Originally published in Shahrvand English (N° 59) – January 23, 2006
One woman, One city, One night. Niki Karimi, already celebrated as a well-known actress in Iranian Cinema, has taken the next step in her artistic evolution and has produced her first film as a director, the much talked-about “One Night” (Persian title ‘Yek Shab’).
The film, definitely praiseworthy, especially as a first effort, however, still lacks the maturity, poise and depth which Iranian filmmaking is known for in international Cinema circles. The film, a minimalist piece by most measures, is centred almost entirely on dialogue, and shot almost entirely outdoors. The fact that much of the movie takes place inside three separate cars is homage to Kiarostami’s controversial Ten, whose influence on One Night is by no means lost.
The tale begins as Negar (played by Hanie Tavassoli) comes home from her long day’s work as a secretary only to find that she has to leave and stay somewhere else for the night because her mother – who is never actually seen on the screen – is expecting someone over. The fact that the person is a man is made clear only implicitly, and serves as the opening to a meditative take on the relationship between man and woman.
Not really having another option, Negar decides to wander the streets of Tehran for the night, imagining that perhaps, at best, it can be an experience. She repeatedly attempts to contact her boyfriend, but is unable to get a hold of him. It is while walking along the street that she takes her first car ride of the night.
The first character we meet is the (stereo)-typical simple and rich provincial man, from Esfahan. During the conversation that ensues we get a glimpse of what normal male-female relationship means for the simple man – a perspective which is probably interchangeable with the popular-perspective of any country. In the end, the man offers Negar to stay with him for the night, but is confused by her resistance, since according to him women were created from man’s rib for his pleasure.
The second ride is with a neurosurgeon, educated at UCLA, who has come
back to Iran and is working at a local Tehran hospital. Coming off his night shift, he offers Negar a ride further uptown and invites her to coffee, recounting his tale of romantic sorrow and disillusionment. Negar, far more at ease with this progressive and intellectual type, begins to ruminate on her own problems with her boyfriend, the man who is never there when she needs him.
Her third and final ride of the night is with an oddly-behaving artist, who circles the streets, repeatedly coming back to one window and staring at it without saying a word, lighting fresh cigarettes with the embers of the last. His tale is one of heartbreak: a forward-thinking, liberal-minded couple who had transcended the supposed male-female roles of the traditional Iranian couple. This last ride takes us to the north of Tehran. The sequence is characterized by long drawn-out moments with no dialogue and no movement much like the movie’s ending, where we watch the sunrise over the sprawling metropolis of Tehran, as we deal with the shocking end to the artist’s story.
Ultimately, we are taken through a tour of Karimi’s views on the problems that are a part of a relationship. The film’s strength lies in the fact that there is much that is left as an open question, and presented from the viewpoint of the woman. However, where the movie falters, is that it succeeds to create the perfect arena to break the clichés fed to us in most films of this type, but fails at the last moment to break free from them and give us something new, something which sets directors such as Kiarostami or Panahi apart from the rest.
Unfortunately, the characters fall into the same old archetypes that we have seen before: the rich provincial simpleton, the philosopher doctor returning from the US, and the too-modern-minded artist. Moreover, there are moments in the film which are not something we would find were it the work of a more seasoned filmmaker. There are silent scenes which carry on a bit too long and lose their effect, and there are scenes where the lighting is far too feeble for far too long. However, these are technical points for which one can give the benefit of the doubt to the director.
All said, the movie is definitely one to be seen. The way that Niki Karimi has made the transition from actor to filmmaker, is commendable; and considering the fact that the movie was done with the minimum of technical
support only makes the final product more impressive. What is certain is that if she continues in this manner, Karimi can become another great addition to Iranian Cinema’s already impressive list of internationally acclaimed artists.
Film Title: One Night (Yek Shab)
Director: Niki Karimi
Country: Iran, 2005
Language: Farsi
Running Time: 91 minutes
Producer: Hassan Bana
Editor: Mastaneh Mohajer
Screenwriter: Niki Karimi
Cinematographer: Hossein Djafarian
Music: Peyman Yazdanian
Principal Cast: Hanieh Tavassoli, Saeed Ebrahinifar, Nader Torkaman, Abdolreza Fakhar
