ZONAL NEWS

                                                         FILM EXHIBITION 2013

 

                                                              DATE:29-08-2013
                                    VENUE: BOSE BHAVAN ERNAKULAM SOUTH

                       THE SONGS OF THE SPARROWS(Avaze Gonjeshk-ha) Iran 2008
                                                        Directed by Majid Majidi

A film appreciation program
An event initiated by Central Zone KSFESA  ERNAKULAM DC

Story line of the Film The Songs of the sparrows
Karim works at an ostrich farm outside of Tehran, Iran. He leads a simple and contented life with his wife Narges, and three children in his small house. He loves his wife and children and tries hard to make them happy.

One day when he is in farm, he was told to return home early as his elder daughter, Haniyeh's hearing aid is lost. When he reaches home he finds that his son Hussein and neighborhood children are searching the hearing aid in place for water storage which is a sludge now. Karim scolds his son and others for coming there, but joins them in searching. During the search his son Hussein and his friends reveals their idea of cleaning sludge and growing gold fish in it and to become millionaires. Karim rejects the idea and discourages them. However they get the hearing aid from there. But he finds that it's not working properly. He approaches the hospital and learns that he has to wait three four months to get the aid freely or otherwise he has to go to Tehran city to get it immediately. As his daughter's exam is approaching nearly he is worried about getting the hearing aid.

After that incident, one day when they are moving new ostriches into farm, one of the ostriches runs away. Karim is blamed for the loss and is fired from the farm. However soon after this, he travels to the city in order to repair Haniyeh's, hearing aid and knows that it costs 350,000 tomans. but finds himself mistaken for a motorcycle taxi driver. Thus begins his new profession: ferrying people and goods through heavy traffic. However, the people and goods he is dealing with every day start to change Karim's generous and honest nature, much to the distress of his wife and daughters. Every day he brings second hand items to his home and becomes more greedy and begins to forget about his daughter’s hearing aid. It is up to those closest to him to restore the values that he once cherished. One day when he tries to arrange the second hand items accidentally it falls upon him. While he can't go to work his son goes to work and to satisfy the needs of the family and he also saves some money to buy some gold fish which he already talked about. While delivering some plants to a local farm along with his uncle , the bucket which contains the gold fish get leak. As he tries to fix it, the bucket bursts and all the gold fish drop on land. Instead of watching them die, his son Hussein pick the fish and releases them in the nearby water. Karim watches this and feels proud of his son. While Karim is getting healthier he got a message from his ex-co worker that the ostrich which run away earlier was returned. Karim goes to the farm and watches that ostrich with tears in his eyes.

Additional Information:-

The ostrich seems to suggest the fearful and stirring power of life, but also the power of death.

Sparrows, by contrast, are at the opposite end of the bird spectrum – small and assumed to be individually insignificant. But sparrows also reflect the ever-teeming wonder and vitality of nature. After the village boys have cleaned out the water reservoir, some sparrows have come to nest there. When Karim releases the sparrow from his room at the end, it reflects his renewed sensitivity to the small, daily rhythms of life. If ostriches suggest individuality, sparrows suggest community.

Another symbolic reference is associated with Karim’s observation of his son’s and companions’ foolish obsession with making a fortune from a goldfish farm. This is a symbolic microcosm of God looking down at his (and our) own foibles. Karim’s mad quest to make money and forget about the important things of life was, from the celestial perspective, just as trivial as the boys’ schemes. After his accident in the last part of the film, Karim begins to view the boys’ activities with a benign tolerance. He sees their narrow-minded struggles to become “millionaires” with a loving and caring benevolence, just as we might hope God might see our own error-filled ways.
the film are enhanced by the occasional and non intrusive background music of Hossein Alizadeh, a preeminent Iranian tar musician and composer of music for classical instruments. This gives a melancholic feeling to the story, and at the end, a sense of calm and resignation at the infinite complexity of existence. Does this suggest passivity and fatalism, that one should always be resigned to one’s humble circumstances?

Watch it .Experience it. And find the answer by yourself and express it in this blog.

All we can assure you is that this will be a unique experience of its own.