Reza Qasemi Discusses the 'Killing Role of Censorship' in Iranian Cinema at His Gathering

Host: Reza Qasemi Guests: Chekhov, Ahmad Abadi, Dostoevsky, Hafez, and Howard Hawks Music: The song 'Negara' performed by Parisa Dinner Menu: Eggplant stew and eggplant with whey. This week's host is Reza Qasemi, a writer, theater director, and composer. He began writing at the age of eighteen with a play titled 'Eclipse,' which was performed at Tehran University before the revolution. After the revolution, he continued directing his plays, staging three plays in the first seven years, including 'The Management Room.' Since 1986, he has resided in France, focusing more on storytelling abroad. His famous novel 'The Nightly Harmony of the Wood Orchestra' received significant acclaim and has been reprinted multiple times, establishing his unique position in Persian storytelling. In addition to writing, Qasemi is active in music, having composed over fifty songs, including for Shahram Nazeri in the famous album 'Gol Sad Barg' and for Sepideh Raeis Sadat. He is also a musician of the setar and has trained students. I spoke with Mr. Qasemi over the phone. Reza Qasemi discusses the 'Killing Role of Censorship' in Iranian Cinema at his gathering. Mr. Qasemi, welcome to the program. Please tell me who the guests you want to invite for dinner are? My first guest is Chekhov from the writers. From the musicians, I invite Ahmad Abadi because he has several special characteristics, which you will explain later. The third guest? The third guest is Dostoevsky. Hafez is my fourth guest from the poets. My last guest from the filmmakers is Mr. Howard Hawks. You will certainly explain to our audience later why you invited these five people. But before that, I would like to ask what music you want to play for them? I want to play an old song called 'Negara,' composed by Abdollah Dowami. In my opinion, it is one of the most dramatic Iranian songs and also one of the most beautiful. This song was performed by Parisa at the Shiraz Arts Festival in the four-part mode, which I think is, if not the best, at least one of the best performances in that mode and Parisa's best work. Mr. Qasemi, now let's return to the guests you selected. The first guest, Anton Chekhov, is a Russian writer and playwright. Why did you choose Chekhov? Chekhov is an answer for those who think that art and literature are only about work and can be achieved through hard work. Because this man lived only 44 years. It is astonishing that he reached the peak in both storytelling and playwriting. Well, reaching such a level in 44 years cannot be said to be achieved merely through work. Another astonishing thing about Chekhov, which is very rare among writers and artists, is that among those who perform their work brilliantly, there are very few who can explain their work and its rules well. For example, in theater, Peter Brook is one of these individuals. In short stories, Chekhov, besides writing astonishing stories, talks about six golden rules in storytelling, and we see from the letters he wrote to his brother about short stories how knowledgeable he was about his craft. Among his famous plays like 'The Cherry Orchard' or 'Three Sisters,' in the thirty or forty years I have lived in England, there is hardly a month that someone doesn't stage one of these. Why do you think Chekhov's plays remain popular in the Western world even after about a hundred years since they were written, and what is it about Chekhov's plays and works? Among all the writers of the last four or five centuries, there are two writers who express all the nuances of complex human emotions in their works. One is Shakespeare, and the other is Chekhov. Chekhov reveals the complex situations of the human spirit and the depths and alleys of the human soul to us, and these are eternal things that are not related to yesterday, today, or tomorrow. They are universal issues that are just as important for an Iranian as they are for a French or Russian person. Exactly. Now let's move on to your second guest, Ahmad Abadi, who is one of our great musicians. Ahmad Abadi (1906 to 1992): A renowned Iranian setar player. He has various collections of solo and ensemble setar performances. The reason for the invitation: I was a student of Master Abadi; my admiration for him is because he was an epic musician and he brought transformation in Iranian music from within the tradition. I was a student of Master Abadi, but my admiration for him is for something I will say. But before I say that, I should add that I wanted to invite Abdollah Dowami and Morteza Khan Mahjoubi as well. First, let me briefly say why. Regarding Dowami, it is said that he was going to Mecca for pilgrimage. Now imagine the transportation means at that time. He was in love with his wife. Halfway, he misses her and returns. When I read this somewhere, I realized what a beautiful view he had of faith. These days, when we are caught up in a religious government that has provided no comfort for itself or for the people, I tell myself how beautiful Dowami's view of religion was. That is, he returned to his wife and thought he had returned to God and visited the House of God. This is regarding Dowami. I wanted to invite Morteza Mahjoubi because he is the only Iranian musician who does not perform lamentation. Rather, when he plays sorrowful pieces, he transforms it into a tragic feeling, not the lamentation and wailing that unfortunately is prevalent in our music, not the mourning. We did not have anyone who could convey a tragic feeling in Iranian music. Moreover, he has incredibly beautiful works, and the sequence of his works has a remarkable coherence. Now, unfortunately, I could not invite these two... Yes, unfortunately. Your table has limited space... But now that you have invited Master Ahmad Abadi, what is the reason? Abadi's instrument has two characteristics. One is that it is epic, and he is the only Iranian musician whose instrument I see as epic. Interestingly, compared to Morteza Khan Mahjoubi's instrument, his is tragic, while Abadi's is epic. The second important point about Master Abadi is that these days and generally for several decades, especially in the last two decades, it has been important for musicians that Iranian music undergoes transformation. But they have always looked outward. Abadi created a transformation in Iranian music that brought it out from within the tradition. This means that in Iranian music, phrases are full of repetition. The structure of the phrases is also full of repetition. Abadi discarded ninety percent of these repetitions and then, in his phrasing, contrary to the traditional music structure, which has a circular and centralized structure, he made them almost linear. Without making one feel that this music is non-Iranian or even non-traditional. This is an important point about how transformation can be brought out from within tradition. Your third guest is Dostoevsky, a Russian writer. Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821 to 1881): An influential Russian writer. His works include 'Crime and Punishment,' 'Notes from Underground,' 'The Idiot,' 'The Gambler,' 'The Brothers Karamazov,' and others. The reason for the invitation: Dostoevsky has been able to express all the states of human existence to its utmost. You say that Dostoevsky's importance as a storyteller is that he delves into the human soul and describes the inner self through the characters in his stories. Is that why he is important to you as a storyteller? It is not just that. For example, in the novel 'Crime and Punishment,' there is a scene where (Raskolnikov, the hero of the story) is about to commit suicide. As he leaves the hotel, he sees a girl sitting in the rain, soaked like a rat. His heart aches for her. He picks her up and dries her off with a towel in bed. As far as I remember, this girl smiles in a very tempting way. Given everything we know about the hero of the story, Raskolnikov, and for instance, even the murder he committed had an ideological and humanitarian appearance behind it, and now that he is about to commit suicide because of his guilt, at that moment when we see his temptation, we suddenly realize how horrifying the human soul can be. Well, I have not seen such depth in the works of others except Dostoevsky. Your fourth guest is Hafez, the great poet of our country. We still read and enjoy Hafez after six hundred years. Why? Hafez (Shams al-Din Muhammad Hafez, 727 to 792 AH): A renowned Iranian poet. His significant work: Divan-e-Ghazaliyat. The reason for the invitation: Hafez possesses a kind of intuitive understanding that allows us to grasp things that often cannot be understood through reason and logic. In my opinion, there is something in our great poets that has allowed a few of them to remain with us. And that quality that exists in these great poets is most pronounced in Hafez. That quality is a kind of intuitive understanding that allows us to comprehend things that often cannot be understood through reason and logic. I believe that we, contemporary Iranians who made this revolution in 1979, have constructed a new faith from modernity and thought that all the answers lie there. But if we had paid attention to our poets, they had warned us. Now what that warning was can be discussed later. That is, in the last part of the program, when you introduce all the guests, you will discuss it at the dinner table. Now let's move on to your last guest, an American filmmaker, Howard Hawks. Howard Hawks is a filmmaker we have not paid the necessary attention to. Most of our filmmakers, when talking about classic American filmmakers, emphasized John Ford more. But recently, I have been watching Howard Hawks' films. I had seen some of his films before and am watching them again. There are things in this man's work that are incomparable to others, even to filmmakers like Billy Wilder and John Ford. He is greater than them. Because there is a kind of perfection in his work that one cannot find flaws in his films. For example, a fundamental difference I see between Hawks and others regarding their western films is that for others, the western seems to be an opportunity to make an 'action' or adventure film. Whereas for Howard Hawks, the incident and the western atmosphere serve as a 'background' to explore the relationships between people and the complexity of those relationships, and he does this excellently. Especially since in Hawks' films, the role of women, unlike most filmmakers of that era, is equal to that of men. That is, it is as strong as the male role. Even if in a film like 'Rio Bravo' the female role is short, the woman in this film is a complex and powerful woman, who with her complexity and seductive power can turn someone like John Wayne into a clumsy boy. Mr. Qasemi, you talked about your five guests and you will play the song 'Negara' composed by Abdollah Dowami with the voice of Parisa for them. Now I wanted to know what food you will serve them? I think I will make an eggplant with whey dish and it just occurred to me that I will also serve them eggplant stew. This way, it saves time. One can fry the eggplants for both dishes at once, and thus have two types of food. I hope your foreign guests will enjoy your food. Hafez and Mr. Abadi will surely like it. But now Mr. Qasemi, what is happening at the dinner table and what discussions are taking place? I think Hafez decides to comfort us. Because, as I mentioned earlier, we have turned our backs on our poets. Our poets had warned us, and Hafez warned us more than any of them. This is all about the Sheikh and the Zahir and...