In search for a spiritual authority. Shi’i clergy in Iranian post-revolutionary cinema

ABSTRACT

The current study deals with the filmic representation of Shi’i clergy in post-Revolutionary Iranian cinema. The intention of this article is threefold. First, it aims to analyse the presence of religious scholars in film production. Secondly, it attempts to characterize different approaches to the topic undertaken by the filmmakers, to consider the relationship between cinematography, the reality of contemporary Iran, and the approach undertaken by the authorities towards cultural production. The enquiry will be illustrated by movies made during the last 20 years, which will be close read and placed within historical and socio-political context. The emergence of the ruling clergy and its politicization, which followed the Revolution, has given rise to resentment against this group, which has not only grown institutionally, but has increasingly distanced itself from society. I will argue that Iranian films picturing Shi’i clergy, although containing a certain amount of criticism, constitute a response to the image crisis of the clergy. Recognizing the true spiritual foundation of the clerical institution and focusing on the positive dimension of clergy activity, these films stay in line with the regime’s policy.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ Own translation.

² Nacim Pak-Shiraz, ‘Filmic Discourses on the Role of the Clergy in Iran’, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies: A Special Issue on Modern Iranian Intellectuals, 34 no. 4 (2007): 331.

³ Hamid Naficy, A Social History of Iranian Cinema, vol. 3 (Durham and London: Duke University Press 2012), 7–8.

⁴ Jamsheed Akrami, ‘Cinema iv. Film Censorship,’ Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, vol. V, fasc. 6, 586. An updated version of the article is available online at https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/cinema-iv.

⁵ Zeydaabadi-Nejad, ‘Watching the Forbidden’, 101.

⁶ Naqd-e jeddi-ye asatid-e houzeh nesbat be bazigarani ke naqsh-e rawhani ra bazi mikonand [Serious criticism of seminary teachers towards actors who play the role of clerics], Shabestan News Agency, Azar 15, 1394, http://shabestan.ir/detail/News/505374 (accessed December 6, 2015).

⁷ Gahi az rawhaniyat estefade-ye abzari mishavad [Clergy is sometimes used as a tool in cinema], Islamic Azad University News Agency, Farvardin 24, 1395, https://ana.press/fa/news/63/77218/ (accessed April 12, 2016).

⁸ clergy (sing. rawḥānī).

⁹ Zir-e nur-e mah (‘Under the Moonlight’). Directed by Reza Mir Karimi, Iran, 1380 (2001).

¹⁰ Student of a religious seminary (ḥawzeh).

¹¹ U (‘He’). Directed by Rahbar Qanbarī, Iran, 1382 (2003).

¹² Vaqt-e chidan-e gerduha (‘The Walnut Harvest’). Directed by Iraj Emami, Iran, 1382 (2003).

¹³ The film is now practically impossible to reach.

¹⁴ Interview with Hasan Jalayer, Isna, Esfand 4, 1388, https://www.isna.ir/news/8812-01908/ (accessed February 23, 2010). Two controversial themes addressed by the movie—the romantic love of a young clergyman to a woman as well as manipulations and abuses in the name of religion, did certainly not make it easier for the filmmakers to obtain permission for screening.

¹⁵ Marmulak (‘The Lizard’). Directed by Kamal Tabrizi, Iran, 1383 (2004).

¹⁶ Saeed Zeydaabadi-Nejad, ‘Watching the Forbidden: Reception of Banned Films in Iran’, in The State of Post-Cinema: Tracing the Moving Image in the Age of Digital Dissemination, eds. Hagener, M. and Hediger, V. and Strohmaier, A. (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016), 90.

¹⁷ Notwithstanding, the movie has been shown across the country.

¹⁸ Paberahne dar behesht (‘Barefoot in Heaven’). Directed by Bahram Tawakkoli, Iran, 1384 (2005).

¹⁹ Esteshhadi bara-ye Khoda (‘A Petition to God’). Directed by Alirezā Amini, Iran 1386 (2007).

²⁰ Akhūnd—(colloq.) lower rank religious scholar.

²¹ Tala wa mess (‘Gold and Copper’). Directed by Homayun Asaʿdyan, Iran, 1389 (2010).

²² Nazar-e rahbar-e engelab dar bare-ye film-e Tala va mess [An Opinion of the Leader of the Revolution about the film ‘Gold and Copper’], Raja News, Tir 22, 1389, http://www.rajanews.com/news/39149 (accessed July 13, 2010).

²³ Azad rah (‘Highway’). Directed by Abbas Rafaʿi. Iran, 1389 (2010).

²⁴ Azad rah filmi ke hichgah arse-ye rouhaniyat ra nashenakht [‘The Highway’ is a film that did not recognize clergy], Khabargozari-ye rasmi-ye hawze, Aban 10, 1394, https://hawzahnews.com/x55rs (accessed November 1, 2015). As claimed by the director, although initially, scenes showing the clergyman’s love for cinema were censored, eventually the film managed to be shown in its full version, (The film) Azad rah dar bashgah-e razi naqd shad [The film ‘Highway’ was discussed in Razi Club], Ilna, Azar 3, 1392, https://www.ilna.news/fa/tiny/news-123176 (accessed November 24, 2013).

²⁵ Panjshanbe-ye akhar-e mah (‘The Last Thursday of the Month’). Directed by Mashallah Shahmaradizade, Iran 1390 (2011).

²⁶ Rosvai (‘Disgrace’). Directed by Maʿsūd Dehnamakī, Iran, 1391 (2012).

²⁷ Nayere Rahmani, Naqd wa barresi-ye film-e Raswai [The Analysis and Discussion on the film ‘Disgrace’], Madomeh, February 9, 2016, http://www.madomeh.com/site/news/news/5190.htm.

²⁸ Gahvarei bara-ye madar (‘Cradle for a mother’). Directed by Panah Khoda Rezai, Iran, 1391 (2012).

²⁹ Besharat be yek shahrwand-e hezare-ye sewwom (‘Annunciation for a third millennium citizen’). Directed by Mohammad Hadi Karimi, Iran, 1391 (2013).

³⁰ Fereshteha ba ham miayand (‘Angels Come Together’). Directed by Hamed Mohammadi, Iran, 1392 (2014).

³¹ Haqq-e sokut (‘The Price of Silence’). Directed by Hadi Nai’ji, Iran, 1392 (2014).

³² Paradise (‘Paradise’). Directed by Ali Atshani, Iran, Germany, Spain, 1397 (2018).

³³ Neshast-e khabari-ye film-e Ruz-e Balva dar jashnvare-ye film-e fajr [Ruz-e Balva’s Press Conference during the Fajr International Film Festival], https://www.aparat.com/v/9Qo5P.

³⁴ It was only after the article has been submitted for publication that I became familiar with the 2021 comedy directed by Mas’ud Atyabi titled Dynamite, which depicts the adventures of two students of a religious ḥawzeh.

³⁵ E.g. Lotfan mozahem nashavid; Zanha kam nemiarand; Kheyli dur, kheyli nazdik; Ruz-e molaqat; Kimya va haqq; Nakhaste; Bargeha-ye paiz; Tabaqe-ye hassas; Se bigane; Nahang-e anbar; Salam hajj aqa; Dinamit.

³⁶ Pardeh neshin. directed by Behruz Sho’eibi, Iran, 1393 (2014).

³⁷ Apart from individual involvement in socio-political events during e.g. Constitutional Revolution or against foreign powers. However, these actions were not intended to seize political power.

³⁸ Ira M. Lapidus, A History of Islamic Societies, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002²) 149, 152.

³⁹ Ruhollah Khomeini, Velayat-e faqih. Homkumat-e eslami (Tehran: Mo’assesse-ye tanzim wa nashr-e asar-e emam Khomeini, 1378), 48; Hamid Dabashi, Theology of Discontent. The Ideological Foundations of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, (New York: New York University Press, 1992) 42.

⁴⁰ Dabashi, Theology of Discontent, 460–61.

⁴¹ Khomeini, Velayat-e faqih, 61.

⁴² Naser Ghobadzadeh and Shahram Akbarzadeh, ‘Religionization of Politics in Iran: Shi’i Seminaries as the Bastion of Resistance,’ Middle Eastern Studies, 56, no. 4 (2020): 1–15.

⁴³ Ibid.

⁴⁴ Ezharat-e sarih-e yek jame’shenas dar barae-ye rawhaniyat [An explicit statement by a sociologist about the clergy] ISNA, Azar 27, 1396, https://www.isna.ir/news/96092715340/ (accessed December 15, 2017).

⁴⁵ Vurud-e tulab be fa’liyatha-ye siyasi mahbubiyat-e anan ra kam mikonad. Dar gozashte in senf Mahbub va moured-e ehteram bud [Hawzeh Students’ involvement in political activities reduces their popularity. In the past, this class was popular and respected], Asr-e Iran, Aban 17, 1396 [November 8, 2017], asriran.com/002OeH.

⁴⁶ Rawhaniyat-e shi’e manfurtarin qeshr-e ejtema’i dar Iran-e emruz [Shi’i clergy, the most hated social class in Iran today], Keyhan London, Ardibehesht 18, 1398, https://kayhan.london/fa/?p=155426 (accessed May 8, 2019).

⁴⁷ Rawhaniyat jame‘ ra raha karde ast; mardam moqasser nistand [The clergy have left society; People are not to blame] An interview with Hojjatoleslam Karim Khan Mohammadi, Mobahesat. Resane-ye fekri-ye tahlili hawze wa rawhaniyat, Azar 29, 1396, http://mobahesat.ir/15524 (accessed December 20, 2017).

⁴⁸ Nacim Pak-Shiraz, ‘Filmic Discourses on the Role of the Clergy in Iran,’ British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies: A Special Issue on Modern Iranian Intellectuals, 34, no. 4 (2007): 331–49. Subsequently the text has been also published in Iranian Intellectuals, 1997–2007, ed. Lloyd Ridgeon (New York: Routledge, 2008): 71–90 and republished in Shi’i Islam in Iranian Cinema: Religion and Spirituality in Film (I.B. Tauris: London, 2011).

⁴⁹ Ali Eskandari, Majid Soleymani Sasani and Ahmad Naderi, ‘Tahlil-e baznamai-ye rawhaniyat dar sinama-ye Iran. Motaleʿe-ye mawredi: Takhlil-e goftemanan-e film-e “Tala wa Mess”’ [‘An Analysis of the Representation of the Clergy in Iranian Cinema: A Case Study. Discourse Analysis of “Gold and Copper’’’], Motaleʿat wa tahqiqat-e ejtemaʿi dar Iran, 3, no. 3 (1393): 497–512. Mohammad Sajjad Ḥashemi and Meysam Farkhi, ‘Baznamai-ye negaresh-e mardom be rawhaniyat dar sinama-ye Iran. Mawred-e motaleʿe: Se film—Zir-e nur-e mah, Marmulak and Tala wa Mess’, [‘The Presentation of People’s Attitudes towards the Clergy in Iranian Cinema. Case Study of three films: “Under the Moonlight,” “Lizard,” and “Gold and Copper”’], Resane wa farhang. Pajuheshgah-e ʿalum-e ensani wa Motaleʿat-e farhangi, year 5, no. 1 (1394): 111–33.

⁵⁰ Graeme Turner, Film as Social Practice, (London and New York: Routledge, 1999³), 3.

⁵¹ Wanda Teays, Seeing the Light: Exploring Ethics Through Movies, (Chichester, West Sussex; Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012), 2.

⁵² Ibid., 3.

⁵³ Turner, Film as Social Practice, 3.

⁵⁴ Lothar Mikos, ‘Analisis of Film,’ in The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Data Analysis, ed. Uwe Flick (Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore: Washington DC, Sage, 2014), 410.

⁵⁵ Ibid.

⁵⁶ Ibid., 411.

⁵⁷ Pak-Shiraz, Shi’i Islam in Iranian Cinema: Religion and Spirituality in Film (I.B. Tauris: London, 2011), 75.

⁵⁸ Pak-Shiraz, 77.

⁵⁹ ‘Under the Moonlight’.

⁶⁰ ‘Barefoot in Heaven’.

⁶¹ Mashallah Shahmaradizadeh, the director of ‘The Last Thursday of the Month’ a film showing the clergy as carriers of moral renewal, said that in order to obtain a permission for screening, he had to cut out one scene in which a rawḥānī covers the face of a drug-induced teenager with his cloak (qabbā). ‘Panjshanbe-ye akhar-e mah’ record-e forush-e pardis-e mellat ra shekast [‘The Last Thursday of the Month’ broke the sales record of Mellat Centre], Cinema Tajrobi, Bahman 7, 1392, http://www.cinematajrobi.ir/news/7268/ (accessed January 27, 2014). This simple example shows how problematic it can be to show, not so much a debatable picture of the clergy, but even a seemingly positive image, as it might be perceived as violating the sanctity of the clerical clothes (lebās-e rawḥānī) or a taboo theme like drugs. Since the Revolution, the components of Shi’i scholars’ official clothing: amāme, abbā and qabbā become not only a distinctive attribute of the clergy, but a carrier of exclusiveness and political dominance. The significance of clerical clothes in Iranian art works constitutes an important issue, also discussed among the clergy. Yaser Welai, a religious scholar and cinema actor, claimed in one of his interviews that he would never agree to perform a debatable role of a rawḥānī, as this would diminish and weaken the value of clerical clothing in general. Goft o gu ba tanha rawhani ke bazigar-e sinama ham hast [A Conversation with a clergyman who is also a cinema actor], Golestanema.com, Azar 22, 1393, http://golestanema.com/s/29/7152 (accessed December 13, 2013).

⁶² The same refers to the film ‘He’, which highlights and emphasizes the importance of serving people, even if it does not bring material benefits and condemns the clergyman to lead a simple life.

⁶³ ‘Angels come together’.

⁶⁴ ‘The Price of Silence’.

⁶⁵ Dabashi Theology of Discontent, 461.

⁶⁶ As claimed by Hojjatoleslam Kariman Majd, it is not true that ṭalabeh cannot receive money for the so-called tablīgh-e dīn and menbar raftan (giving sermons) and this should not be equated with venality (dīnforushī), Mosbat va manfi-ye film-e ‘Fereshteha ba ham miayand’ [The pros and cons of ‘Angels Come Together’ from the perspective of two clerics] Mashreg News, Shahrivar 14, 1393, www.mashreghnews.ir/news/341800 (accessed September 5, 2005).

⁶⁷ ‘The Price of Silence’.

⁶⁸ Ibid.

⁶⁹ Ibid.

⁷⁰ Hiya va hua (‘She and He’). Directed by Amir Sajjad Hoseini, Iran, 1397 (2018).

⁷¹ Alamak (‘The Pipe’). Directed by Hosein Darabi, Iran, 1394 (2015).

⁷² Sepidi (‘The Whiteness’). Data unavailable.

⁷³ Talabeh (‘Hawzeh student’). Data unavailable.

⁷⁴ Ranandeh (‘The Driver’). Directed by Said Sajjad Qafele Bashi, Iran, date unavailable.

⁷⁵ Ru be Qeble (‘Toward Kiblah’). Directed by Mohammad Reza Shafa’, Iran, date unavailable.

⁷⁶ Played by Babak Hamidian.

⁷⁷ Rawhaniyat-e shi’e va enhetat-e eqtesadi-ye Iran [Shi’i clergy and economic decline in Iran], Radio Farda, Mordad 11, 1400, https://www.radiofarda.com/a/commentary-on-economy-approach-of-raisi-cabinet/31401335.html (accessed August 2, 2021).

⁷⁸ Narges Bajoghli, ‘The Outcasts: The Start of “New Entertainment” in Pro-Regime Filmmaking in the Islamic Republic of Iran,’ Middle East Critique, 26, no. 1 (2017): 62.

⁷⁹ Fereshteha ba ham miayand 800 miliuni shod [‘Angels come together’ reached 800 million], Rasekhun, Shahrivar 13, 1393, https://rasekhoon.net/news/show/939827/ (accessed September 14, 2014); Tala va mess 45 milliun toman forukht [‘Gold and copper’ sold 45 million tomans], Mehr News, Azar 29, 1389, mehrnews.com/xcfcZ (accessed December 20, 2010); Azad rah 42 miliun tuman forukht [‘The Highway’ sale at 42 million tomans], Sowreh Cinema, Aban 18, 1392, http://www.sourehcinema.ir/?p=17099 (accessed October 23, 2013); Esteqbal az ‘Paradais’ va kahesh-e forush-e digar-e filmha [Good reception of ‘The paradise’ and decline in sales of other films], IMNA, Bahman 20, 1397, www.imna.ir/news/367205/ (accessed February 9, 2019).

⁸⁰ Nazar sanji-ye piv dar bare-ye vurud-e shakhsiyatha-ye mazhabi be arse-ye siyasat dar Iran [Pew poll on the entry of religious figures into politics in Iran], Din online, Bahman 28, 1398, https://www.dinonline.com/15769/نظرسنجی-موسسه-پیو-درباره-انتخابات-ایر/ (accessed February 17, 2020).

⁸¹ Rawhaniyat-e shi’e manfurtarin qeshr-e ejtemai dar Iran-e emruz [Shi’i clergy the most hated social class in Iran today], Keyhan London, Ardibehesht 18, 1398, https://kayhan.london/fa/?p=155426 (accessed May 8, 2019).

⁸² The exception are religious films and television series based on biographical threads of well-known and important Shi’i figures or historical events, which are, however, not many. Although, as claimed by journalist and filmic critic Mohammad Taqi Fahim, even in historical productions, neglecting the political role of the clergy can be noticed. Khatar-e bozorg-e jadai-ye rawhaniyat az siyasat dar asar-e sinamay va televiziuni [There is a great danger of the separation of the clergy from politics in film and television], Khabargozari-ye tasnim, Farvardi 27, 1395, https://www.tasnimnews.com/fa/news/1395/01/27/1048787 (accessed April 15, 2016). As mentioned by a religious scholar Ali Jafari ‘the political dimension of the clergy is less discussed in both cinema and television, and it seems that from the point of view of domestic filmmakers, there is not much connection between the clergy and politics’. Tasvirsazi-ye rawhaniyat dar sinama va televisyun naqez va mobham ast.

⁸³ Bajoghli, 65.