|
Origins of the project
- The story is inspired by a book I read long ago, SAFAR (THE TRIP) by the celebrated Iranian
writer Mahmoud Dowlatabadi. He is notoriously reticent about adaptations of his work. I usually
don’t believe in books becoming films word by word, but impressions of a book can inspire a film.
A feeling that isn’t dictated by traditional narrative. That is why the title has changed. I told Dow-
latabadi that I couldn’t work from his point of view, or even the original dialogues (the original
takes place before the revolution in 1968) and that I wanted to show my view of the present day.
In Iran today the population has doubled in 25 years and very little has changed for the working
class. But as TV has made its way into homes and cafés the view of the world has also
changed. The desire to leave and move west is much stronger. I also wanted to work with my
characters, from the working class (hence real people), as they need to account their own story,
a major asset of the original book. I was very honest with him and I explained my vision of this
adaptation. He accepted.
Another influence on the film is the poem ‘Winter’ by Mehdi Akhavan Saless. It’s also a well known work. The poem depicts the governing power, the cold attitudes of winter! I used it both at the beginning and the end in order toframe the film. What Akhavan Saless does in this poem is to give form to feelings and sentiments that are often oblique in a beautiful way. This is how I wanted It’s Winter to play out and 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.
Characters
- I chose to work with non actors. The story is told by real people with their own backgrounds
and reflections of their personal truth. You find a real person with his own story, and through him
you strengthen the narrative. The subject of the film is driven buy the characters experience.
If, at the beginning of the film I instantly like a guy, I’m not really moved. What’s interesting for me is
when the audience comes across him and learns about him, gets to know the guy. An hour and
half later you at least understand him better, because you have shared this time and you come
away with your own personal opinion. The subjects of my films are deeply rooted in the central
characters. I come from a country where we are constantly told how to think. What is right and
what is wrong. I therefore believe that in cinema an audience needs to be free and not be dic-
tated in any way.
Khatoun
- For Khatoun, life is tough, especially since she is a single mother. In Iran a single mother with
children rarely marries again. She is a martyr, a victim of a system run by men. A strong woman,
a survivor, but she is also a prisoner.
When she meets Marhab, she’s torn between her attraction to him and her instinct to protect her
child. He’s an unconventional guy, a marginal, who likes to ridicule convention. For him to marry a
woman with a child poses no problems.
Marhab
- Marhab is a charismatic drifter. He always wants change, something new. For him the grass is
always greener elsewhere. When he falls in love with Khatoun, he thinks that a family will im-
prove his life. Very quickly, he discovers that nothing changes. Living the ideal of ‘every man for
himself’ he thinks he can survive, succeed even. But it’s Mokhtar who shows him this isn’t the
way, that it’s not possible. One could suggest that Marhab is Mokhtar ten years younger...
Mokhtar
- Mokhtar represents the failure of the dream that everything can be resolved by leaving home
and going elsewhere. He’s a universal immigrant! The film begins in the snow with Mokhtar walk-
ing by the train tracks, at the end of the film we find Marhab in the same place.
Working with Actors/ non Actors
- My characters aren’t mechanical creations, much of it comes from the actor that’s playing them.
They just have to be themselves as much as possible, and then we believe in the story.
My job is to think of ideas and ways to motivate reactions, from the actors, within the frame.
For particular expressions, whether it’s an actor or a non actor, there’s no rule. It depends on
their own characters. All I can do is build up an environment for a scene to take place. It’s only
then that it becomes exciting, because I’m constantly witnessing something as an audience.
When the actors are saying their lines yet thinking about themselves, it creates an emotion, I need
to capture and hunt down the real. I’m always looking for this little accident, something incalcul-
able.
Women in Iran
- What I find fascinating with women is that they are constantly in touch with reality, maybe it’s
because they give birth. Men seem to live more in a dream world, where as women seem to deal
with facts. It’s Winter, if we look at the character of Khatoun, her husband decides to leave, this
means that she’s going to have to survive on her own. We have very strong women in Iran, yet
we live in a macho society where men decide. Ironically if you look at Iran before the revolution,
there were around 15 to 20% of women in universities, now it’s 50%. The women are extremely
active. Due to the economic situation, nobody can afford to stay at home. So they must go to
work, in order to survive. Yet at the same time, they’re often let down by men in many ways.
Shooting
- The shooting was over the course of fifty days and had its’ problems because we were re-
lying on the weather. Particularly for certain scenes where we needed snow. Of course, it’s
simply impossible to think of using a snow machine in the south of Tehran. I wanted to create an
Iran very much based in reality, yet timeless.
Some locations were tricky to negotiate, shooting the garage for instance... Nobody had ever shot
over there, because the mechanics are wary of cinema and TV. In commercial films they’ve been
portrayed as crooks. Whereas they’re just people from the working class, who are merely trying
to survive. They’re very angry about these stereotypes! I think the only reason we were able to
shoot over there is because the central character comes from that neighbourhood. He works in a
garage as a mechanic, and everyone
knows him. I also lived a couple of months there. It’s strange, but you have to become them.
This is something I find fascinating when you make a film, you really become another person: it’s
not the character that becomes you, it’s the contrary.
|
