Deaf Crocodile and Vinegar Syndrome have announced that they will be releasing the box set The Time Bending Mysteries of Shahram Mokri on Blu-Ray on June 28, 2022. The Blu-ray box set contains his groundbreaking Iranian films CARELESS CRIME (2020), FISH & CAT (2013), INVASION (2017) and ASHKAN, THE CHARMED RING & THE OTHER STORIES (2008), all of which straddle the line between arthouse and genre filmmaking in their surreal tales of serial killers and kite flyers, New Wave vampires, and arsonists lost in time.
The special edition box set includes a new 4-part video interview with Mokri about his career and the making of his films; behind-the-scenes footage of CARELESS CRIME with new commentary by Mokri; a new English translation of an essay on Mokri’s breakout film FISH & CAT from the Iranian cinema magazine “24” by author Mohammad Vahdani; and a detailed cartoon map of the dramatic action in FISH & CAT, also from “24” magazine. Get the details below!
Synopsis: What is Time? What is Memory? Are we in the past or present — or some strange, unknowable hybrid of the two haunted by arsonists, bloodsuckers, serial killers and phantom images of our own selves? The films of Iranian director Shahram Mokri straddle the line between genre and arthouse cinema, whether Moebius strip-like meditations on classic 1970s American slasher films (FISH & CAT), political thrillers (CARELESS CRIME), 1980s New Wave sci-fi/vampire movies (INVASION), or offbeat Jarmusch-meets-Tarantino indie mysteries (ASHKAN, THE HOLY RING & OTHER STORIES). It’s small wonder that Abbas Kiarostami in his last film, 24 FRAMES, left a cryptic message onscreen in Persian that simply read: “Shahram Mokri.”
CARELESS CRIME (JENAYAT-E BI DEGHAT), 2020, Iran, Deaf Crocodile Films (U.S.), 134 min. One of the most dazzling and enigmatic films in recent memory, Iranian director Shahram Mokri’s mind-bending mystery leapfrogs between past and present, fact and fiction to create an unforgettable picture of time not as a straight line, but as an elastic, constantly spinning Moebius strip. Inspired by a real-life tragedy, the infamous Cinema Rex fire in 1978 that triggered the Iranian Revolution, CARELESS CRIME follows three “timelines” — of arsonists planning to burn down a movie theatre; of workers and students at the cinema; and of characters within the film screening at the cinema — which may or may not all be happening at the same time. Comparisons abound, to the work of Chris Marker (LA JETEE), to Hitchcock’s VERTIGO, to Wojciech Has’s THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT, but Mokri’s film is a magnificent, multi-faceted puzzlebox all its own. Time and the way Cinema represents it are really the main characters in CARELESS CRIME, alternately reinforcing and frustrating each other — all fueled by a tragedy so ferocious that it’s literally burned a hole through the fabric of reality. With Babak Karimi, Abolfazl Kahani, Adel Yaraghi, Behzad Dorani, Elaheh Bakhshi. (In Persian with English subtitles.) Winner of the Bisato d’Oro Award for Best Original Screenplay at the 77th Venice Film Festival, 2020. Winner of the Silver Hugo Jury Prize at the Chicago International Film Festival 2020.
FISH & CAT (MAHI VA GORBEH), 2013, Iran (Deaf Crocodile, U.S.), 134 min. A group of attractive young Iranian kite-flying enthusiasts gather at a dismal lake, near a restaurant where two sinister characters straight out of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE are serving up grisly fare. Shahram Mokri’s breakout second feature is an unclassifiably brilliant, single-shot meditation on 1970s American slasher films like FRIDAY THE 13th but filtered through a purely art-house lens. Eerie, circular, and overwhelmingly mysterious, with strange and unexpected tangents, weird tales of phantom lights, and an insistent, repetitive dream logic, FISH & CAT is a “horror” film in the same way Tarkovsky’s STALKER is “science fiction.” With Babak Karimi, Saeed Ebrahimifar, Abed Abest, Ainaz Azarhoush. (In Persian with English subtitles.)
ASHKAN, THE CHARMED RING AND OTHER STORIES (ASHKAN, ANGOSHTAR-E MOTEBAREK VA DASTAN-HAYE DIGAR), 2008, Iran (Deaf Crocodile, U.S.), 92 min. Director Shahram Mokri’s first feature is a delightfully offbeat B&W comedy about the mysterious workings of fate, played out in deadpan Jim Jarmusch-meets-Quentin Tarantino-like vignettes. Two blind jewel thieves, a young man who can’t succeed at killing himself, a love-struck police officer, and two female morgue attendants find their lives interconnected when an unusual fish is set free and a charmed ring is moved. Watch for sly references to film noir classics including LE SAMOURAI and KISS ME DEADLY in this wonderful and eccentric Iranian gem. With: Saeed Ebrahimifar, Sina Razani, Reza Behboudi, Siamak Safari, Ali Sarabi, Pegah Tabasinejad. (In Persian with English subtitles.)
INVASION (HOJOOM), 2017, Iran (Deaf Crocodile, U.S.), 102 min. Director Shahram Mokri’s third and most formally challenging film continues the time-bending, single-shot experimentation of FISH & CAT (and later, CARELESS CRIME) in a science-fiction/detective/
Blu-ray Box Set includes:
- First-ever U.S. release of all 4 of Mokri’s groundbreaking features [Features in Persian with English subtitles]
- ASHKAN, THE CHARMED RING AND OTHER STORIES (ASHKAN, ANGOSHTAR-E MOTEBAREK VA DASTAN-HAYE DIGAR), 2008, 92 min.
- FISH & CAT (MAHI VA GORBEH), 2013, 134 min.
- INVASION (HOJOOM), 2017, 102 min.
- CARELESS CRIME (JENAYAT-E BI DEGHAT), 2020, 134 min.
- New 4-part video interview with Shahram Mokri about his career and the making of ASHKAN, FISH & CAT, INVASION and CARELESS CRIME (225 min. total, in Persian with English subtitles)
- Behind-the-scenes footage of CARELESS CRIME with new commentary by Shahram Mokri (23 min., in Persian with English subtitles)
- New English translation of essay by author Mohammed Vahdani (originally published in “24” magazine)
- Detailed map of the dramatic action in FISH & CAT (originally published in “24” magazine)
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Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.