This Is Not a Film Page #3

---

We hear the door

open to the alley and...

and through this same frame...

we see the old woman.

As we hear the door

we also see the boy

leave his standing position

at the top of the alley.

The old woman

who has entered the frame...

walks to the end of the alley

and turns right.

After a moment

the boy takes up his position again.

and stares at this window.

This was the opening shot.

Second shot

take this place to be the bathroom,

and the camera

is behind the bathroom door.

We hear the usual sounds

from inside the bathroom.

Then the door opens

and for the first time

we see the girl

who has a shaven head.

She goes to the bed,

and sits on the edge of the bed.

And the bed is here

as we said before.

Then she lies on the bed

for a moment

and touches her face.

The phone rings.

She goes toward the phone,

which is located here.

Suppose this is the phone on the table.

She answers the phone,

but no one talks.

She slams the receiver to the floor.

She throws herself on the bed...

and as her face is buried

in the mattress, she cries.

After a while

she turns and stares at the ceiling

for a few moments.

There is a strong rope

hanging from the ceiling.

The camera tilts down

There is a chair right here.

The girl is sitting on the chair and...

stares intently,

as if deciding to do the last thing...

that she must do

before committing suicide.

ln the previous shot,

when no one answered the phone,

she had slammed

the phone to the ground

and it was shattered

with its pieces all over the floor.

Now she is looking

at the phone in pieces.

Next shot. Cut.

The handset that she slammed

is in pieces here.

This shot is in fact

the P.O.V. of the girl.

She starts putting together

the pieces when...

the phone suddenly rings.

She mechanically puts

the handset to her ear.

''Hello?''

She hears the ringing again.

She goes toward the base...

and pushes...

What is it?

Why don't you continue?

ln a moment...

We hear the end-of-call tone.

Maryam thinks for a moment.

Although she is upset...

If we could tell a film

then why make a film?

- Hello, sir.

- Hello.

- Here you are.

- Thank you.

How much is that?

Be our guest.

What's going on outside?

Nothing yet. It has just started.

It'll soon get intense.

Why do you ask?

Just asking.

Here you are.

ls that right?

Yes. Thanks.

Keep the change.

Thank you.

Bye.

Food is here.

l'm looking for the sequence

in which Hossein goes to the jeweller's

and the jeweller humiliates him.

He acted in such a way

that was beyond my control...

Just a moment...

This... Not here.

Here... Just look at this.

When you are telling,

you must tell a bunch of details.

But with an amateur actor

like Hossein

the details won't be predictable

in advance at all.

You write some things,

but when you go on location,

and the amateur enters

he does the directing on you.

He leads you

to how you explain the film.

What l mean is that

the film must first be made

for us to be able to explain it later.

How could l explain

before making the film...

Hossein should lean against the wall,

do the thing

that he did with his eyes,

and that l had never seen before?

l mean when l told him to act

he did all that by himself.

l don't know.

Maybe l'm...

marking time somehow.

l feel what we are doing here

is also a lie.

like the first sequence that we saw.

The rest will certainly

turn out to be lies...

no matter how it proceeds.

Let's take the film ''Circle''

for example...

Where was it?

But you can't make

a film now anyhow, can you?

So what l can't make film?

That means l ask you...

to take a film of me?

Do you think it will turn

into some major work of art?

- That's what you said, right?

- What did l say?

You asked me to come here.

You said you had tried a couple of shots,

they hadn't worked out,

they seemed phony...

Jafar, You are now waiting

for the confirmation of the verdict...

for the film that you were making before.

You have a 20-year ban on all activities

in addition to a 6-year prison term.

So...

Well this is an activity

related to cinema, anyhow.

What you're doing now,

and later l'll be doing.

- What is?

- This film being made.

- You call this a film?

- It beats me. You should say.

OK, come and look.

You see this sequence?

ln that film

if the actress was directing...

Shoot the screen...

OK. Look.

Here location is doing the directing.

This actress didn't need to make

any certain face to show her anxiety.

Those vertical lines in the location...

Those lines...

supplement her mental state.

lt all works out perfectly.

Now how can l really express myself

inside that boundary

with the lines l drew?

How can l tell the sense and feeling

in this kind of film?

Not possible

Let's go on now,

maybe my feeling improves...

We'll see what we can do later.

What do you want?

Wherever you go, it's blocked.

Most websites are filtered.

The rest don't saying anything.

Your nails are too sharp.

Go Igi... Go up.

Your nails are hurting me.

lt says here..

''We're glad to have caused

the House of Cinema

to be concerned about the revolution.''

The Cinema Deputy

of the Ministry indicates

that they are happy that

for the first time the concern

about execution of policies

with revolutionary goals have become

the focal point of the current directors

of the House of Cinema.

He says..

''We directed the Berlin Film Festival''.

Hi Rakhshan.

Hi, how are you?

Fine. How are you?

How about you?

l'm fine. Not bad.

Just so-so.

Anything new?

l was talking to my lawyer earlier.

Apparently she spoke with you.

Yes. l have spoken with her.

What did she say?

l wanted to make sure about

the court district number and details.

l thought the least we could do

was to recirculate

the original appeal made

by the 12 prominent filmmakers,

and send it to the appeals court.

Do you have anything new?

No. l talked with Gheyrat.

She wasn't too hopeful...

She said perhaps

the reactions and protests...

by worid artists

could affect the decisin.

The same voices that are heard

particularly within the country.

l told her that l didn't wish

to put the Iranian colleagues in trouble.

There are problems for all of us

that everyone knows about.

But...

Well, problems there are plenty.

The thing is that

everyone is getting scared off.

l mean l don't know...

You know the conditions well.

Turning every little instance

into a big deal for everyone...

has caused everyone

to arrive at a certain numbness.

Just last night l was thinking

of talking with you and saying

that the case is now in the appeals court,

and the same appeal by the filmmakers

and this time more extended

and then to follow up

in the Judiciary Branch directIy.

OK. Thank you.

Bye.

Bye.

lt's OK. Let's go on.

l gave the Cut again!

What?

l don't know what can be done really.

Let me try and tell

another part of the screenplay.

l know it can't be compared

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes