Joy Of Madness Movie Review:


"The wise know not the joy of madness." In this amazing documentary, the latest member of Iran's filmmaking dynasty, 14-year-old Hana, follows her 22-year-old sister Samira around the streets of Kabul while she's casting her film At Five in the Afternoon. Not only is it fascinating to go behind the scenes, but we also learn important things about Afghan society. Their father Mohsen (also a filmmaker, and cowriter of Samira's film) is with them as they interview people on the streets and literally talk to anyone they meet, sounding them out, auditioning them and generally trying to convince them to be in their movie. People are incredibly resistant to speak to strangers (something forbidden under the Taliban)--they worry that these foreigners will take advantage of them as they try to rebuild their lives after the end of Taliban rule and the crippling American bombing campaign that knocked them back into the Stone Age.

But this isn't a political film. It's a straightforward fly-on-the-wall doc with no narration or commentary, merely following the production crew as they try to set up the feature. Hana follows the incredibly forceful Samira through three casting sessions as she tries to find an old man to play the father, a young woman for the lead and an infant for a key role. All three of these strands are full of starts and stops, mistrust and questions, reticence and paranoia (the old man thinks it must be a porno film; the parents of the infant become convinced the filmmakers plan to kill their baby on screen). This is earthy and very lively filmmaking, expertly shot and edited, capturing the look and feel of Kabul with energetic precision. Watching Samira at work is amazing--not only does she have a ludicrously daunting task ahead of her, but she tackles the job tenaciously, refusing to take excuses from people ... to the point of asking a woman to postpone her wedding! Not only is this a terrific companion piece to At Five in the Afternoon, it's also a gripping and revealing film all its own. Perhaps even more so than the dramatic feature it documents.

Rich Cline

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