MovieChat Forums > Beed-e majnoon (2007) Discussion > various questons...

various questons...

posted 15 years ago by mya1019
12 replies | jump to latest

how did he see the ant at the beginning and then at the end? or is he just imagining this?

what does the ant symbolize?

and what exaclty happens at the end, it seems to me he is in a junkyard then finds his way back home?

why did he also throw away all his braille books?

also, when he sees all the blind people, he feels really bad? (in the school?) im guessing his wife was a teacher at the school of the blind.

this reminds me of rang-e-khoda and pretty much all of his films, with that symbolic ending and in a way, people always get what they ask for, because they think a certain way..but i find it to be true and honest, but sad. in rang-e-khoda the man gives his son away to the apprentice, then his i think the mother in law dies so they have to call of the wedding, and the man at the end of the film is crying with his son...the light im not sure of..symbolizes that he either dies or he comes back to life..its very mysterious.

and also too, the guy morteza is in all of his flms...except rang e khoda and probably his earlier works.

also, is this movie based off a book? i did not see much significance to an actual willow tree or let alone see one, except in that picture.

~*but are you that clever that you smile forever?*~

[–] film_ophile 15 years ago

mya,
bad bad.

i too am asking your questions. but i am also looking into his other films, and i do NOT want to read about the end of one I might see.....

"and what exaclty happens at the end, it seems to me he is in a junkyard then finds his way back home?" yes, that's what i saw as well. the lowest of the low, unless you spend the night in a cemetery......

"why did he also throw away all his braille books?" I felt it was the ultimate enactment of his rage.

"also, when he sees all the blind people, he feels really bad? (in the school?) im guessing his wife was a teacher at the school of the blind."
i thought it was where he went to school, in the good ol' days.

which of his films do you most recommend? thank you.

Ad hoc, Ad loc, Quid pro queeee,
So little time and so much to see

[–] mya1019 15 years ago

hi film ophile, thanks for responding back. and i had assumed (first of all, there are very few comments here) people who do look here have seen the film, and have seen his other works...sorry about that. he is known, but not that known, i think.

all of his flims, in my opinion, (from what ive seen, and i think ive seen 4, willow tree being the 4th) are profound and if you watch them there's always some underlying message and im sure there's a lot of symbolism...2/4 though i think have same ideas, both dealing with blindess..the other 2, are different.
baran is my favorite, one i could re-watch again, its the first movie of his i knew about. its a love story/growing up type of story.

bachem e khoda (children of heaven), i think was nominated for an oscar and was a big hit internationally. that movie is good too...like i said all his films are good and have had critical acclaim, and won a few awards, but baran's a personal fave i guess since its the first film of his i saw and i had waited a long time to see.

let me know what you decide to see and what you think :D

~*but are you that clever that you smile forever?*~

[–] film_ophile 15 years ago

i have seen the 2 kids' movies, but was MUCH more involved in The Willow than those 2. It is such a deeply philosophical work. I have requested Baran from my local library and look forw to seeing it. From what I understand, film censorship is so overwhelming in Iran that films about children are one of the few subjects directors can more freely work with.

Ad hoc, Ad loc, Quid pro queeee,
So little time and so much to see!

[–] mya1019 15 years ago

oh wow..hmm i dont know about iranian films, but i do know they do have a perhaps, not large industry, but they definitely have one of various works and I am guessing they are quite popular, not only in the country, but perhaps abroad, as well. that is intersting you are more into the willow tree...so you have seen rang e khoda (color of paradise)? i found the ideas the same...however, the willow tree i thought was filmed differently, with showing various time lapses and music, also...which was kind of eerie but lovely.
i was unsure about the ant though; i am sure there is some meaning it had. i am just confused how the guy came back home after being in the junkyard...ah i can go on.
:)
best wishes in 2009::
~*but are you that clever that you smile forever?*~

[–] film_ophile 15 years ago

well,mya, I'm suggesting you try to think of it in a simple direct way:

he does get himself home, somehow, from the dump.the dump is the lowest of the low for the living. home represents, among many things, past happiness. it is where everything that he is- exists. so the fact that he returns home- is a hopeful act in and of itself.

ants seem to always represent diligence and fortitude through all hardships- the ultimate Sisyphus. Maybe it's irrelevant whether he sees it or not ; it's intended for US to see- as a metaphor.

now, a question for you:
this "letter to god"; I don't remember this. When he regained his sight, he wrote a letter to god? when? the subtitles spelled that out?what did he do with it after he wrote it? you're sure it's not a poem he READ that was a letter to god?

Ad hoc, Ad loc, Quid pro queeee,
So little time and so much to see

[–] mya1019 15 years ago

yeah, Im sure he got home, its just whenyou think of it in real life terms it makes you sad, but you are right...it is a hopeful venture.
i thought he had written a note to God or was reading a letter to God when he was going to go have surgery. he was sitting on the bed..then later on in the film he puts this letter in his book. at the end of the film you see him take it out and read it then the credits roll.

~*but are you that clever that you smile forever?*~

[–] Lebna 15 years ago

Hi all,

I was following your messages and thought I could add something to it. I have just recently found out about Children of Heaven (yesternight!) and I loved it.
About Willow Tree, I haven't seen that one, but, the idea of having an ant at the beginning and the end of the film, made me think of the dialogue between an ant and Prophet Solomon, in the Quran. I think you have also mentioned a special focus on the ant and the protagonist seeing it, if I'm not mistaken. I'll try to find the film and see if there is any connection. Warm regards, Reng

[–] targa9 9 years ago

he wrote a letter to God when he was blind at the beginning asking for a second chance. It was in Braille. At the end he picked up the Rumi book and out fell his letter to God and so it reminded him of his promise to God that if he restored his sight he would live for God, and this is why God took his sight away again, because Yusuf forgot his promise. He did not make a second promise at the end...it was the same letter he forgot he wrote.

[–] film_ophile 9 years ago

WOW TARGA, i wish you had written this before! But thank you; I will see the film again, and refer to your comments.

targa, what do willows symbolize in your culture? Here in the U.S., the willow tree is associated with Death and Mourning. They also have roots that seek out water; willow trees are usually located next to water.

The way to have what we want
Is to share what we have.

[–] targa9 9 years ago

I live in the US. Interesting about the symbolism. In the movie, Yousef had a fondness for willows, because he planted one at the blind school, and it grew up larger than him, and he always felt they brought him luck. The title could mean so many things; I like to think of it as the willow tree, growing up with him when he was blind, was really who he was, what he identified with, what gave him comfort. When he got his sight back, he forgot all about the tree and its meaning, thus losing himself in the process. I don't remember if they actually showed the willow tree he was speaking of.

[–] shutterbug_iconium 15 years ago

Youssef peers at a worker ant as it disappears in and out of the shadow cast by the bars of a hospital room window, but what would appear to be a seemingly random glimpse of nature in motion is a symbolic prognostication of the journey Youssef will make in and out of the physical light of the world.-Ed Gonzalez

In my opinion--The ant is the humble servant of God which does not question the role cut out for him. It does not need a transformation to know that God is the biggest existence in its life. It can carry something as heavy as ten times bigger than itself because it knows that it has been created for that. Yusuf who had an impeccable inner connection with his creator in his gloom loses that reflection after he regains his eyesight.

.....And yet he yearns to be and feel differently, and he realizes that the only way there is through sacrifice and surrender. A hagiographical account of a meeting of Rumi with the wandering dervish Shams-i Tabriz, who would become his soul companion and totally transform his life, has Rumi sitting with his students surrounded by his books. Shams appears and asks, "What are these?" Rumi replies, "You wouldn't know." At which point the entire library bursts into flames, and Shams says, "You wouldn't know either." In another version of the story, Shams tosses all of Rumi's books into a fountain. We thought of these stories during a critical scene in The Willow Tree.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shutterbug_iconium/

[–] film_ophile 14 years ago

shutterbug, i have only now read your comments and quotes from others. They are extremely helpful, so thank you. i just finished watching Baran, which I liked very much but about which I posted a number of "I am confused" comments in various Baran threads. I am just about to watch his latest, Song of the Sparrows.

Ad hoc, Ad loc, Quid pro queeee,
So little time and so much to see