''The Night Bus'' (;

Transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → and → the digraph , Cyrillic → , Armenian → or L ...

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

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

ian film directed by

Kiumars Pourahmad Kiumars Pourahmad (; 16 December 1949 – 5 April 2023) was an Iranian film director, screenwriter, film editor, film producer and novelist. He is best known for his TV Series, '' The Tales of Majid.'' Biography He was born in Najafabad on 1 ...

. 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, mon ...

, 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, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

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

garrison A garrison 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 military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

inside

. From the details one is informed that the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...

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. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

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 Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, 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 POW is "prisoner of war", a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. POW or pow may also refer to: Music * P.O.W (Bullet for My Valentine song), "P.O.W" (Bull ...

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

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

), the 18-year-old Iranian soldier from

Abadan Abadan (; ) is a city in the Central District (Abadan County), Central District of Abadan County, Khuzestan province, Khuzestan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. The city is in the southwest of the coun ...

; 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, sometimes called "Asia-Pacific Oscars". In order to realise UNESCO's goals of promoting ...

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 city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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 Mohammad Reza Foroutan (; born December 28, 1968, in Tehran) is an Iranian actor and singer. Life Mohammad Reza Foroutan was born on December 28, 1968, in Tehran.He has started acting since 1994.He studied Health Psychology. He currently holds ...

: ''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 (, ; ), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo- cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. G ...

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 Ba'ath Party ( ' ), also known simply as Bath Party (), was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party espoused Ba'athism, which is an ideology ...

. * 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 battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

driver from

Esfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city has a population of approximately ...

(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 imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', which describes a fictional island soci ...

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 (), or of Name of Iran, Persia, refers to the film industry in Iran. In particular, Iranian art films have garnered international recognition. Iranian films are usually written and spoken in the Persian language. Iran has bee ...

References

External links

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

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

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

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 ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

, 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 2000s war drama films

Cast

See also

References

External links