthed,
especially in a place like this.
On the ground, it is different.
But underground, it hardly
befits your status.
You mean that being a crook is
permissible if it is under the ground?
I mean to say that we all
must be bonded together...
helping each other, and
co-existing in peace.
There is gold under this land,
lots of gold.
There is gold instead of pebbles.
Lots of jewels.
Instead of jumping at each other,
we'll divide them between us.
God has given it to us. Let us
thank and praise Him.
We're the bond of brothers, the
fewer we are, the happier we are.
And nobody will know what
has happened in here...
or will happen.
Then be done with it!
Why so much mixing?
- You were against asking questions?
- No, really, why do you do that?
Because shades of colours come
from mixing with other colours.
- He was a nuisance.
- Finish him off.
You pretended you wanted to open
a shop in the village.
You knocked me out.
If he gets up again, he will
be a nuisance again.
You were partners in this.
Look at me who never thought a
mayor could associate with thieves!
I tell you, finish him off!
You were together in this
for a year now,
and now that you have fallen
apart you abuse me.
Finish him off!
And you want me to eliminate
him for you?
The main thing is for us
to get together.
I never meant any harm to you.
I was trailing him.
Shoot, man! Had he not come here
we could've used him. But now...
What are these?
It's only half an hour
that I am here.
Half an hour? It's a year
now that you're prowling.
So you were not trailing me?
No, upon my military honor.
He's lying. He trails everybody -
including himself.
What is he doing here,
if he isn't trailing people?
Don't worry, I'll bury you!
- Where do you go?
- Watch him.
Come back, I say.
I'm thirsty.
I'll do it if you're afraid of guns.
You smoke a cigarette.
Don't give him the gun.
Give me a cigarette.
You don't have a cigarette,
but you do have a...
spade, and a radio. And it's only
half an hour, yeah?
Don't go near him,
he may use Karate.
- What is Karate?
- A Japanese trick.
Transistorized?
It's a form of wrestling!
This is no time for
wrestling.
- I beg your pardon.
- Thank you very much.
- You're welcome.
- Bastard!
Sit down. Tell me what
is this place?
I don't know.
- You don't and you're here?
- You don't either, and you're here.
- Do you?
- I came here trailing him.
I was trailing you, you were
trailing him;
who were you trailing?
Suppose there's hashish
in the cigarette.
Don't confuse me, bastards!
Bury him.
Shut up, you. Don't keep
asking me to bury him...
as though I am the Angel of Death,
or the executioner,
or grave-digger, or funeral man.
I'm the Mayor!
What's the difference?
Eventually we have to
get rid of him.
The essential is to bury. The body
should not be left on the ground.
Are we here on the ground?
Well, under. Still we must
bury him.
Don't! Do you know where
is he leading you?
Don't! Do you know where
is he leading you?
Do you think the mayor is a child?
You're belittling him.
You mean he does not know
what is here...
just because it's below the surface?
He is the mayor...
and he knows whatever there is -
either above, or below.
May God take your tongue
away!
You, Mr. Mayor, do not be fooled.
These are all your ancestral heritage.
He has come from the other
side to snatch these away.
Don't let him. Don't
become his stooge.
You must keep these. You must
cherish and honor these.
Your sole duty is
only and only...
to maintain the traditions
of your ancestors
and to hand them over to the
next generation.
Stuff and nonsense! Is Mr. Mayor
just a store-keeper?
He is fooling us with his words
to snatch all this from us.
If you let him have his way he'll
gang up with some big shots,
and he'll hand over the lot to them
in return for kick-backs.
Then we'll have to sit aside and
sigh for what we lost.
Our ancestors! Your ancestors!
All right, I'll make you join them.
Tell me how you found
this place?
Don't waste time, please.
We may have yet another visitor.
You watch each other while
I go for a look.
What about the boys?
Oh well, they're all satisfied,
but Abol had his leg broken.
- Really?
- Yes, skiing.
- Should break his neck.
- Next time,
I went to visit him at the hospital.
Who do you think I met there?
- The heavenly host?
- No, Dr. Kosh-Kat.
Which Kosh-Kat?
The one who studied
surgery in Paris.
Is he back? He wanted to be a
political exile, saying one must fight.
Well... now he was saying that a
pregnant woman was brought to him,
who had her pelvis cracked
in a fall.
He said he didn't know what to
do, since an operation...
was impossible with her
pregnancy.
What did he do?
A new technique?
Not so new. He sends the woman over
to another surgeon in another hospital.
Oh, come on.
How people change!
No, he hasn't. He still reads the
European leftist weeklies.
How do you think you could
get out, out of here?
How many bullets did you have in
your gun when you came?
You're hurting me.
You're heavy.
I have counted the number
of your shots.
You only tell me how many
bullets you had.
- Why do you unbuckle my belt?
- Speak low!
I'm bleeding. Don't.
Are there any more shots
in the gun?
When I was telling him to shoot
it was because...
I wanted him to run
out of bullets.
If the gun is empty, then we can
finish with him.
He's a parasite. He never knew what
was there under his own village.
You must not let your gun be in the
hands of the villagers.
You're big. You hurt me.
It is my turn to take over here.
Your side is with me.
You are soiling my honor!
You mean it is really me? Where are
my eyes, then? Don't I have a mouth?
Sir, you're all mouth.
Where is it, then?
It'll come. Later...
gradually.
You're kidding. Oh, I see!
You mean firstly the mountains,
then the building...
and then the rest.
She's still asleep, snoring.
Her Grace is having a nice time.
Are you sure that
you're dying?
To die in the course of fulfilling
one's duty is to live on.
It's an honor to die defending
the glories of the past.
I'm murdered, yes,
but with the gold-crusted dagger
of the ancient heroes.
Fratricide with paternal dagger?
Give it to me.
Don't worry. I promise you to clean
up the place, make everything shine.
We'll install electricity.
We'll put in a lift for the
comfort of the tourists.
That louse-ridden, long-haired
lot of pot-smokers?
We'll put a sign. No hashish
smoking allowed.
You bumped me out with
that basin.
It was a misunderstanding. Don't
we have some tea?
That was a golden,
antique basin, too.
The head of our great legendary hero,
Slavush, too, rolled in a golden basin...
Although his blood
is still boiling.
For centuries, we, the heroes,
have been sacrificed...
but our line has lingered on,
and will last.
Only it's a pity that the line
of crooks...
such as you also lasts
and lingers.
They are dynamiting the mountains
and soon we'll have roads.
You must hurry up with the
projects that you have.
We've finished removing the
top of the hill.
Except for that part which is to
indicate the original height.
What did you do with the cut
trees of the orchard?
We burned them at
your wedding.
It was lovely, wish you
were there.
- You burned the trees?
- We cut the apple-trees.
You cut and burned
the fruit-trees?
Oh, we'll eat compote. On the site
we are building a casino.
Casino, yes? People must have
entertainment. We're developing.
Have you got a bright mind
like your friend?
Not quite.
Oh, he is bright.
He has plans.
Have you described them to your
friend, the master?
No, he hasn't. But he was talking
about a certain cabaret.
The cabaret?
But the casino must be more
beautiful.
The cabaret is here,
the casino is mine.
How about that?
That was the only thing to do.
I was sure the gun
was empty.
I was trying to get some cartridges
but he wouldn't let me.
Better win them over than to
knock them off.
Yes, provided what they say is not
coming from what they believe.
But he believed in what he was
saying. He was old-fashioned.
So he was of no use.
Now, throw away that useless gun
and come help bury the two dead.
This with that - makes two.
With you makes three.
You silly ass! You think you're
superior just because...
you're from the other
side of the hills!
For generations we have seen and
suffered things here silently...
to be able to endure. We know how
to be patient, how to be silent.
We have been silent and
patient always.
Now the problem is to get rid of that
bloody bragging bastard...
who got hold of everything,
pillaged everything.
Why this?
I'll kill you!
What has remained for me?
What sort of a building
was this?
Well, this left unfinished,
that fallen apart -
Pity. Work of a long time
coming to such ends...
with a few shakes, just because
roads are being built!
Well, it was sham,
it was flimsy,
No, the earth shook.
It didn't shake by itself.
It was shaken.
Shake is shake.
Comes to same thing.
No, if it shakes by itself it's fate.
This was shaken by men.
Oh come on, it comes to the same
thing - destruction.
Oh no.
The first destruction is tragedy,
the second is, sometimes,
even a farce.
Small people, when they're
caught up in farce...
call it tragedy, to fool themselves,
to brag.
Oh, what's small, what's big?
What a cheek! They're
laughing?
Why don't we go?
On foot?
What if they can't get enough
jackasses?
Don't worry. There are
enough of them.
Well, it's easy to joke and
ridicule at the end.
But in the beginning my
intention was to be helpful.
What do you want to do now?
What could I do?
I'm going with her.
Why not? What else is there?
Why not, of course. It suits with
what you've been doing.
You're not much different from me.
You also came to work.
Well, yes. You asked me to
come and I did.
But then I came to paint what
I saw the way I saw.
But you couldn't. The roof fell
and the canvas collapsed.
Anything better than that? It
finished better than I thought.
The brush swept over the figures.
The tripod crashed against the floor...
the paints flowed over the canvas,
the roof tumbled down
and whatever there was went under
the debris. Anything more complete?
More vivid and more spontaneous?
It was a "happening".
But if the building had not collapsed,
your work couldn't have been
completed.
Its kind of glitter ensured its
collapse...
and I showed it.
But you don't have much share
of credit in this.
Oh, what is my share?
Credit!
The essential thing is doing the work,
not working for the credit.
Where are you going?
I won't let you,
you're my wife.
Oh, fuck off.
We were wed. A hundred thousand
people were there. They all saw.
And they ate, and they went away...
and they are not there any more.
The people of the village?
Behind those barbed wires?
Oh come on, finish it off.
I married you.
I divorce you.
Come on, Majid. Finish it off.
You think this is a noble reluctance?
Or a respect for the boss?
Well, I know the Majids of the world.
They are puffed up puppets, all.
You did me in.
Where are you going?
I say where?
I'll kill you!
What should I do?
Actors: P. Sayyad, M. Apik
Loretta Shahpaz
B. Zarrinpur, S. Bahrami,
M. Bahrami, Goudarzi
Sahrarudi, Bakhshi
Production Team:
R. Assadi, A. Karari...
K. Golestan, M. Hanawal
Music: F. Mechkat
Statues: K. Golestan
Paintings: B. Dadkhah
Sets: Ostad Kazem
Written, Produced, Directed,
Photographed & Cut by: E. Golestan
road-engineers
left the valley...
for the track-less heights
on the hills.
The man who was walking
ahead of the line...
had began with admiring
the beauty of the mountains,
and had soon drifted into
describing his love...
for this land... this vast,
open country...
that possessed a force
of magic...
in all its serene and vacant
hills and deserts,
its broken villages and
meagre fields.
His friend agreed with
him and said:
"Yes. This is a beautiful
region."
"Pity it is all so wild and
lonely."
The man who was now
thinking of the road...
that was to be built,
looked around...
to find a suitable spot...
to place the surveying gears.
It seemed to him that where
he was was good enough.
So he ordered the tripod
to be placed there.
THE GHOST VALLEY'S
TREASURE MYSTERIES
A view arranged by
Ebrahim Golestan
Where are you, beast?
Get along. It's finished.
Move! We finished.
Get along, bastard! It's over.
Get moving, damn you!
Ma Ali!
It's daddy. Hide yourself.
We'll tease him.
Ma Ali, you can't guess!
You don't know!
Wonderful. Wonderful.
You can't guess!
The Knife! Knife. Knife. Knife.
Where is the knife?
The beautiful knife?
Come on. Come along!
Help! Oh, God! Help!
He's gone mad!
My husband's gone nuts!
Help me, Rajab.
He's gone silly.
Where is my brother, Seyed?
Where is he?
What's the matter?
Ali's father's gone nuts.
Mr. Abbas, help me,
my husband's gone crazy.
None of my business.
Mr. Mayor, please help me.
My husband's gone nuts.
He was nuts.
Mr. Mayor, please,
he was about to kill our cow.
Nonsense.
I tell you, he drew the knife.
To hell with him!
I tell you, do something, please.
Where is he now?
Near our home. He was about to
cut the throat of the beast.
God damn this job. They don't even
let you eat your fruit in peace.
Where is the Reverend?
Oh, God! Please,
father, help me!
My husband's gone crazy.
He wanted to kill our animal.
Please stop this praying. Help me.
He wanted to kill me, too.
- Brother, brother!
- What is it, Sis?
Help me!
Come on, speak!
What is it?
He came home dancing,
then he jumped on me.
Then he went for the animal.
What for?
How could I know?
He's gone mad.
If the animal dies, if he is
injured,
then we will be finished.
Why did you kill it?
Why did you do this?
Why did you kill the animal?
Beat the devil out of him.
He's crazy.
Go get the donkey.
Pull, God help you!
Daddy? Come.
Where have you been?
- I won't.
- Come.
What's wrong?
Don't cry, my dear
Ahmad-Ali.
Why crying? A man
does not cry.
You think they beat me?
To hell with them, how could they?
Beat me?
Don't be a child.
Don't. I will buy you things.
- What do you want?
- Nothing.
- What do you like?
- Nothing.
You mean you want new clothes?
Beautiful clothes? Toys?
Nothing.
- A big knife?
- No.
- Slings?
- No.
- Fire-works?
- No.
A flute? All right.
It'll be a flute, then.
Do you smell?
They're roasting meat.
It's the smell of grilling,
coming from all over.
Don't cry. Listen to what
the animal is saying.
The animal is saying:
"You sacrificed me for them..."
"you killed me to thank God and to
give them a piece of my meat..."
"but uselessly, because they
snatched me from you..."
"And they cut me up themselves;
they stole me..."
"to fill their bowels - with your
silly intention."
What is your name?
What do you need my name for?
What was your name, you said?
I didn't say. I said what
do you need it for?
If you don't want it,
give it back.
This is stolen goods.
Stolen goods? Yes.
Do you buy stolen goods or not?
You're firm -
I said you're firm. Listen.
This is the fourth time you're
bringing such things to me.
Fact is, you scare me.
Yeah, I'm scared.
I see that you're firm,
wise, intelligent.
I'm afraid of you being
wiser than me.
I can't accept anything from you
before I could trust you.
Take them back, and take
them to those...
others you have been
dealing with.
I haven't done any business
with anybody.
If you want to sell them to anybody,
be careful, be cautious.
Why cautious?
I have not stolen them.
Be cautious.
What sort of price did
they offer you?
Who're They?
You're the first.
And those before me?
I tell you you're the first. I was
passing by, I saw you.
I thought you're
wise-looking...
trustworthy, and I told
myself go to him.
When you bought the first lot nicely,
I brought the others to you, straight.
Didn't I tell you you're wise. That's
why I am scared of you.
You're wise.
Thank God you're wise.
We can work together,
if you have some more.
I have!
Do I?
I wouldn't know. I don't
know how much you have, or...
who has given these
to you, or what.
Enjoy having them,
and thank your God.
Is there anybody who knows
that you have these?
Myself and my God.
He has washed them this time.
He has also started to ask
for higher prices.
Never mind, weigh them.
Don't buy by piece.
Don't let him know what
he's got. Pay him by grams.
Suppose he makes them heavy
by putting dirt in them?
Shake it off, and don't
be over-greedy.
What does he look like?
How old is he?
A very tall man, heavy set.
About fifty years old.
From which part of the country?
South-east, I gather
from his accent.
He says from the central
parts, though.
Perhaps he's not the main
man, only a cover.
Wish we could know
the main man.
If we could, things
would become easier.
I fear somebody snatching
it from us.
I fear you bungling it up.
I have done my best so far.
This is the eighth lot.
I fear you bungling it up.
Bring him to me once...
or I may come to you when
he is coming.
He does not say when
he is coming.
It is better if I take
him to you.
- Let's hope.
- Why hope?
If he comes. He should
come to you only if he's wise!
You know well...
You should know well...
You should know...
that if he goes away from you,
it'll be you the loser.
I know that he wants
to scare me,
but he is not bluffing,
either, I think.
He looks like someone that
has high connections.
There is no big deal without
high connections.
It's useless to be scared.
- I fear failure.
- It hasn't been a failure.
So far I have done my best.
I have washed...
all objects he's given me.
I have said he's from
the South...
and I said he claims he's
from the central parts.
Actually he's from the North.
He didn't look believing the objects
being from the South,
but he did not show that he
thinks I'm lying either.
But if he finds out that
I was lying, it'll be over.
He is on the trail of the peasant
and he watches my moves, too.
And he has his connections
with the higher-ups.
Come on, have guts, screw your
courage up to the sticking-point.
Push on as far as you can...
if there'll be a difficulty,
we'll see it ahead of time.
Time is now.
If it was only once,
we could gamble...
and do it and do
away with it.
But now it's different.
A slightly wrong step
and you skid the whole way, right
down to the bottom.
This is the bottom. Pull yourself
together. Put on the pressure.
Sometimes you press on...
but nothing comes out.
Oh, how I am sick of
your soft nature!
It's too full of yoghourt.
You can't find the short-cuts.
You want to be somebody.
You have the ambition but not
the guts to get it.
You fear to do things, yet you want
the things to get done.
Fate has come to you, and you want
me to use it for you?
Fate was drunk, giddy when it
called on you, wrongly!
If it wakes up, it'll turn green and
pale by seeing what he's done.
Did that peasant come to you, or
to that antiques dealer?
You think it's practical to be
straight and simple minded...
in a business which
is all crookedness?
The antiques-dealer threatens you?
Fool him then.
See which way the wind blows and
set your course that way.
You are ahead of him, now.
Don't let him overtake you.
What he knows of this, we know.
But all that we know, he does not.
Don't let him know this peasant
and where he comes from.
Don't sell all to him.
Sell the smaller objects.
Bruise and break the objects,
deface them. Sell gold, not antiques.
The main thing is the peasant
himself. We must keep him.
We must guard him.
We must let nobody have him.
There he comes again!
Come on in.
Thanks.
Come on. You'll get tired
standing there.
- Good morning.
- Good morning to you.
Lovely day, have some tea.
Would like to sit inside?
No thanks, I must get a car.
Where is the tea?
Which way you're going?
Teheran.
- Here's the tea.
- Thanks.
Come on, it's good.
- Where do you come from?
- Hossein-Abad.
You work in town?
Hossein-Abad. We've been around
this area for so long...
and yet I don't know
where it is.
On the other side...
The second village.
You run a shop.
Oh, no. Shop!
I thought you're going
to town for supplies.
I'm on business, though.
I thought you're getting supplies,
because I've been seeing you
often, recently.
I thought you could perhaps get
some supplies for me, as well.
Why did you get up?
How much is the tea?
Why do you get up?
How much?
It's nothing. Besides no car has
come. Have more tea, then.
You have quarreled?
Why quarrel?
I want to help you.
Shucks! You're finishing
him off, if you're not lying.
Why lying? Am I crazy? He
wouldn't ever, never, go into the hills...
now he goes regularly, so many times.
It's either opium or heroin, surely.
You've seen it yourself?
At all?
Of course I haven't.
See what? It's obvious.
You're sure?
What do you mean?
If you want to chuck me off...
and claim you've discovered the case
yourself, well, that'll be another story.
I thought I am doing
you a service.
Service my foot! You're
grabbing the bastard's business.
Suppose I am. Will I be alone
in this, partner?
You're a civil servant.
I am not, I am a teacher.
I won't spy on people.
Come on, get off that. You're not in
favour of selling heroin, are you?
This is spying,
I won't do it.
Look here. An employee of the State
should help the State...
especially when It is
to the good of the Society.
What do you mean "spying"? His
assistant says he is doing it.
Are you O. Kaying him?
He's either doing it or not.
If he is, it's bad. Society is
harmed, people are in danger.
The duty of every honorable
citizen is to intervene.
I say you owe it to your God,
to your intelligence...
to your mother-land
to do what you must.
Is this spying or treason?
And if he is not involved in
such activities...
then you'll find that out and
the innocent is saved.
Which again is good
and honorable.
Which part of this is spying?
Spying is a crime when it
is for a foreign power.
I am the State, not
a foreign power.
You're a gendarme and I am a
teacher.
Have I ever asked you
to teach these boys?
I won't do a thing against
the public.
What contraband, dear fellow? The
man is not even from the village.
You're right. The poor man was only
asking about my sister's husband.
His only concern
seems to be that jerk,
as he's asked everybody
only about him.
I think the jerk owes
him money.
I haven't seen him myself.
He may be an undercover agent.
It's all tricks.
Certainly it's a trick.
They make you spy on me
and me spy on you.
Drug traffic is just
a sham pretext.
Surely you're right.
You're educated.
Hey, boy! You, there!
Good day, Mr. Mayor.
What was he telling you,
that gendarme?
What gendarme?
The one who comes here
often recently.
Haven't seen him.
He investigates your brother-in-law's
complaint that you beat him up.
I beat him up because
he'd gone crazy.
You were there, yourself.
What complaint?
You beat him up and you took
all his belongings away.
What belongings? He had
nothing. My poor sister...
she neither dares to return, nor if
she goes, there is anything to live on.
And the jerk, he's never there.
He is roaming...
the neighboring villages
for work.
We must send him to
a mad-house.
I am sure he will do us some harm
if we let him free.
Please do something, sir.
You mean the gendarme did not
call on you at all?
Not at all.
What does he want then?
You're the Mayor.
How should I know?
Perhaps he comes here
to spy on us?
You mean our charcoal-making?
Honestly this Government
is anti-public.
Throughout the centuries
our ancestors...
used the woods to
make charcoal.
Now they say it's illegal,
you must have permits!
Perhaps the gendarme comes
here on this account.
Bright boy! Of course.
Can't you see?
And I am called the Mayor!
A Mayor who cannot
cut the trees!
What is the use of being a Mayor
if you cannot cut the trees?
Really!
Fed-up! Just fed-up with all
this old rotten junk.
One does not live forever!
I need money...
I need good life,
I need happiness.
Hurry up and finish with him!
What can I do?
It is useless if you let
him to be on his own.
Suppose something happens
to him.
Suppose he changes his mind.
Suppose he is arrested or grabbed
by somebody else...
or falls from a window, or simply
explodes, or something.
What could I do?
Fool him, scare him, cheat him, put
him on dope, I just don't know...
Do something!
Where is my blasted
cup of tea!
Invite him over.
Ask him to come over.
In our village we use charcoal.
Oh! That's old fashioned.
In our village it's very cold.
What is the weather when you have
money? Buy kerosene stoves.
People there would be jealous
and may cast evil eyes on me.
Who are the people when
you have money?
With money you can shut their eyes,
you can turn them into your slaves.
One should live right. Good life, nice
home, good food,
and above all a good wife.
She should be faithful, full-bodied,
satisfying - not of course a wrestler.
Wife I have. I have a wife.
You do? How many?
Is not one already too many?
One? Just one?
One is God, only.
How many eyes do you have?
One? Two!
How many fingers?
One?
Ten!
Hour many teeth?
Thirty two!
How many hairs?
God knows!
God himself - how many prophets
did he have?
One hundred and twenty
four thousand.
They were all His tools.
Woman is the tool for a man.
The more, the better.
Come on in.
Come in and sit.
They'll be here soon.
Shit! Do you swap your chastity
with one skewer of grilled liver?
Do not overfeed your body.
You should keep this moveable.
Charge as much as you want,
but 50% is my commission.
Let's go, it's raining.
Let us praise the God
and the Prophet.
Believers praise the God.
Bad Omen!
Look at these, Mr. Majid.
Don't get involved!
Don't you see it's stuck.
Much better! They be damned!
Nonsense. Help!
Me helping this?
To hell with its owner.
What do you mean the owner?
Help the animal.
Help the driver.
He hasn't done anything wrong.
So you're here. Good!
Come on rain! Pour!
I'll buy some more.
Where are you? Come
and see, Mr. Mayor!
Reverend! Ma Ali!
Come and see!
Come my dear Ali.
I've brought you the flute!
- Be careful!
- Boy, bring my chair.
Bring also that flute.
Wonderful, wonderful.
God be praised.
Oh, Mr. Mayor. How are you?
Oh, papa!
Come, come to me.
Look, I've brought
you your flute.
It's big, isn't it?
It shines like gold.
You happy now?
Didn't I promise a flute?
Why did you come?
I've come.
Where have you been
all this while?
You were away,
you stay only a day whenever
you come.
I am always here.
I am here.
We were told that you're in town,
that you've gone nuts.
Nuts yourselves. Could a person
who owns these be nuts?
Stupids! Whoever is
richer is wiser.
We never knew you had money.
Know now, bastards!
Am I nuts?
I'm the one chosen by heavens.
When you killed the bull,
everybody said you're nuts.
I killed the bull to have
my luck rise!
No one knew one's luck would
rise if a bull is killed.
The bull's luck would rise,
you thought?
Go again to those who
thought I'm nuts.
I want to stay here with you.
Stay with me? Where have you
been when the plough broke...
when I was sweating
in the hills?
When the beast was moaning and
the knife was too dull to cut?
When the bull was kicking, trying
to push his horns into me?
"Stay with me", huh!
What are you doing here?
Let's go.
- I won't.
- Come, I say!
I won't, this is my home.
Don't be fooled by this rubbish.
Rubbish yourself, silly!
I'm telling you, these will bring
you bad luck.
Shut up, stupid!
- I say come!
- I won't, I won't, I won't.
My dear sister, my sweet
sister, these are all tinsels.
Sir, if you allow me
I'll kick them out.
These are all sham;
dirt, sister, dirt!
That's you, dirt. Get out!
I won't. Let go.
Get the hell out of here.
Come, let me tell you something.
It's not even worth
spitting on.
You don't fit with my new life.
Stay, if you want to,
but don't expect much.
I was not told it
needed water.
Of course a bath needs water,
and the heater needs oil.
The fridge runs either on
kerosene or electricity.
And a gas-cooker needs gas.
I never thought of that. I thought
they're all...
automatic.
But of course there are no
problems...
once the money's there.
Oh, money!
But such equipment don't
match such houses.
New instruments change
the situations,
they change the forms
and the essence.
And it's good, too.
Take the bath for example.
The mud walls do not withstand
the spilling of the showers.
We'll need plumbing,
we'll need drainage, we'll
need water, and also tiles.
We need tiles?
Yes.
From floor to the ceiling?
The telly was saying this when
I was in Teheran.
By the way the T.V.
set is not working, either.
Allow for the time, and
be willing to spend money.
We'll do.
It's the end, by God.
I can't take it anymore.
Why do you nag?
Nothing has happened.
What else do you expect,
worse than this?
Nothing's wrong. Your sister
returned to her husband.
And her husband
has become rich.
- To hell with him.
- You're jealous.
What jealousy? Everything
is falling apart.
And the jerk, with his golden chair
and his chandelier...
with his colorful contraptions
is fooling you all.
All of you, from that silly girl to the
mayor to the reverend, all.
And that teacher, Majid,
who used to shout a lot...
He has now become the
jerk's docile servant...
building for him silly shaped
buildings. Look at that!
You're blind to bigger things.
And look at him, he is coming.
God damn times like this!
And you're happy with digging
holes to plant saplings...
when on the other side roots are
being cut up and trunks sawn off.
I tell you the end is here.
This is not a place
to live in.
I'm leaving this place.
To go where, silly man?
I'm going.
I'm going to the other side of the
hill where a road is being built.
Don't be silly, don't.
Why should you?
What's happened?
He's piqued because his sister's
husband has made it rich.
He mentioned my name.
He thinks it's bad you're leveling off
the hill and are building the house.
But he was saying he was going to
join the road builders, himself.
Well, that's the human
nature for you.
He has a passionate nature,
otherwise he is a good boy.
He's loud-mouthed. He doesn't
know how to behave.
One should not get piqued
and quit one's own place.
We are the grass of this land, we
grew here. Why going from here?
He won't go anywhere.
Go to where?
To get to where?
All our ancestors stayed here,
patiently, quietly.
People who are passionate and
shouting don't get anywhere.
They only shout.
First we'll flatten
out all this.
The house that we are building must
match the spirit of our time.
Must match what?
The spirit of our age.
As for the national tradition,
the heritage of our
glorious past...
must always be our
guiding light...
the basis of our endeavors,
our inspiration...
In fact a superior
infra-structure -
How many times you say these?
Talk about the house!
We'll cut up all this.
We'll flatten the hill-top here.
Nonsense! I say the house,
you keep saying the hill!
We must change its interior, to make
room... for the kitchen, the shower.
However, we'll keep the exterior,
the façade as traditional as it is.
The important is the exterior and
you only talk of the interior.
It is the exterior that attracts people,
that people will see.
But people have seen
the exterior.
Hell! Let them not
see it anymore!
Well, we can always retouch the
exterior. It's easier, you're right.
One gets used to interior. But it is
the exterior that counts.
It should look pretty.
Marble or tiles?
- You require a prompt performance?
- What?
- You want it quickly?
- Yeah, double quick.
Plastofoam. This synthetic material
resembles stone from a distance.
- Where does it come from?
- Beg your pardon?
- Comes from Europe?
- Comes from the oil.
Why have you covered this?
Excellent, now! Well done!
You understand me now!
You're a learned man, but you also
know how to use your knowledge.
You're useful.
By the way, I've heard that you're
been winking at my wife.
Don't deny. Also don't fear.
It's all right.
I am about to marry again.
Marriage?
Yes, marriage.
Sir, the poles are all cut and
ready for the ornaments.
Ornaments?
Could I forget what they did to me?
They beat me, threw me out.
If they ever come close,
close will be...
these barbed wires.
Paint! Paint 'em white!
Everything white!
All kinds of white!
I won't come.
I won't come with you.
Shut up! You do what
you're told!
I won't, I won't, I won't!
Leave her alone!
Such a sweet girl.
And you're standing there,
silly man? Do something!
Well, she does not feel like it.
She has a right.
I won't. I cannot say yes to his
marrying a second wife.
Oh, don't be rash,
have a little patience.
I won't.
Come, Majid.
Don't go back on your word.
People are waiting.
To hell with people!
You must not force her.
Nobody has explained to her
the reason. Have you?
Come on, hurry up! Enough!
What are you waiting for?
Make her go!
What are you waiting for?
Make her go!
The wedding, my dear child,
is just a pretext.
We want to show to other people
what a lovely place we have...
and what a lovely building; and so
obtain new prestige for our village.
It'll be excellent for our village.
You must help your native land.
It is to your own good.
Accept! One must be committed,
engaged, responsible.
You must submit to the
Will of God.
People have come from all over.
Don't keep them waiting.
Let go of your individual concerns
for the sake of the community.
It's a sin not to comply. Lots of
expenses are involved.
I'll arrange for divorcing her the way
I arranged for her wedding.
- She spoiled her dress.
- And she hasn't got another one.
Bring her her original dress.
Fine! Everybody's here.
Allo, allo. One, two,
three, four.
Ladies and Gentlemen.
It is my utmost honor
to submit humbly and happily
to your eminences...
the greetings and feelings of
the noble masses of our village...
on the occasion of this
august feast.
But where are the villagers?
Nobody's behind the barbed wire.
Today we celebrate not only...
the joyous wedding of
our eminent couple...
but also the eye-boggling
achievements lavished on us...
coming from the blessed fount of
our beloved bridegroom.
If our tongue is short for praise,
long is the expression...
of this proudly erect structure that
tells with its golden brilliance...
of the power and glory,
the wealth and the might,
the will and the mind of its
dearly beloved founder.
A structure coming out from the
fertile womb...
of our ancestral traditions to fuse
with the latest techniques...
and aesthetics of the great
American masters...
such as Buckminster Fuller.
Do you understand a word?
If our proudest achievements
in the past...
consisted of one dome
and two minarets,
the exigencies of the modern
times require...
one minaret and two domes.
Domes that are not hemi -
but full spheres.
Their roofs not prone to rains,
since water...
does not collect on curves.
Their windows small and few,
to prevent infiltration...
of light and seasonal changes.
Such qualities are not only in tune
with climatic conditions...
but also with our
historical chastity
and ancestral wisdom of closing
one's eyes...
on extraneous elements!
This is our clear
cry for today
and our legacy for the future!
He talks much.
He always talks much.
Let him talk so.
People get impressed.
Furthermore, the duality of these
domes indicates...
the duality in the cosmic order.
It stands for the day
and the night...
the Good and the Evil, the New and
the Old,
the Right and the Left.
The East and the West,
the Thesis and the Antithesis.
The God and the Devil,
and etc & etc.
He knows a lot, but he's
an ass, still. I know.
This soaring, scintillating
tower is the symbol of...
a man standing between
two worlds...
like a rocket penetrating
the celestial heights...
a light-house on the shores
of the turbulent seas
and, in a word, a MAN between
two beautiful maids!
Here comes our
poet-laureate, Sahba.
He is a top man in
the PEN club.
On behalf of the literary world
I would like to offer...
congratulations to the beautiful
bride and the happy groom.
If poetry has any function, it is to
extol occasions like this...
the marriage of Beauty
and Benevolence.
I am in deep ecstasy
and inspired.
Therefore I must recite. However...
usually I read my poems.
This time, to embellish and to
accentuate the word...
I am procuring you with
this charming muse...
who will read the Ode.
Why the villagers are not there?
The barbed wires were for them!
They are not here, anyway.
They are behind their own wires.
Hell! I wanted them behind
my barbed wire.
Well, theirs is more safe, with less
trouble for you.
It's cold, start up the fires!
Why are these artists
Only the blind ones would come
Oh, you all! Do not dance
about so much!
Why are you here?
Go home.
Enough with your silly acts;
you fools!
Yes, laugh! Make them dance...
be happy as long as you
can buy them.
But watch the shaky legs
of your chair.
Well, he was shouting
all the time.
He was "protesting",
"demonstrating"!
What was that?
It's the road-builders, dynamiting
the rocks.
Well, yes, he was nagging really.
You always need a strong man
to get things moving.
When we were building the house,
the village boys would
sneak in at nights...
to piss on the cement powders.
They never asked themselves about
the capacity of their bladders.
Which is the more productive - their
bladders or the cement factories?
Well, take it as their way of
expressing themselves.
Against what? The man
is rich, so they're against him.
Where does his wealth
come from?
That isn't the question.
The question is what to do
with his wealth.
What does he do?
He does not. I am trying to.
Difficult, though.
He's surrounded with crooks.
Have you seen the Lady?
His wife's mother?
Mother? My foot!
It's all tricks.
She's got plans for everybody,
from old folks to babies.
She's sent the man's child
to a boarding school
and now wants to send him
off to Switzerland!
She's opened a fashion boutique for
that sissy relative of hers.
As for her husband, her
book-keeper really.
She is preparing a night
club in the capital...
with red velvet wall-covers,
cushions on the floor,
and mirror-covered ceilings.
With this man's money!
And she is playing with the
man's first wife,
and manoeuvres to have me, too.
And you brought me here
to paint a portrait!
This is the least if one
has greater plans.
This is not a simple pleasant.
He is an opportunity.
He must be grabbed.
To do what?
Something worth doing.
Before all else...
to eradicate the parasites.
Then to build, to develop,
to use the occasion.
This is the secret of success,
to exploit the opportunity.
How long does the
opportunity last?
As long as you can spend
money, and could work.
When everything depends on one
single man's money...
how could you be sure he'll keep
you, and let you work?
I'll satisfy him. I'll pretend
that I don't want to be here.
You mean you will bluff?
But you haven't got cards.
I'll play with theirs. The whole
thing is my pack of cards.
You don't believe?
You're against?
I'm a painter.
You're a pessimist.
You have no faith.
I have my beliefs,
I have my thoughts.
You are half-hearted.
I have my doubts. I question.
To question is to waste time.
To use time is the thing to do.
By the way, what happened to the
inn-keeper who guided you here?
He also goes about with a lot
of questions.
My boss does not like him,
does not trust him.
Dirty old man!
At his age!
Finally the bird went back
to his mother...
telling to himself "I was a fool to
go beyond my limits."
And he began to cry...
After a while the bird
began to worry...
fearing the big black bird
swooping on him.
There's the spade.
I'm dying under this load.
What are you doing?
I'll give you half.
Only half, you?
Be generous!
- Who're you?
- Who do you think I am?
Are you a ghost?
I'm the gendarme.
I'm scared.
You should be. And me thinking you
were in narcotics!
Who's with you?
Speak! Come out,
all of you!
You scared me.
Why did you come here?
Is it forbidden? Why did you?
I'm the gendarme.
How should I believe you?
Are you blind? I'm a
commissioned officer.
I am too.
You are?
Where from?
Don't you see?
I'm a plainclothes man.
You're bluffing.
Where is your gun?
Detectives don't have guns.
They've got brains!
Where are your papers?
Beat it!
I'll throw one at you if
you're not careful.
A grenade?
All gold. Let's have it together.
Shut up you dirty thief!
These are all archeological
relics.
You should have informed
the Ministry...
of Arts and Culture, and not...
steal them yourself. Let's go!
- Don't come close!
- Put it down!
Beat it!
I said put it down.
If you had any degree of
honor...
you would have known that these
objects should be safeguarded.
Because they are the fatherland;
they are the history
and Fatherland means the
history of the Past!
O.K. Go on, but don't
come close!
Not close? Are you
threatening me?
Was this safeguarding?
Don't, don't throw.
I say, don't.
You shoot, if you can.
I won't shoot at my fellow-country
men.
Oh, come on.
No, I won't. I don't fire on
my compatriots.
You have no fire.
What is this then?
- It's empty.
- It's very much loaded.
Then fire if you can.
I don't fire at you.
I don't shoot thieves.
Then shove it up your ass.
It was really loaded, I say.
Then shoot some more.
Don't make me shoot.
Shoot as much as you can.
Why should you really shoot
at all? Let's talk.
I don't have anything to
talk about with you.
A duty-abiding man of law has
nothing to say but the law.
How many bullets are there
in your gun?
Our supplies are unending,
you stupid ass!
Perhaps you are a duty-abiding
man. However, you're not polite.
Gendarmes should not
be foul-mouthed,
especially in a place like this.
On the ground, it is different.
But underground, it hardly
befits your status.
You mean that being a crook is
permissible if it is under the ground?
I mean to say that we all
must be bonded together...
helping each other, and
co-existing in peace.
There is gold under this land,
lots of gold.
There is gold instead of pebbles.
Lots of jewels.
Instead of jumping at each other,
we'll divide them between us.
God has given it to us. Let us
thank and praise Him.
We're the bond of brothers, the
fewer we are, the happier we are.
And nobody will know what
has happened in here...
or will happen.
Then be done with it!
Why so much mixing?
- You were against asking questions?
- No, really, why do you do that?
Because shades of colours come
from mixing with other colours.
- He was a nuisance.
- Finish him off.
You pretended you wanted to open
a shop in the village.
You knocked me out.
If he gets up again, he will
be a nuisance again.
You were partners in this.
Look at me who never thought a
mayor could associate with thieves!
I tell you, finish him off!
You were together in this
for a year now,
and now that you have fallen
apart you abuse me.
Finish him off!
And you want me to eliminate
him for you?
The main thing is for us
to get together.
I never meant any harm to you.
I was trailing him.
Shoot, man! Had he not come here
we could've used him. But now...
What are these?
It's only half an hour
that I am here.
Half an hour? It's a year
now that you're prowling.
So you were not trailing me?
No, upon my military honor.
He's lying. He trails everybody -
including himself.
What is he doing here,
if he isn't trailing people?
Don't worry, I'll bury you!
- Where do you go?
- Watch him.
Come back, I say.
I'm thirsty.
I'll do it if you're afraid of guns.
You smoke a cigarette.
Don't give him the gun.
Give me a cigarette.
You don't have a cigarette,
but you do have a...
spade, and a radio. And it's only
half an hour, yeah?
Don't go near him,
he may use Karate.
- What is Karate?
- A Japanese trick.
Transistorized?
It's a form of wrestling!
This is no time for
wrestling.
- I beg your pardon.
- Thank you very much.
- You're welcome.
- Bastard!
Sit down. Tell me what
is this place?
I don't know.
- You don't and you're here?
- You don't either, and you're here.
- Do you?
- I came here trailing him.
I was trailing you, you were
trailing him;
who were you trailing?
Suppose there's hashish
in the cigarette.
Don't confuse me, bastards!
Bury him.
Shut up, you. Don't keep
asking me to bury him...
as though I am the Angel of Death,
or the executioner,
or grave-digger, or funeral man.
I'm the Mayor!
What's the difference?
Eventually we have to
get rid of him.
The essential is to bury. The body
should not be left on the ground.
Are we here on the ground?
Well, under. Still we must
bury him.
Don't! Do you know where
is he leading you?
Don't! Do you know where
is he leading you?
Do you think the mayor is a child?
You're belittling him.
You mean he does not know
what is here...
just because it's below the surface?
He is the mayor...
and he knows whatever there is -
either above, or below.
May God take your tongue
away!
You, Mr. Mayor, do not be fooled.
These are all your ancestral heritage.
He has come from the other
side to snatch these away.
Don't let him. Don't
become his stooge.
You must keep these. You must
cherish and honor these.
Your sole duty is
only and only...
to maintain the traditions
of your ancestors
and to hand them over to the
next generation.
Stuff and nonsense! Is Mr. Mayor
just a store-keeper?
He is fooling us with his words
to snatch all this from us.
If you let him have his way he'll
gang up with some big shots,
and he'll hand over the lot to them
in return for kick-backs.
Then we'll have to sit aside and
sigh for what we lost.
Our ancestors! Your ancestors!
All right, I'll make you join them.
Tell me how you found
this place?
Don't waste time, please.
We may have yet another visitor.
You watch each other while
I go for a look.
What about the boys?
Oh well, they're all satisfied,
but Abol had his leg broken.
- Really?
- Yes, skiing.
- Should break his neck.
- Next time,
I went to visit him at the hospital.
Who do you think I met there?
- The heavenly host?
- No, Dr. Kosh-Kat.
Which Kosh-Kat?
The one who studied
surgery in Paris.
Is he back? He wanted to be a
political exile, saying one must fight.
Well... now he was saying that a
pregnant woman was brought to him,
who had her pelvis cracked
in a fall.
He said he didn't know what to
do, since an operation...
was impossible with her
pregnancy.
What did he do?
A new technique?
Not so new. He sends the woman over
to another surgeon in another hospital.
Oh, come on.
How people change!
No, he hasn't. He still reads the
European leftist weeklies.
How do you think you could
get out, out of here?
How many bullets did you have in
your gun when you came?
You're hurting me.
You're heavy.
I have counted the number
of your shots.
You only tell me how many
bullets you had.
- Why do you unbuckle my belt?
- Speak low!
I'm bleeding. Don't.
Are there any more shots
in the gun?
When I was telling him to shoot
it was because...
I wanted him to run
out of bullets.
If the gun is empty, then we can
finish with him.
He's a parasite. He never knew what
was there under his own village.
You must not let your gun be in the
hands of the villagers.
You're big. You hurt me.
It is my turn to take over here.
Your side is with me.
You are soiling my honor!
You mean it is really me? Where are
my eyes, then? Don't I have a mouth?
Sir, you're all mouth.
Where is it, then?
It'll come. Later...
gradually.
You're kidding. Oh, I see!
You mean firstly the mountains,
then the building...
and then the rest.
She's still asleep, snoring.
Her Grace is having a nice time.
Are you sure that
you're dying?
To die in the course of fulfilling
one's duty is to live on.
It's an honor to die defending
the glories of the past.
I'm murdered, yes,
but with the gold-crusted dagger
of the ancient heroes.
Fratricide with paternal dagger?
Give it to me.
Don't worry. I promise you to clean
up the place, make everything shine.
We'll install electricity.
We'll put in a lift for the
comfort of the tourists.
That louse-ridden, long-haired
lot of pot-smokers?
We'll put a sign. No hashish
smoking allowed.
You bumped me out with
that basin.
It was a misunderstanding. Don't
we have some tea?
That was a golden,
antique basin, too.
The head of our great legendary hero,
Slavush, too, rolled in a golden basin...
Although his blood
is still boiling.
For centuries, we, the heroes,
have been sacrificed...
but our line has lingered on,
and will last.
Only it's a pity that the line
of crooks...
such as you also lasts
and lingers.
They are dynamiting the mountains
and soon we'll have roads.
You must hurry up with the
projects that you have.
We've finished removing the
top of the hill.
Except for that part which is to
indicate the original height.
What did you do with the cut
trees of the orchard?
We burned them at
your wedding.
It was lovely, wish you
were there.
- You burned the trees?
- We cut the apple-trees.
You cut and burned
the fruit-trees?
Oh, we'll eat compote. On the site
we are building a casino.
Casino, yes? People must have
entertainment. We're developing.
Have you got a bright mind
like your friend?
Not quite.
Oh, he is bright.
He has plans.
Have you described them to your
friend, the master?
No, he hasn't. But he was talking
about a certain cabaret.
The cabaret?
But the casino must be more
beautiful.
The cabaret is here,
the casino is mine.
How about that?
That was the only thing to do.
I was sure the gun
was empty.
I was trying to get some cartridges
but he wouldn't let me.
Better win them over than to
knock them off.
Yes, provided what they say is not
coming from what they believe.
But he believed in what he was
saying. He was old-fashioned.
So he was of no use.
Now, throw away that useless gun
and come help bury the two dead.
This with that - makes two.
With you makes three.
You silly ass! You think you're
superior just because...
you're from the other
side of the hills!
For generations we have seen and
suffered things here silently...
to be able to endure. We know how
to be patient, how to be silent.
We have been silent and
patient always.
Now the problem is to get rid of that
bloody bragging bastard...
who got hold of everything,
pillaged everything.
Why this?
I'll kill you!
What has remained for me?
What sort of a building
was this?
Well, this left unfinished,
that fallen apart -
Pity. Work of a long time
coming to such ends...
with a few shakes, just because
roads are being built!
Well, it was sham,
it was flimsy,
No, the earth shook.
It didn't shake by itself.
It was shaken.
Shake is shake.
Comes to same thing.
No, if it shakes by itself it's fate.
This was shaken by men.
Oh come on, it comes to the same
thing - destruction.
Oh no.
The first destruction is tragedy,
the second is, sometimes,
even a farce.
Small people, when they're
caught up in farce...
call it tragedy, to fool themselves,
to brag.
Oh, what's small, what's big?
What a cheek! They're
laughing?
Why don't we go?
On foot?
What if they can't get enough
jackasses?
Don't worry. There are
enough of them.
Well, it's easy to joke and
ridicule at the end.
But in the beginning my
intention was to be helpful.
What do you want to do now?
What could I do?
I'm going with her.
Why not? What else is there?
Why not, of course. It suits with
what you've been doing.
You're not much different from me.
You also came to work.
Well, yes. You asked me to
come and I did.
But then I came to paint what
I saw the way I saw.
But you couldn't. The roof fell
and the canvas collapsed.
Anything better than that? It
finished better than I thought.
The brush swept over the figures.
The tripod crashed against the floor...
the paints flowed over the canvas,
the roof tumbled down
and whatever there was went under
the debris. Anything more complete?
More vivid and more spontaneous?
It was a "happening".
But if the building had not collapsed,
your work couldn't have been
completed.
Its kind of glitter ensured its
collapse...
and I showed it.
But you don't have much share
of credit in this.
Oh, what is my share?
Credit!
The essential thing is doing the work,
not working for the credit.
Where are you going?
I won't let you,
you're my wife.
Oh, fuck off.
We were wed. A hundred thousand
people were there. They all saw.
And they ate, and they went away...
and they are not there any more.
The people of the village?
Behind those barbed wires?
Oh come on, finish it off.
I married you.
I divorce you.
Come on, Majid. Finish it off.
You think this is a noble reluctance?
Or a respect for the boss?
Well, I know the Majids of the world.
They are puffed up puppets, all.
You did me in.
Where are you going?
I say where?
I'll kill you!
What should I do?
Actors: P. Sayyad, M. Apik
Loretta Shahpaz
B. Zarrinpur, S. Bahrami,
M. Bahrami, Goudarzi
Sahrarudi, Bakhshi
Production Team:
R. Assadi, A. Karari...
K. Golestan, M. Hanawal
Music: F. Mechkat
Statues: K. Golestan
Paintings: B. Dadkhah
Sets: Ostad Kazem
Written, Produced, Directed,
Photographed & Cut by: E. Golestan