DARK MATTER
Iran, 2023, 84 minutes, Black-and-white/Colour.
Mahdis Mahdiyar, Keivan Parmar, Iman Sayyadborhani.
Directed by Karim Lakzaheh
Dark Matter is a brief film for the Festival, arthouse circuit and, especially for aspiring filmmakers. It is small budget, focused on a few central characters, and a film within a film, so to speak. It became celebrated in 2023 for its critique of the hijab, considering the controversies in Iran, the condemnation of women not wearing the hijab, the interventions of the moral police, the deaths of young women at the hands of the Morality police. Dark Matter was, excusing the pun, unveiled at the 2023 Karlovy Vary Festival.
Two acting would-bes are in the countryside, discussing auditions for small parts in the film being made, hanging around, conversations. One is an actress, defiantly not wearing the hijab, going back to her hotel, waiting for a call, invited to a party, but thinking that the other hopeful actress was going to get the part. The actor, meanwhile, hangs around, ingratiates himself in helping with moving equipment, offering himself as a driver. In collusion with the young actress, he drives her rival out into the countryside pretending that this is where the shoot is to take place and leaves her there alone. He then drives his friend – but, a change of heart, going to rescue the other actress who is very angry.
They encounter a would-be director who has an old camera. What happens is that they concoct their own screenplay, taking advantage of their own personalities, their interactions, especially with a millionaire. They make up the film as they go, filming particular scenes, meaning that the action does take the form of a small drama, the friends robbing the millionaire, his safe, finding a piece of a meteorite, making contacts to sell it, and their being one-upped by the buyer turning out to be the millionaire himself – who has a gun and shoots them.
While the general audience may be interested and amused, the situation, the characters, the desire to make a film, making up a scenario, acting it, filming it, is much more for movie students and hopefuls.
