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Bist (2009) Online

Bist (2009) Online
2009 Mahtab Keramati Ali Reza Khamseh Mehran Ahmadi Abdolreza Kahani
Original Title :
Bist
Genre :
Movie / Drama
Year :
2009
Directror :
Abdolreza Kahani
Cast :
Mahtab Keramati,Ali Reza Khamseh,Mehran Ahmadi
Writer :
Abdolreza Kahani,Hossein Mahkam
Budget :
IRR 2,000,000,000
Type :
Movie
Time :
1h 25min
Rating :
6.6/10

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Bist (2009) Online

A once thriving reception hall has been reduced to catering to the funeral business and the somber rituals of death. The owner, Soleimani, is a sour, lonely and unloved old man who treats his workers with contempt, inflicting small cruelties whenever possible. Embittered and seeing a psychologist, he decides he will close the business in twenty days, sending his staff, already fighting just to get by, into a state of fear and uncertainty. Like a close-knit family, the staff members endure their daily suffering together. These good-hearted people include an ostracized young widow trying to survive with her daughter; a chef with a paralyzed arm who has a demanding wife; and two young men, working but homeless, who must sleep in the company's truck. Despite Soleimani's indifference to their plight, the people on his staff have retained their hope and humanity. As the threat of closure nears, they work together to save the hall and at the same time attend to each others' emotional needs.
Credited cast:
Mahtab Keramati Mahtab Keramati - Firouzeh (as Mahtab Karamati)
Ali Reza Khamseh Ali Reza Khamseh - The Chef
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mehran Ahmadi Mehran Ahmadi - Meysam
Alireza Hosseinizadeh Alireza Hosseinizadeh - Babak
Parviz Parastui Parviz Parastui - Mr. Soleimani
Habib Rezaei Habib Rezaei - Bijan
Fereshteh Sadre Orafaiy Fereshteh Sadre Orafaiy - Fereshteh (Chef's Wife)

Abdolreza Kahani's 3rd feature film.


User reviews

Kupidon

Kupidon

Pervez Parastui, the lead actor of this film, is perhaps best known and best loved for his performance in the film 'Marmulak' (The Lizard), an allegorical tale of a convict-turned-cleric who escapes to a small Iranian village, and holds its residents in thrall. In that film, the allegory is obvious (which accounts for its troubles with the censors). In 'Twenty', the allegory is so subtle that while watching it I did not quite get it, but when alerted to this fact by a fantastic review by Kara Abdolmaleki in Tehran Review (link via 'critics' review' on the IMDb page for this film), all the elements in the film fell in to place beautifully.

In cycles of recession all over the world, one hears of the impact on human lives of unemployment. Here, it is not so much larger economic cycles but an individual-in-authority's decision to shut shop that affects all his employees, who live on the brink of survival in any case. Despite their individual and collective hardships, unique in each case, and sensitively portrayed by the actors, they still have the time and energy to fall in love, to show affection to a child, to match-make, to go for film auditions and so on. Parts of the film are laugh-out-loud funny (I particularly remember one scene where an activity of dusting a perfectionist's table is rendered sublime comedy by both the actors in the scene).

The soundtrack is exquisite -- the film begins and ends with haunting melodies on a classical persian 'tar', there are funeral dirges in some scenes setting the tone for the larger scenario, and there are -- alternatively uplifting and melancholy -- tunes on the accordion that are used to good effect.

Despite not knowing anything about the film in advance, I was lucky enough to get a chance to see it at a film festival. I recommend you beg, borrow, or steal a DVD NOW!