Event name
Sid's Salon
When
Wed 09 / 11 / 2019
6:15 PM to 8:15 PM
6:15 PM to 8:15 PM
Where
Private Address, please log in to see more
Who can attend
Open to all
Price
FREE
Organizer
Sidney J.P. Hollister
Sid’s Salon - Sid keeps the classic films coming!
Second Wednesday of each Month at 6:15pm at Jane Winslow's home.
Address given with RSVP - https://nextsf.helpfulvillage.com/events/761-sid's-salon or 415-888-2868.
Let us know if you need transportation. All are welcome. $5 for non-members.
September's Movie: The Wind will Carry Us – Iran - Abbas Kiarosami 1hr 58 min. 1999
As with many of Abbas Kiarstami’s films, it is hard to say what this film is exactly. A poetic, almost surreal, comedy of human behavior comes close. It takes place in Siah Dareh, a traditional village tucked away in the mountains and surrounded in its valley by lush fields of grain and other crops. The cinematography is spectacular, so much so that at times I felt the actions of the protagonist were choreographed to allow us to see both the village and the spectacular valley that is its home. The man (Behzad Dorani) the villagers call “the engineer,” runs much of the time, ironically a slave to his mobile phone, which he can only use by racing in his ramshackle truck to the top of a hill to get reception, abandoning whatever he is doing in the process, a forerunner, you might say, of people rushing by us on the streets of San Francisco as they stare fixedly at their mobile phones. Almost 20 years ago, Kiarostami knew what was coming, even in Iran.
We meet Behzad Dorani as he travels with some colleagues to the village, filmed in a long shot, so we never see who is in the old car that labors up the hills surrounding the valley and its hillside village. We just hear their voices complaining about the length of the trip. It seems they are a small film crew on an assignment to film something in the village. A woman 100 years old is dying and most commentaries say the men, or at least the “engineer,” as the people decide to call him, is there to be part of the vigil during the woman’s final days, but it is not clear––deliberately. Her persistence in living is the shaggy dog story that forms the loose structure of the film. But the real story is the engineer’s relationship to the villagers–– his pregnant neighbor across the courtyard, the owner of a tea shop, a teacher, and most of all to a young boy named Farhad who acts as his guide to the village. His relationship to this young boy teaches the engineer about the village and, finally, about himself. It is touching, often wryly and gently humorous, and profoundly human, right to the end.
As with many of Abbas Kiarstami’s films, it is hard to say what this film is exactly. A poetic, almost surreal, comedy of human behavior comes close. It takes place in Siah Dareh, a traditional village tucked away in the mountains and surrounded in its valley by lush fields of grain and other crops. The cinematography is spectacular, so much so that at times I felt the actions of the protagonist were choreographed to allow us to see both the village and the spectacular valley that is its home. The man (Behzad Dorani) the villagers call “the engineer,” runs much of the time, ironically a slave to his mobile phone, which he can only use by racing in his ramshackle truck to the top of a hill to get reception, abandoning whatever he is doing in the process, a forerunner, you might say, of people rushing by us on the streets of San Francisco as they stare fixedly at their mobile phones. Almost 20 years ago, Kiarostami knew what was coming, even in Iran.
We meet Behzad Dorani as he travels with some colleagues to the village, filmed in a long shot, so we never see who is in the old car that labors up the hills surrounding the valley and its hillside village. We just hear their voices complaining about the length of the trip. It seems they are a small film crew on an assignment to film something in the village. A woman 100 years old is dying and most commentaries say the men, or at least the “engineer,” as the people decide to call him, is there to be part of the vigil during the woman’s final days, but it is not clear––deliberately. Her persistence in living is the shaggy dog story that forms the loose structure of the film. But the real story is the engineer’s relationship to the villagers–– his pregnant neighbor across the courtyard, the owner of a tea shop, a teacher, and most of all to a young boy named Farhad who acts as his guide to the village. His relationship to this young boy teaches the engineer about the village and, finally, about himself. It is touching, often wryly and gently humorous, and profoundly human, right to the end.