Perfil en LinkedInThe Tune of the Hero
The German title, more than the English translation, shows the significant though subtle contradiction between the terms, "life" and "others". Contradiction or may be distance; emotional distance.
It is precisely through a purely emotional language -without the usual stridencies of the genre- that the film is able to portray human isolation. And with, again, the utmost emotional precision, it exposes the absolute isolation to which individuals are condemned under a paranoid regime based on fear.
The rare combination of mainstream political acknowledgment and popular success allows the poet and the actress to dance. But they are the only ones able to display a spark of joy here -and no matter what, not even them are free of the anguishing consequences of general dread.
In this sick society the search for joy is punished, though it is still present. It is this presence what allows the film to encompass an optimistic turn. Surprisingly enough, it is nor compassion nor the commonly accepted ideal of love but only breaking the instinct of self preservation what sets certain strings of the human soul free to play the tune that allows contact, an honest contact, no matter the physical detachment, with "the other".
Now, the distance -or the contradiction- between "life" and "the other" is finally portrayed. Isolation is a natural trait -and a predictable consequence of fear- that opposes the life (or the joy) of "I" to that of the "other". The communion is brought by surrendering the ego; a basic human tune able to turn normal peasants -or even a slayer- into silent, but never again lonely, heroes.
P.S. to Amir: Should definitely encourage this film to arrive to Iran. Beware though of an intellectual analysis; only by setting aside such a discussion can the emotional language of the film be "understood".
