The film “Jonoon” directed by Kamran Qadakchian and produced by the Institute of Visual Media has been screened online as one of the products of the Farabi Cinema Foundation on the home theater network through the Namava and Filimo platforms.
Film Jonoon, next to the ports of the Persian Gulf, in a special geographical area, there is a tradition called “Zar” which is a demon-possessing ceremony in the south of Iran and one group of people in that region believe it and another group does not accept it. .”Behzad” believes that the spirit of “Barsad” has conquered him and this psychotic man, by entering the solitude of “Ghazal”, causes terrifying adventures.
Mitra Hajar, Kambiz Dirbaz, Asha Mehrabi, Ghorban Najafi, Majid Jafari and Mehrnaz Aflakian play roles in this film.
In the days when showing new Iranian films has become a rarity and the audience of plays entertains themselves with the serials of their home theater network, “jonoon” by Kamran Qadakchian is one of the few cinematic works that has been released due to the days of solitude. Online screening has been seen by people.
Produced in horror, this film is not the last work of Qadakchians and it has been about four years since its production; That is, before “Janan”, the last work of this veteran filmmaker.
Film Jonoon Story
“jonoon” is not in a good situation in terms of form and evaluation criteria of Iranian cinema, and if we look at it optimistically, it is called a mediocre film. This film, however, can be of interest to Iranian cinema lovers for several reasons.In this article, we take a look at the possibilities and limitations of “jonoon”.
If you are a fan of classical cinema, hearing the title “jonoon” for a film may remind you of the landmark work of Alfred Hitchcock, the legendary twentieth century filmmaker.It does not seem appropriate to choose such a name for an average Iranian film that bears similarities to the original work in the genre; Because the “jonoon” of the Qadakchians does not take a step forward in cinema and update Hitchcock’s work, nor can it be to the extent that it pays homage to the position of this giant of classical cinema and important film.
“jonoon” with its flamboyant title raises the expectations of the audience and makes the director appear as a claimant in the eyes of the viewer; On the other hand, if it had a simpler name, it could have been judged more fairly by lowering the viewer’s expectations.
The cinematic genre of horror films, called the horror genre, is one of the things that Iranian cinema, in previous decades, has ignored and few films have been made with this genre.The horror genre, which is very popular in world cinema, has been ignored in Iran; But fortunately, it has been considered by Iranian filmmakers again for several years, and appropriate productions in this genre have been offered to the audience.
In recent years, the Home Show Network has produced and aired three titles in the horror genre, “Summoning”, “Sleeping” and “Them”.In cinema, works such as “jonoon” are in the low category of recent productions of the horror genre, a film like “That Night” is in the middle category, and “Zalava” by Arsalan Amiri is a significant and indigenous work of this genre.The least benefit of the prosperity and multiplicity of horror productions is that it adds variety to Iranian cinema; At the same time, in general, the eastern and traditional society of Iran can be a good platform for the production of original works in the horror genre.
“jonoon” is influenced by the Hollywood horror genre in terms of performance and has less of an important indigenous character.Choosing the location of an old house and that wooden room is the main element of most Hollywood horror movies, which is not very effective for an Iranian family of three with an urban lifestyle.Using the character of a young girl to pretend to be conquered is also a classic feature of horror cinema, which some of the plot of the film tries to make possible.The filming style is also the least creative and follows the common camera patterns in the world of horror cinema.The music of the film is made of the same terrifying music of foreign horror films.
One of the few highlights of “jonoon” is its storytelling script.The author of this work has tried to observe the causal relations in a principled way in the text, and that is why he gives us information about the past of people, their relations, as well as explanations about the ritual field.
However, “jonoon” starts too late and wastes a lot of time at the beginning. In the second half, after the identity of Barsat’s character is determined, the film suffers from a kind of rhythm drop and cannot adjust its rhythm to the audience’s expectations.
However, the fact that “jonoon” tries to have an implicit message for the plot and a story to tell, in addition to scaring the audience, is itself a step forward.
Film Jonoon Casts
The main role in the movie “jonoon” is played by Mitra Hajar, who also shows a relatively high quality performance.Hajar, who has a long history in acting and has had the experience of acting in important works of Iranian cinema, has been somewhat far from his heyday in recent years; But he can still take the role of the sonnet in front of the camera with a higher standard than the film as a whole, although in some critical moments of the film, he cannot reflect the fear well on his face.
Kambiz has long been in the role of Amir, a police officer who has a typical and predictable image, and this immaturity of the character makes it impossible to meet the expectations of the audience.Asha Mehrabi, Ghorban Najafi and Majid Jafari are the other actors in the film, all of whom have performed below average.