Adaptation a Golden Opportunity for Iranian Cinema / A Method that Expands Audiences
Provinces Service of Iran Book News Agency (IBNA): In recent years, the discussion of “adaptational cinema” has been raised more than ever in Iran’s cultural and artistic sphere; a cinema founded on the link between literature and image, capable of building a bridge between writers, publishers, and filmmakers. Despite the strong legacy of Persian literature and the high capacity of contemporary storytelling, the share of adaptation in Iranian cinema remains limited, and many literary works, from novels to short stories and even classic texts, never find the opportunity to appear on the silver screen.
This is while in world cinema, adaptation is not only an established and economic trend but also accounts for a significant portion of box office sales and festival successes. In such an environment, fundamental questions arise: Why does Iranian cinema, despite this rich background, rarely turn to literature? What economic, legal, structural, or creative obstacles have created a gap between books and cinema? And more importantly, what experiences and perspectives do filmmakers have regarding the process of selecting, recreating, and making films based on a literary text?
Ahmad Bahrami, screenwriter and film director, said in an interview with an IBNA reporter in Shiraz: “The last trilogy I directed is a summary of the books I read, especially the works of Gholamhossein Saedi, Sadegh Hedayat, Sadegh Choubak, and many other Iranian writers.”
The director of the film ‘The Silent Man,’ which is participating in the 43rd Fajr International Film Festival, said in response to how inspiring literary fiction helps the filmmaking process: “What a filmmaker reads settles in their mind and, when writing, it’s like a period they have gone through, making writing easier. In any case, a part of cinema is literature, and a screenplay must be written upon which the film is built. This helps the filmmaker’s mind and hand flow smoothly. The primary aid of literature and reading novels and stories is in character creation and dialogue writing.”
He, who prefers to focus on Iranian literature in his story readings, added: “For the production of the trilogy ‘The Silent Plain,’ ‘The Silent Man,’ and ‘The Silent City,’ I came somewhat close to the writings of Gholamhossein Saedi, and most of these works influenced me.”
Saedi Creates Visual Narratives
Bahrami cited the visual writing style of Iranian authors and said: “Gholamhossein Saedi is almost one of the writers who create visual narratives. Saedi’s most famous work is ‘The Cow,’ which fortunately was filmed when the author of ‘The Mourners of Bayal’ was alive. Of course, the non-visual nature of Iranian authors’ works cannot be considered a flaw because it’s enough to capture the essence of the author’s message and make it visual. The main problem lies in the relationship between the filmmaker and the writer or the rights holder and the filmmaker. Typically, the heirs of the rights holder are tough on filmmakers.”
The filmmaker and director noted: “The important thing is for the story and narrative space to exist in a novel. I am currently trying to adapt and make films from literary works of the last four decades.”
Bahrami clarified about ‘The Silent Man’: “This film is the final part of a trilogy I made. It was produced by Mohammad Hosseinkhani and will be screened in the ‘Festival of Festivals’ section. Last year, this film successfully received the Golden Award for Artistic Achievement at the Shanghai Film Festival. The target audience for this trilogy is serious cinema-goers who come to cinema to think, and fortunately, Shiraz has an abundance of such audiences.”
He, who considers himself a product of Art and Experience Cinema, stated: “‘Panah,’ my first film, was screened in the Art and Experience Cinema group, and two years later, ‘The Silent Plain’ was distributed in this group, followed by ‘The Silent City,’ and probably ‘The Silent Man’ will also be distributed in this group starting early January. I had a good experience with this cinema group because it attracts serious audiences.”
Literary and Artistic Works Find Meaning in the Realm of Intertextuality
Bahman Namvar Motlagh, a faculty member at Shahid Beheshti University, also spoke in an interview with an IBNA reporter in Shiraz about adaptation in cinema: “From a macroscopic perspective, all literary and artistic works find meaning in the realm of intertextuality, as no text emerges absolutely and from nothing. But if we want to speak from a more specialized viewpoint, adaptational texts are defined on three levels: pretext, intertext, and intertextuality, and pretextual relationships have at least six subtypes that are examined in textological studies.”
According to the author of the book ‘Comparative Literature,’ adaptation is a valuable opportunity for Iranian cinema; an opportunity that, despite the unparalleled richness of Persian literature, has been underutilized. Perhaps one reason for this lack of attention is unfamiliarity with the techniques and potentials of adaptation. Adaptation naturally creates cultural cohesion; whenever arts borrow from each other, an internal and integrated fabric is created within the culture, whose effects are completely evident in society.
Namvar Motlagh added: “Intercultural adaptation is also a sign of a culture’s dynamism; a mechanism that prevents texts from becoming obsolete and, like a phoenix, constantly keeps them alive and influential. Texts need new readings and recreations to flow, and even parodic and critical approaches are considered a kind of revival and revitalization of the reference text.”
He continued by stating that adaptation provides a platform for criticism and creates the possibility for textual purification and the longevity of outstanding works: “If adaptation does not occur, textual purification does not happen, and valuable texts sink into a haze of oblivion.”
Humans Are Text-Making and Sign-Processing Beings
The author of the book ‘Intertextuality (From Structuralism to Postmodernism)’ noted: “From an anthropological perspective, humans are also text-making and sign-processing beings. One of the important functions of adaptation is to make prominent texts relevant in different eras. In the postmodern world, even the destruction or opening of a text has an important function and can lead to a fresh understanding of the textual heritage.”
He stated that today, humans live in one of the most critical historical periods, and part of this crisis relates to the texts that have been created and accumulated: “A parodic approach to these texts, which is critical adaptation, can be a way to prevent cultural and social stagnation.”
According to him, “adaptation also expands audiences. When a literary text enters cinema, it crosses its limited boundaries and reaches a wider audience. This media metamorphosis is one of the most important potentials of adaptation. The process of adaptation inherently has a revolutionary aspect. This process helps cultural justice, creates new voices, and liberates literature from masculine monologues. Attention to adaptation and its techniques can lead to a serious transformation in the face of Iranian arts.”
The author of the book ‘Meta-Narrative’ said: “For example, the film ‘Captain Khorshid’ directed by Nasser Taghvai can be considered one of the most successful adaptations in the history of Iranian cinema. This film was inspired by Ernest Hemingway’s novel ‘To Have and Have Not,’ a work that has also been adapted many times in Hollywood. But in Taghvai’s adaptation, the localization was done so precisely that the audience might not even realize it’s an adaptation. While remaining faithful to the main theme, he creates a completely Iranian and indigenous narrative; a narrative whose trans-temporal and trans-spatial events show cinematic creativity. Nasser Taghvai is undoubtedly one of the most brilliant figures in Iranian adaptational cinema, and his name shines alongside the few prominent directors in this field.”
Every Nation Has Its Dominant Genre, and for Iranians, It Is Poetry
He further noted: “From a cultural perspective, it should be noted that every nation has its dominant genre, and for Iranians, it is poetry. Poeticism has a vast scope in our culture, and in recent years, a kind of social poeticism is seen in many social films. Whenever the natural flow of life undergoes ‘de-normalization’ – whether by slowing down the rhythm or by accelerating it – a kind of transcendental feeling and poeticism emerges that separates the audience from daily routine. This is the moment when poetry, image, and narrative converge at one point; a point where adaptation shows its importance more than ever.”
Mohammad Hosseinkhani, a cinema producer, also said in an interview with an IBNA reporter in Shiraz: “One of my favorite works in Iranian cinema is ‘The Bright Nights’ by Farzad Motamen, whose screenplay was written by Saeed Aghighi. An adaptational work does not always result in a bad outcome.”
According to the producer of ‘The Silent Man,’ “I have formed a group of writers who I would like to use fictional works for adaptation. Through adaptation, one can make the audience think and also entertain them.”
