British Universities Film & Video Council

moving image and sound, knowledge and access

Shirin

Synopsis
SHIRIN shows an audience of more than 100 women who are deeply absorbed in watching a film we never see. We observe instead how the drama plays out on the faces of the audience, seen in close-up, mostly one at a time, illuminated by the flickering light of the screen. It is a mesmerising series of portraits of women young and old, their expressions variously wistful, quizzical, amused, enraptured and distraught. Also helping us to reconstruct the tale for ourselves are the unseen film’s impassioned narration, dramatic dialogue, romantic, doom-laden score, and richly evocative sound effects.

Although SHIRIN creates a strong illusion of real women watching a real film, the audience is in fact made up of well-known Iranian actresses (plus Juliette Binoche who happened to be there when filming was taking place). Reportedly, the entire film was shot in Kiarostami’s living room, with the women looking only at a blank screen while imagining their own love stories, and the narration was decided upon only after Kiarostami had finished filming.

DVD extras: TASTE OF SHIRIN (2008) - Hamideh Razavi’s documentary on the making of Shirin; Illustrated booklet containing essays and credits
Language
English
Country
Iran
Year of release
2009
Year of production
2009
Subjects
Drama; Film studies
Keywords
facial expressions; non-verbal communication; women; Film & television production; cinema - Iranian

Credits

Director
Abbas Kiarostami

Distribution Formats

Type
DVD
Format
Region 2 PAL
Price
£19.99
Availability
Sale
Duration/Size
91 minutes
Year
2009

Distributor

Name

BFI Video

Email
video.films@bfi.org.uk
Web
http://www.bfi.org.uk External site opens in new window
Phone
020 7957 8957
Fax
020 7957 8968
Address
21 Stephen Street
London
W1T 1LN

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