28 years have passed with incredible speed since the death of Ali Hatami. I don’t know if Hatami had been alive and would have been able to implement his ambitious ideas during these 28 years.
With the conditions that have prevailed in the cinema in these years, if he passes through the seven approvals, would he be able to find unexpected cultural and suitable investors for his special and expensive films and portray them in the magnificent way he always had in mind (similar to what he did in his youth He did it to some extent for “Hazardestan” and with a strange perseverance and a creative mind, while bringing together the minds of various television managements and providing the necessary financial resources, he was able to produce a dignified and lasting product. Bode would settle for more ordinary, less expensive and more neutral works that would face less worries (although he was able to turn more ordinary subjects like “Mother” into an impressive film with his genius) or perhaps like one or two other contemporaries of his generation, Attai He allowed him to work and took refuge from bitterness and disrespect to a secluded corner and preserved the honor of his prolific career.
Any of these paths and choices could have happened, because in the case of his contemporaries who once built the cornerstone of Iran’s valuable cinema under the title of “Progressive Cinematographers Center” with limited resources and continued their work despite all the adversities. But what is painful is the fate of this honorable, low-expected and dignified generation. If they were in an efficient and appreciative cultural system, with all the prestige and influence they have gained on their work path for the people and culture of the country, in the official view, they deserve the position and They were in a place of less concern and a better end, and they had an effective and meaningful presence even in old age.
Hatami (and the third martyr) with his sensitive personality and soul, he was not able to deal with adversity and unkind looks, which had turned into an uncontrollable monster of illness, and he died in middle age. Hatami in the years before the revolution, although he had an original and good start. Hasan Kachel and Toqi were well received by the public, but the commercial failure of the films Babashamal and Qalandar made it difficult for him to continue his career in cinema.
He never tarnished the honor of his work by doing silly things and continued his path in television, when he made Sultan Sahibqaran and then Silk Road (which later became Hazardastan), both of which became enduring works of television before and after the revolution. Of course. In the meantime, he did not neglect the cinema either, and made the long-lasting films Sattar Khan and Sote Delan before the revolution, and Haji Washington and Kamal al-Molk after the revolution, in parallel with his series, whose thematic diversity and cinematic values are rare.
In an era when the dominant atmosphere of the cinema was topics related to Savak or war actions, he goes to Kamal al-Molk and examines the relationship between art and artists with the rulers from the point of view of an artist like him. The words he used to say in a historical format always had an up-to-date and contemporary meaning. Hazardestan, who spent a decade of his life with great difficulty to build a large town (which is still an important reserve for the historical productions of radio and television) and serials, with various audits, about half From what he had in mind, it was aired in the years of war and rocket rains in the mid-sixties, but it was still fresh and influential, and its thematic values and cinematic subtleties have not diminished after all these years. But “Jafar Khan returned from Farang” did not happen, what he wanted and preferred not to have his name on it.
But “Mother” became the most successful film after his revolution. The simple and two-line theme of gathering the children of a mother who feels that she is spending the last days of her life, with the rich taste of Hatami, became a spectacular treasure of architecture, music, acting, dubbing, and multifaceted and lasting dialogues. became. “Dilshdegan”, which was an ambitious 3-hour film about music, to reach the usual 90-minute time, many of its parts and subtleties were lost, but Hatami’s scent can still be smelled in the frames, clothes, scenes, make-up, games and dialogues. Unfortunately, in those years (unlike today, when everyone praises him), he was always unloved by both the officials and the critics. What designs and ideas such as Snow Queens, Takhti, Garden Party, Life of Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH), etc., some of them even reached pre-production and were either not produced or failed due to the obstacles that were created.
On the other hand, most of the critics, regardless of his rich career and professional dignity, were looking for the historical flaws of his works or comparing his films with other films. If this road was always rocky for cultural filmmakers, it would have been a little smoother for Hatami, he would not have grown from youth to old by making a series, and he would not have become an old man in middle age with complications of illness, and all these authentic and Iranian issues that he nurtures in his mind could have been With his emotional look, they become spectacular works and remain and add to the treasure of original films. Such people and national issues do not have such respect and closeness in the eyes of foreigners and festivals, and if the domestic cultural system (including the director, audience and critic) also supports And they should not take care of such artists, who should he have an eye on? Disappointing and de-motivating original artists like Hatami only paves the way for imitators, lackeys and opportunists, which unfortunately it has done.