Burning Questions: What's Controversial About "A Separation"?

Michael C. checking in with some of the aftermath of Oscar 2012. According to a report on Huffington Post, despite having previously trumpeted A Separation's Oscar win as a national triumph Iranian authorities have canceled an event to be hosted by leading Iranian film groups in honor of Asghar Farhadi's contribution to the country's cinema. Apparently, conservative hardliners and clerics, who had been celebrating Iran's first Oscar win, in particular its victory over the Israeli nominee, were displeased after being belatedly clued into the film’s content.  

So why the about-face at this late date? What subversive material somehow slipped the attention of the authorities only now to come to light? What is so controversial about A Separation?

Honestly, I was surprised Iran submitted A Separation for the Oscar at all. The image of modern day Iran in Farhadi’s film wasn’t as devastating as say, the corruption and violence ravaged country portrayed in Mexico’s submission, Miss Bala, but it is still a far cry from the picture one imagines controlling government officials would be eager to present to the world. [more after the jump]

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Curio: Library of Congress Archive

Alexa here. One of my favorite places to look at images that give me a real sense of history is the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog. The catalog contains not only photographs but posters, prints, and architectural drawings. A search under the subject "motion pictures" yields some interesting results, including loads of architectural drawings of historic movie houses as well as fabulous images of Audrey Hepburn on the set of Sabrina, Monty and Liz entering the Palace Theater,  Dumbo taking a bath, and Alfred Hitchcock and his wife visiting the pyramids.  Prints can be purchased of any of the images from the catalog, and some images can even be downloaded free in high quality, suitable for printing yourself. Here are some downloads I made from the catalog today, showcasing many sides of the moviegoing experience in 20th Century America.

"Design proposal for a motion picture theater interior, possibly in New York City. Interior perspective view." 1935"Man purchasing a movie ticket from a woman in a ticket booth as a couple stands to the side." 1958"Negro going in colored entrance of movie house on Saturday afternoon, Belzoni, Mississippi Delta, Mississippi." 1939"Where the boys spend their money." St. Louis, 1910.

"Alice" by Milt Kahl

Character sketches for "Alice in Wonderland" by Milt Kahl

These animator character sketches from Disney's Alice in Wonderland (1951) via Deja View made me titter... it's the sequence. Hee.

But aren't they great sketches?

Stage Door: Carrie White, Sweeney Todd, and More...

Some people just can't be killed. Carrie White is one of them.

The bastard girl was born from a sweaty brief affair between religious fanatic Margaret White and a man unknown. (Maybe Margaret doesn't even know since the memory of sex seems to fill her with such masochistic horndog fever; can we trust anything that pours from her mouth not to have been thoroughly reworked by her demented faith?) By 1974 the shy teenager was infamous having massacred her whole town in the pages of Stephen King's best seller "Carrie". Brian de Palma's film adaptation Carrie (1976) immortalized the teenage telekinetic once and for all. Carrie White "burns in hell" but she's still aflame in popular culture, too. There will be no snuffing her out.

So what better time to resurrect her again than now when teen bullying is such a hot news topic? "Carrie" (the musical) was an infamous flop on Broadway in 1988 but the shy awkward girl has been given a makeover and is born again Off Broadway at the MCC Theater where she will rampage through April 22nd.

It's always a bit hard to imagine Carrie rampaging when you first meet her all shy awkward and lonely in that hell on earth: the high school locker room.

Marin Mazzie and Molly Ranson in "Carrie" Off Broadway

MORE AFTER THE JUMP...

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The Rise of Chan

Have you read this New York Times piece on the slow rise of Channing Tatum? It's basic thesis is that Hollywood's star-making system is failing. Pieces like this are always interesting reads as much for what they leave out as what they take in. The article ignores Ryan Gosling's ascent preferring to stick with the thesis that was in place before Gosling. The one that goes "Hollywood can't produce male superstars anymore because mid size dramas and comedies are no longer Hollywood's concerns and that's where stardom happens. Blockbuster franchise don't make stars, they only make franchise-specific stars." It's true in a lot of ways even if it's not the whole picture.

But it gets a lot right about Channing Tatum's particular case.

Relatability — I’m just like you, Middle America — does seem to be one of his strong points. In person Mr. Tatum is surprisingly humble and honest, two qualities that are almost nonexistent in Hollywood. He is self-aware, but also unguarded. “I know I’m not the best actor, but I’m in love with it, and I’m getting better with every movie,” he said.

It's a pretty thorough overview of his career and abilities with not one, not two but three of the most marketable leading man skills: He can sell a joke, he can hold a gun convincingly, and he can romance a girl. I appreciate the article's break down about what great physiques mean to actors and what they don't.

I always forget that Chan was in that Ricky Martin video "She Bangs"

Channing's Chastainy Schedule This Year

Jan 20th. Haywire (reviewed) the experimental actioner though Chan was fairly far down the cast list.
Feb 10th. The Vow a huge romantic hit with Chan front and center. It's actually the second most popular movie of 2012 thus far. Have you seen it?
Mar 16th. 21 Jump Street another lead part, comedy. That's three genres in three months. 
June 29th. GI Joe: Retaliation he steps down from lead duties but he's still in it.
June 29th. Magic Mike the stripper drama inspired by his own life. This will be the biggest test of his bankability yet because it's not a pre-sold genre like action films or soggy romances.

Parting Shot...
I've yet to read an article on this star-making problem though that addresses that simple fact that star-making machinery was always faulty. It's just that we only remember the successes. For every Marilyn Monroe weren't there 100 ingenues that didn't work out even in the studio system?