The Quail: The Tale of a Boy Who Asks. 1970. Iran. Directed by Mohammad Reza Aslani. With Nasrin Rahbari, Houshang Shahbazi, Naghi Parchami. DCP. In Persian; English subtitles. 30 min.
Today celebrated as a pioneering work of Iranian auteurist cinema, Aslani’s first fiction film was one of the first produced by Kanoon, the government agency promoting culture and literacy among children and young adults. Though ostensibly for kids, The Quail subtly but powerfully critiques the Pahlavi regime’s restrictions on free expression. It also showcases Aslani’s use of nonprofessional actors, inspired by the French filmmaker Robert Bresson’s own theory of amateur “models” who could better strip their performances of any artifice.
Therefore Hangs a Tale. 1973. Iran. Directed by Mohammad Reza Aslani. With Mohsen Hoseynian, Hamdollah Taati, Kyoumars Malekmotii, Nosrat Dastmandi. DCP. In Persian; English subtitles. 45 min.
Aslani’s only comedy uses Buster Keaton–like gags and experiments in time and narrative to flout Iran’s vaunted educational system, a risky gambit that led to the film’s censorship during the Pahlavi regime. Purporting to immortalize a school inspector’s visit through a photograph, Therefore Hangs a Tale instead pokes fun at the abuses of political power, prompting the director of Kanoon, the government agency that produced the film, to have it banned. Only after the Islamic Revolution did Aslani’s slyly satirical film come to be seen as a significant artistic achievement.