Gone, but Not Forgotten
Dariush Mehrjui
December 8, 1939 - October 14, 2023
There are days when the world makes little sense. The fourteenth of October was one such day, for that was when someone broke into the home that 83-year old Iranian director Dariush Mehrjui shared with his wife, Vahideh Mohammadifar, and stabbed them both to death. Words seem trivial here, and speaking of movies while their family and friends are grieving feels rather heartless.
However, I will be eternally grateful to Mr. Mehrjui for helping to open my eyes to Iranian Cinema, its history, and Iranian culture. I will remember the humanity he gave to the central character of his 1969 film, The Cow, a man struggling to accept both the loss of his pet cow and the status having the only cow in the village afforded him. And I will always be grateful for the chance to see Leila, his 1997 meditation on tradition and its affects on a young woman whose inability to conceive threatens to make her a second-class citizen in her own home. I was both moved and enlightened by these movies, and I offer my sincere condolences to his family.
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