The Night Bus (film)
Encyclopedia
The Night Bus is the name of an Iran
ian motion picture directed by Kiumars Pourahmad
. It was made in 2006 and released in 2007.
The film, which is in sharp monochrome
, relates the story of a twenty-four-hour-long journey of two young Iranian soldiers (Issā and Emād) and a civilian driver (Amu Rahim) transporting thirty-eight Iraq
i prisoners of war, taken from behind the Iraqi line, to a garrison
inside Iran
. From the details one is informed that the Iran–Iraq War has entered into its third year. The film masterfully depicts the deep inhumanity of acts of war amongst nations by showing the shared humanity of the combatants on both sides. Some scenes of the above-mentioned garrison are reminiscent of those of the 1965 British
film The Hill
.
In the film, the Iranian characters speak Persian
amongst themselves, with a variety of regional accents — emphasising the national character of the war effort, but broken Arabic
, comprehensible to a Persian-speaking person, when addressing the Iraqi prisoners. The Arabic dialogues of the film, by the prisoners, are accompanied by Persian subtitles.
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian motion picture directed by Kiumars Pourahmad
Kiomars Pourahmad
Kiumars Pourahmad is an Iranian film director, screenwriter, film editor and film producer. He was born in 1949 in Nadjaf Abad, Iran.-Career:...
. It was made in 2006 and released in 2007.
The film, which is in sharp monochrome
Monochrome
Monochrome describes paintings, drawings, design, or photographs in one color or shades of one color. A monochromatic object or image has colors in shades of limited colors or hues. Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale or black-and-white...
, relates the story of a twenty-four-hour-long journey of two young Iranian soldiers (Issā and Emād) and a civilian driver (Amu Rahim) transporting thirty-eight Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i prisoners of war, taken from behind the Iraqi line, to a garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
inside Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. From the details one is informed that the Iran–Iraq War has entered into its third year. The film masterfully depicts the deep inhumanity of acts of war amongst nations by showing the shared humanity of the combatants on both sides. Some scenes of the above-mentioned garrison are reminiscent of those of the 1965 British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
film The Hill
The Hill (film)
The Hill is a 1965 film directed by Sidney Lumet, set in a British army prison in North Africa in World War II. It stars Sean Connery, Harry Andrews, Ian Bannen, Ossie Davis, Ian Hendry, Alfred Lynch, Roy Kinnear and Michael Redgrave.-Plot:...
.
In the film, the Iranian characters speak Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
amongst themselves, with a variety of regional accents — emphasising the national character of the war effort, but broken Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, comprehensible to a Persian-speaking person, when addressing the Iraqi prisoners. The Arabic dialogues of the film, by the prisoners, are accompanied by Persian subtitles.
Cast
- Khosrow Shakibā'í: Amu (Uncle), and at times Amu Rahim (Uncle Rahim) and Āghā Joon (Sir my soul), the bus driver. Although it is never stated, the film suggests that Amu Rahim's own son is an Iranian POW in Iraqi hands.
- Mehrdād Sedighiān: Issā (JesuJesuThe proper name Jesus used in the English language originates from the Latin form of the Greek name Ἰησοῦς , a rendition of the Hebrew Yeshua , also having the variants Joshua or Jeshua...
), the 18-year old Iranian soldier from AbadanAbadanAbadan is a city in and the capital of Abadan County, Khuzestan Province, Iran. It lies on Abadan Island , from the Persian Gulf, near the Iraqi-Iran border. The civilian population of the city dropped to near zero during the eight-years Iran–Iraq War. In 1992, only 84,774 had returned to live...
; he is often called by Amu Rahim, somewhat derogatorily, as Bach'cheh (Child, Juvenile); as the emotional bond between the two strengthens, Amu calls Issā once as Issā Jān (Issā my soul). Issā has entered into military service at the age of 16, when his father was killed while defending Abadan; at the outset of the War, the father had sent his entire family, with the exception of Issā, to his brother's home in another Iranian city for safety. - Amir-Mohammd Zand: Emād, the second and the more senior Iranian soldier/officer. Emād had just started studying in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
when the War broke out, whereon he volunteered as an officer in the army. - Elnāz Shākerdoust: Reyhāneh, wife of Emād. She and Emād, along with her parents, had been living in London. When Emād volunteered to serve in the War effort, she returned with Emād to Iran, leaving the parents in London.
- Mohammad-Reza Foroutan: Fārouq (Fārouq Abd al-Amir), an Iraqi POW whose father is Iraqi and mother Iranian. It turns out that two of Fārouq's brothers are on the run from the henchmen of Saddam Hossein and a third brother and a sister are in Saddam Hossein's jails, awaiting execution.
- Kourosh Soleimani: Sirvān (Sirvān Foād), an Iraqi POW from Iraq's Kurdistan and a recent medical graduate. Prior to the War, Sirvān had been studying medicine in London; he had only returned to Iraq for bringing his family into safety, but forcefully drafted into the Iraqi army.
- Ahmad Kavari: An Iraqi POW and a member of Iraq's Baath PartyBaath PartyThe Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party was a political party mixing Arab nationalist and Arab socialist interests, opposed to Western imperialism, and calling for the renaissance or resurrection and unification of the Arab world into a single state. Ba'ath is also spelled Ba'th or Baath and means...
. - Mehrān Nātel: An Iranian tankTankA tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
driver from Esfahan (this as betrayed by his Esfahani accent) who despite having fought valiantly and helped capturing some tanks from Iraqis, seems to be unable to think ill of any one; he appears to live mentally in an Utopian world of his own. Although Mehrān Nātel's appearance in the film is very brief, he shows himself as another extraordinarily talented young actor of the Iranian cinema.
Script
- The film is based on a short script by Habibollah Ahmad-Zādeh (based on a true story), extended by Hasan Shekāri. The final script is due to Kiumars Pourahmad
Camera
- Mehdi Jafari (Director of Camera), Abbās Ahvāzi, Mohammad Khosravāni, Dāniāl Kamāli, Mohammad Rahimi, Ebrāhim Jafari, and Mohammd Navid
External links
- Elizabeth Kerr, Night Bus, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 October 2007, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/awards_festivals/fest_reviews/article_display.jsp?JSESSIONID=b3JYLGFHnSQzwLKccbnVYzsCNmpRP92py6GwNmNXYVf2L0S3hLv1!806693601&&rid=9995.
- Elizabeth Kerr, Night Bus, The Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, 15–24 February 2008, http://dubliniff.ticketsolve.com/events/events_for_show/10334.
- 18th Annual Festival of Films from Iran, October 6 — November 5, 2007, Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago's Premier Movie Theater, http://www.artic.edu/webspaces/siskelfilmcenter/2007/october/1.html.
- A Photo Reportage of The Night Bus, Āftāb, Friday 9 February 2007, (1), (2).
- Travelling with Pourahmad in "The Night Bus", in Persian, Tebyan, Sunday 2 December 2007, reprinted from Ruz'nāme-ye Iran (Iran Newspaper), http://www.tebyan.net/literature_art/cinema/irancinema/films/2007/12/2/54844.html.
- Night Bus, Film International, Iranian Film Quarterly, 2007, http://www.film-international.com/filmmarket/?id=3.
- Night Bus (Otobus-e Shab), Flanders 35th International Film Festival, GhentGhentGhent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
, 7–18 October 2008, http://tickets.filmfestival.be/?go=moviedetail&id=07-138&lang=en. - Two excerpts of The Night Bus on YouTube: Part 1 (10 min), Part 2 (10 min).