''The Night Bus'' ( fa, اتوبوس شب;

Transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...

: ''Otobus-e Shab'') is a 2007

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian film directed by

Kiumars Pourahmad Kiumars Pourahmad ( fa, کیومرث پوراحمد, born 16 December 1949 in Najaf Abad, Isfahan, Iran) is an Iranian film director, screenwriter, film editor and film producer. Career Pourahmad started his career as a film critic and ass ...

. The film, which is in sharp

monochrome A monochrome or monochromatic image, object or palette is composed of one color (or values of one color). Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale (typically digital) or black-and-white (typically analog). In physics, monochrom ...

, relates the story of a twenty-four-hour-long journey of two young Iranian soldiers (''Issā'' and ''Emād'') and a civilian driver (''Amu Rahim'') transporting thirty-eight

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

i prisoners of war, taken from behind the Iraqi line, to a

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

inside

. From the details one is informed that the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Council ...

has entered into its third year. The film masterfully depicts the deep inhumanity of acts of war amongst nations by showing the shared humanity of the combatants on both sides. Some scenes of the above-mentioned garrison are reminiscent of those of the 1965

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

film '' The Hill''. In the film, the Iranian characters speak

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

amongst themselves, with a variety of regional accents — emphasising the national character of the war effort, but broken

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

, comprehensible to a Persian-speaking person, when addressing the Iraqi prisoners. The Arabic dialogues of the film, by the prisoners, are accompanied by Persian subtitles.

Cast

* Khosrow Shakibā'í: ''Amu'' (Uncle), and at times ''Amu Rahim'' (Uncle Rahim) and ''Āghā Joon'' (Sir my soul), the bus driver. Although it is never stated, the film suggests that ''Amu Rahim's'' own son is an Iranian

POW A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...

in Iraqi hands. * Mehrdād Sedighiān: ''Issā'' (

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

), the 18-year-old Iranian soldier from

Abadan Abadan ( fa, آبادان ''Ābādān'', ) is a city and capital of Abadan County, Khuzestan Province, which is located in the southwest of Iran. It lies on Abadan Island ( long, 3–19 km or 2–12 miles wide). The island is bounded ...

; he is often called by ''Amu Rahim'', somewhat derogatorily, as ''Bach'cheh'' (Child, Juvenile); as the emotional bond between the two strengthens, ''Amu'' calls ''Issā'' once as ''Issā Jān'' (''Issā'' my soul). ''Issā'' has entered into military service at the age of 16, when his father was killed while defending Abadan; at the outset of the War, the father had sent his entire family, with the exception of ''Issā'', to his brother's home in another Iranian city for safety. Won the

Asia Pacific Screen Award The Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) is an international cultural initiative overseen by the Asia Pacific Screen Academy and headquartered in Australia. In order to realise UNESCO's goals of promoting and preserving the different cultures t ...

for Best Performance by an Actor for this role. * Amir-Mohammd Zand: ''Emād'', the second and the more senior Iranian soldier/officer. ''Emād'' had just started studying in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

when the War broke out, whereon he volunteered as an officer in the army. * Elnāz Shākerdoust: ''Reyhāneh'', wife of ''Emād''. She and ''Emād'', along with her parents, had been living in London. When ''Emād'' volunteered to serve in the War effort, she returned with ''Emād'' to Iran, leaving the parents in London. * Mohammad-Reza Foroutan: ''Fārouq'' (''Fārouq Abd al-Amir''), an Iraqi POW whose father is Iraqi and mother Iranian. It turns out that two of ''Fārouq's'' brothers are on the run from the henchmen of Saddam Hossein and a third brother and a sister are in Saddam Hossein's jails, awaiting execution. * Kourosh Soleimani: ''Sirvān'' (''Sirvān Foād''), an Iraqi POW from Iraq's

Kurdistan Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, Kurdish la ...

and a recent medical graduate. Prior to the War, ''Sirvān'' had been studying medicine in London; he had only returned to Iraq for bringing his family into safety, but forcefully drafted into the Iraqi army. * Ahmad Kavari: An Iraqi POW and a member of Iraq's

Baath Party The Arab Socialist Baʿath Party ( ar, حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي ' ) was a political party founded in Syria by Mishel ʿAflaq, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Bītār, and associates of Zaki al-ʾArsūzī. The party espoused B ...

. * Mehran Nael: An Iranian

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

driver from

Esfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...

(this as betrayed by his Esfahani accent) who despite having fought valiantly and helped capturing some tanks from Iraqis, seems to be unable to think ill of any one; he appears to live mentally in an

Utopian A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', describing a fictional island society ...

world of his own. Although Mehrān Nātel's appearance in the film is very brief, he shows himself as another extraordinarily talented young actor of the

Iranian cinema The Cinema of Iran (Persian: سینمای ایران), also known as the Cinema of Persia, refers to the cinema and film industries in Iran which produce a variety of commercial films annually. Iranian art films have garnered international fame a ...

References

External links

* Elizabeth Kerr, ''Night Bus'', The Hollywood Reporter, 8 October 2007

* Elizabeth Kerr, ''Night Bus'', The Jameson

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

International Film Festival, 15–24 February 2008

* ''18th Annual Festival of Films from Iran'', October 6 — November 5, 2007, Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago's Premier Movie Theater

* A Photo Reportage of ''The Night Bus'', Āftāb, Friday 9 February 2007
(1)
* ''Travelling with Pourahmad in "The Night Bus"'', in Persian, Tebyan, Sunday 2 December 2007, reprinted from ''Ruz'nāme-ye Iran'' (Iran Newspaper)

* ''Night Bus'', Film International, Iranian Film Quarterly, 2007

* ''Night Bus (Otobus-e Shab)'', Flanders 35th International Film Festival,

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

, 7–18 October 2008

{{DEFAULTSORT:Night Bus, The 2007 films Films about buses Iranian war drama films 2000s Persian-language films Iran–Iraq War films

Cast

See also

References

External links