The email sent will contain a link to this article, the article title, and an article excerpt (if available). For security reasons, your IP address will also be included in the sent email.
"Iranians Get the Last Laugh After Clerics Ban a Comedy," by Karl Vick, Washington Post, 14 July, p. A12.
Funny movie packs 'em in, Tehran: criminal escapes jail by dressing as cleric and then is forced into hilarious fish-outta-water situations out in the real world. "The Lizard" became a cultural phenomenon in Iran, so naturally the mullahs had to shut it down. But here's the info age problem: too many boot-leg videos are already out and about.
Here's the great analysis of the piece:
In 1979, while imposing a severe interpretation of the Koran, the mullahs shuttered every one of Tehran's 74 movie theaters. Today, visitors are directed to black-and-white snapshots of each of them in the Film Museum of Iran, a converted palace that honors the country's widely acclaimed directors, including those whose most famous works are banned here.
The contradictions reflect a shifting reality. After a seven-year effort at reform failed to wrest decisive power from unelected clerics, the population of 70 million has largely retreated, leaving politics to hard-liners yet withholding the legitimacy the conservatives crave.
That is a perfect description of the late Brezhnev period in the now-defunct Soviet Union. Waiting for Gorbachev is the name of the game now, and Khatami does not seem to be the man.
Return to Article
