Khab-e talkh

Khab-e talkh is an Iranian film directed by Mohsen Amiryoussefi in 2004. Amiryoussefi's first feature film is named the first Iranian black comedy.[2] It took home the Caméra d'Or at that year’s Cannes as well as generous critical acclaim.[3]

Khab-e talkh[1]
Directed byMohsen Amiryoussefi
Produced byMohsen Amiryoussefi
Rouhollah Baradari
Written byMohsen Amiryoussefi
StarringAbbas Esfandiari
Yadollah Anvari
Delbar Ghasri
Mohsen Rahimi
CinematographyBayram Fazli
Release date
  • June 1, 2005 (2005-06-01)
(France)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryIran
LanguagePersian

Story

The film tells the tale of Esfandiar's confrontation with the Azrael after 40 years of bathing the dead. With his life flashing before his eyes, Esfandiar is forced to reconsider his behavior towards his co-workers including: an opium addict gravedigger, a naive young man who burns clothing of the dead and a widow who washes dead women's bodies.[4]

Critical reception

Le Monde's Jean-François Rauger wrote: Here is a strange conceptual comedy, a mixture of diverse and contradictory sensations, an experience both abstract and documentary. A surprise, an unexpected object coming from the ever exciting Iranian cinematography. Death is at the heart of Mohsen Amiryoussefi's first feature not only because the narrative lies in a cemetery, but because it is the unique preoccupation of the main character. And the film bears a special attitude towards the latter, in which reflection and laughter intersect in a cocktail eventually unprecedented. Bitter sleep is above all a farce. This is the challenge that the filmmaker has visibly explored as an explorer of what, at the heart of the least laughable reality, flits the burlesque dimension.[5]

Awards

Khab-e talkh received notable awards from film festivals around the world.[6][7][8]

YearFestivalAwardResult
2004Cannes Film FestivalCamera d'Or Special MentionWon
2004Chicago Film FestivalGold HugoNominated
2004Thessaloniki Film FestivalAudience AwardWon
2004Thessaloniki Film FestivalGolden AlexanderWon
2005Mar del Plata Film FestivalSpecial Jury AwardWon
2005Mar del Plata Film FestivalBest FilmNominated

References
  1. "Bitter Dream (Khab e Talkh)". The Guardian.
  2. "KHAB E' TALKH (BITTER DREAM )". Dubai Film Festival.
  3. "Rising talent on Iranian Scene". Variety.
  4. "Deborah Young's Review: 'Bitter Dream'". Variety.
  5. ""Sommeil amer" : Monsieur Esfandyar au coeur d'une farce macabre, dans un cimetière iranien". Le Monde.
  6. "List of awards received by Khab-e talkh".
  7. "Khab-e talkh at Cannes archive". Festival de Cannes.
  8. "45th Thessaloniki Fest Offers a Thanksgiving Feast of Cinema". Indiewire.
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