Rachel Aviv at the height of her powers
November 3, 2022 3:09 PM   Subscribe

 
Farhadi seems to be a weasel who is enabled by everyone around him. I don't watch Iranian cinema, but I'd heard of A Separation enough to recognize the title when I read it.

With people like this, unless you can coordinate a cabal (or maybe call it an intervention) to cut them off from their usual paths toward deflection/forgiveness, they will continue on until they die or are hoisted on their own petard.

I'm sorry for everyone who seems to have been so hurt and yet so enamored by this person. That's a painful place to live in.
posted by hippybear at 4:04 PM on November 3, 2022 [2 favorites]


Also, this article is quite a long read, so be prepared for that.
posted by hippybear at 4:05 PM on November 3, 2022


Wow, long yes. But all kinds of amazing.
posted by sixswitch at 5:16 PM on November 3, 2022 [1 favorite]


Archive version.

(Fortunately, with a story this long, the New Yorker doesn't seem to count viewing the same article as multiple accesses.)
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 9:06 PM on November 3, 2022 [1 favorite]


If ideas can be stolen, can someone else own a piece of your mind?

Theft isn't a good model for understanding the moral wrongdoing claimed, rather deception and bullying. Precision of accusations in amplified speech is important for the health of our society.
posted by grokus at 9:16 PM on November 3, 2022 [1 favorite]


So he charged people 1400 bucks, they did the research and the recording, ended the workshop early, kept the money, and he doesn’t even give a writing credit?
ideas can be stolen
Yes, they can. Particularly a well-developed story like this one.posted by JoeBlubaugh at 9:48 PM on November 3, 2022 [1 favorite]


Goddamn this is a bummer. I loved this man's movies. Goddammit.
posted by ishmael at 11:05 PM on November 3, 2022


I suppose they're not 100% his movies anyway.
posted by ishmael at 11:06 PM on November 3, 2022 [1 favorite]


Goddammit.
posted by ishmael at 11:06 PM on November 3, 2022 [1 favorite]


The article is fantastic - about truth, lies, “good vs good”, morality, ethics and art.
Read it!
posted by beesbees at 2:14 AM on November 4, 2022


Loved A Hero, hated what I read about his behaviour here. It's desperately sad to see so many people justifying his exploitation with "we need his genius to continue", even from those who he's harmed directly. The truth is that his movies, as good as they are, are not worth the damage he's doing. Think of how many people whose work he stole or failed to credit haven't had their own chances to make movies.

And it's not even as if he's the only great Iranian filmmaker doing good work. I literally just watched Hit the Road from last year, an Iranian road-comedy-drama, and it's just as good as Farhadi's movies, and hopefully free of the stench of abuse.
posted by adrianhon at 4:39 AM on November 4, 2022 [5 favorites]


If ideas can be stolen, can someone else own a piece of your mind?

Theft isn't a good model for understanding the moral wrongdoing claimed, rather deception and bullying. Precision of accusations in amplified speech is important for the health of our society.
posted by neroli at 6:12 AM on November 4, 2022 [2 favorites]


I wish I could see the original documentary--I enjoyed A Hero and would want to see the differences.
posted by kingdead at 7:08 AM on November 4, 2022


This article was *so long* but absolutely captivating. I'm not a cinema buff, never heard of this guy before, but it's so well written i couldn't put it down.
posted by wowenthusiast at 7:30 AM on November 4, 2022 [2 favorites]


Very interesting article about some movies and creators I will likely never see the work for and intersection between that and politics in action. Seems like a really frustrating person working in an even more frustrating environment, and I feel for Masihzadeh. From getting grifted by the initial class to having her work stolen by some dude who acts as though truth were something he could script and rewrite through sheer will.
posted by GoblinHoney at 7:50 AM on November 4, 2022


What is a hero?

The interesting thing about the story is that maybe he’s not the obvious asshole you’d might expect him to be. Some of his collaborators laugh at his illusions of grandeur, the idea of being one man alone in a room, but still they support his projects…

I like it when the world is not black and white. It’s interesting, it makes you think… and it makes you feel it differently.
posted by beesbees at 9:25 AM on November 4, 2022


Silent Movie GIFs, which is a delightful Twitter account, occasionally posts compilation videos of modern films borrowing shots from silent films. I don't see one in the past month, though.
posted by neuron at 11:06 AM on November 4, 2022


Well, this is pretty sad. I liked "A Separation" and "The Salesman". They were quite well done. "Hero", was a little less impactful for me but still good. Sounds like Farhadi has ego issues.
posted by storybored at 8:49 PM on November 5, 2022


The filmmaker's name is Azadeh Masihzadeh.

Just wanted to post her full name in a thread about her work.
posted by goofyfoot at 4:47 AM on November 10, 2022


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