Iranian director Majid Majidi met with press a few days before the U.S. opening of his latest film, The Song of Sparrows. Speaking through a translator, he answered questions about his film and about Iranian film and culture.

I asked about the attribution that appears at the beginning of each of his films: In the name of God. He responded, "This is a kind of tradition in Iran. Starting your art work 'in the name of God' created a kind of double wall. It gives a spiritual and cultural aspect to the work."

When asked about the conflict in his film between rural and urban life, he told us: "This is not really about the conflict between the life in rural areas and the big cities. It's more about the effects of modernization in modern life. And the nature that you see in the village at the beginning of the film is a reflection of the main character of the film. Actually nature is acting like a character in the film and you see that when the main character, Karim, goes to the city and loses his own identity, and he changes so that his own character is not anymore that honest, simple person. Even that nature fades away and gets destroyed.

"This is not a film against modernization. It's actually showing that if modernization, instead of serving the human being, starts to use the human being—if that happens that is when the trouble starts. That is where the danger and the risk for our society exists."

He was also asked to discuss the role family plays in the film. "I think family is the essence of a society. In a society that a family has an unhealthy life, that society loses its health. In a society where children have an understanding of their parents having a relationship together, helping each other, and the neighbors do the same, that society has a healthy life. But when that changes, the whole essence of healthiness of society is disserved."

When he was asked why he thought his films did well in the United States, he said, "The reason for the success of my films in the U.S. is some similarity between Iranian culture and the U.S. culture. It starts with the family and the kind of essence that the family has a value that you don't find that much in Europe—it's more individual thinking that is important. And therefore he's seen more success in his films here. And also people's lives are closer to what's in Iran. That's why you see so many Iranians immigrating and living here, because they find it closer to home. And that is why we see more success in theaters here than in theaters in Europe. The European people go see movies in film festivals, but not so much going to see them in theaters."



Much of the time with Mr. Majidi was spent in discussion about Iran and its culture. It was noted that the image he shows of Iranian life is much different from what Americans usually see of Iran. He replied, "Unfortunately the managed portrait of Iran in the western news media is the wrong picture—trying to just look at everything from a political aspect and ignoring a nation with such a long history and such a rich culture. That really asserts Iran's damage in the world. And what Iranian cinema does is that is it trying to correct that image—giving the real image of Iran and the people of Iran."

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