Sunday, December 07, 2008
In the name of FATE!!
In the name of FATE!
“When the fate commands, the entire universe will come along in abeyance.” This is my belief.
As I recall, I’d always believed in the human’s infinite power in controlling his life, until some tragedy opened my eyes to the true nature of life.
18 years ago, my cousin died of cancer at the age of 17, while she was insistently bargaining for the bright future, the stingy dealer, Fate, didn't consent in the end!
She had diagnosed with leukemia three years before she died.
She went through all the remedial therapies discovered by that time, six months later she was getting healthier for about a year, but she ended up saying goodbye to her life few years later.
Actually, her time had been up from many years ago, but her parents and people who loved her did everything they could to postpone this departure; they thought they could fight with this unsympathetic fate and make it walk away from.
Well, unfortunately the real fate doesn't work that way!
I still remember, my cousin’s shouting, “help me, please help me,” from very far end of the deep ocean, my sister and I were there too, we were witnessing my cousin drowning deep in to the Caspian sea. we were scared to death, but our mouth was locked shout for a few minutes, because of the sudden, massive anxiety we fell into.
My whole body was frozen, I was incapable to move closer or shout for any help for few seconds. My sister and I were the only people I could see around us. (That afternoon, three of us sneaked out from the hotel room, went for swimming without our parent’s permission.)
Finally, after some life-savor minutes I pulled my self back to the sate of conscience and started screaming and crying, my sister started crying too.
I was the oldest among three of us and my cousin was the youngest.
I remember, the burden of guilt for not crying out for help faster to save my cousin’s life .
The guilt was with me for a long time, till one day I learned the position of “destiny” in life!
In that gloomy afternoon, my cousin didn't drown in the sea; she was saved by my mother who came out to the beach after she heard us screaming and few life guards who were cruising all over the sea to save human’s lives, or in the other word, to encounter fate.
The story didn't end here and the happily ever after did not last long ; seven years later, one day, fate came over my cousin's bedside one more time, waked her up, & gave her a kiss of Leukemia. She was 14 by then.
This time my aunt and uncle tried every existing possibility in the universe to set her free from leukemia. They took the best recognizable doctors to her bedside, prayed, loved and helped the poor. But nothing could change the fate’s mind.
She died two days after my 19th birthday. Her name was Farnaz, and we all loved her so much. She was smart, passionate and happy.
She was like a sweet little angel, beautiful and peaceful.
Watching the non-negotiator “destiny" taking her away from life made me promise one thing to myself : that I would live my life like there is no tomorrow, until the day Fate-with its firm smile- walks in to my bedside. On that day I wont turn my back or look the other way. instead I will smile back and wait..!
Salome N. Saz
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
"Kiosk" Concert review
“Kiosk”, is the first Iranian underground rock band outside of Iran.
This band is well-known for its biting critical, social and political, but humorous lyrics accompanied by rock music.
The lyrics and music are all written by “Arash Sobhani”, the lead vocalist, songwriter and guitarist, based on his personal experiences and his sociopolitical observations.
With the release of their third album, “Global Zoo”, KIOSK, has been launching their North American “Global Zoo” tour, and San Francisco was one of their stops.
The San Francisco concert was held at the “Mezzanine” club, on Friday, Nov.18.
The tickets were sold for $35 and there were also $55 tickets for the people who wanted to get access to the VIP lounge.
“Mezzanine” was big enough to contribute an adequate dancing space for almost 300 people. The high rise ceiling also offered the full amount of fresh air.
The club’s artistic lighting and its strong sound systems also made the place very articulate.
There was a bar close to the entrance that was surrounded by the people who were ordering drinks.
The VIP lounge was located at a corner of the main salon, several steps higher than the ground level and far from the stage. It also didn’t have any dancing space.
There were just some chairs at each corner of the VIP lounge, but the chairs were all at the blind spots, so if some one was seated, she or he wasn’t able to see any part of the stage.
Certainly, it was very disappointing to the VIP audience, who paid more for their tickets and most of them ended up coming down to the main salon, in order to order drinks, watch the band and dance with the music.
The show time was scheduled for 8:30 p.m. but the band showed up around 10 p.m. Therefore, the audience was already drunk and ready to mingle by the time the band showed up on the stage, I would say.
But there is something I need to point out, that being late is such a common behavior among Iranians, especially the artists, so no one in the crowd was upset or surprised, because of the two hours delay in the start up. Even some people, like us predicted this delay before hand, so we showed up for the concert around 9 p.m.
By the time the band came on the stage, they started their performance rightaway without any introductions, so during the first five minutes of the show, we were not really sure if that band was “Kiosk” or some local band that is just there to entertain the expecting audience and kill the time, or maybe this false asumption was just the effect of alcohol running in our blood!
The “Kiosk” performed the new album, “Global Zoo” including nine songs on that night, which are the following:
1- Ay Ay 1
2- Sirabi e Naft
3- Pragmatism e Eshghi
4- Agha! Nigah Dar
5- Kafsh
6- Livanha,Botriha,Galonha
7- Gerogangiri Dar Bagh e Vahsh
8- Chahrkesh e Pooch
9- Yarom Bia
Sobhani’s voice was very pleasant and comprehensible.
The lyrics were all social commentaries on a wide variety of issues affecting the daily lives of Iranians all over the world, that is why everyone could some how relate herself or himself to the songs.
The guitar player, Babak Khiavchi, and the drummer, Shahrouz Molaei, were also playing a great role in making the performance pleasant with their versatile playing instruments.
The volume of the music instruments were in harmony with the volume of Sobhani’s voice, so both the songs and the music were absolutely decipherable.
The casual lyrics in Sobhani’s conversational songs and also the unity between the performers and their instruments, created an affectionate era, full of energy and joy.
When the show ended, the cheerful audience applauded the band and asks for more songs, so the band performed the first song, Ay Ay, one more time; repeating one song of the album at the end of the show, as the audience demands, is also a common routine in each Iranian concert.
Audience was fully satisfied with the “Kiosk” performance. I could tell that by catching the smiles left on many faces when they were exiting the club.
This band is well-known for its biting critical, social and political, but humorous lyrics accompanied by rock music.
The lyrics and music are all written by “Arash Sobhani”, the lead vocalist, songwriter and guitarist, based on his personal experiences and his sociopolitical observations.
With the release of their third album, “Global Zoo”, KIOSK, has been launching their North American “Global Zoo” tour, and San Francisco was one of their stops.
The San Francisco concert was held at the “Mezzanine” club, on Friday, Nov.18.
The tickets were sold for $35 and there were also $55 tickets for the people who wanted to get access to the VIP lounge.
“Mezzanine” was big enough to contribute an adequate dancing space for almost 300 people. The high rise ceiling also offered the full amount of fresh air.
The club’s artistic lighting and its strong sound systems also made the place very articulate.
There was a bar close to the entrance that was surrounded by the people who were ordering drinks.
The VIP lounge was located at a corner of the main salon, several steps higher than the ground level and far from the stage. It also didn’t have any dancing space.
There were just some chairs at each corner of the VIP lounge, but the chairs were all at the blind spots, so if some one was seated, she or he wasn’t able to see any part of the stage.
Certainly, it was very disappointing to the VIP audience, who paid more for their tickets and most of them ended up coming down to the main salon, in order to order drinks, watch the band and dance with the music.
The show time was scheduled for 8:30 p.m. but the band showed up around 10 p.m. Therefore, the audience was already drunk and ready to mingle by the time the band showed up on the stage, I would say.
But there is something I need to point out, that being late is such a common behavior among Iranians, especially the artists, so no one in the crowd was upset or surprised, because of the two hours delay in the start up. Even some people, like us predicted this delay before hand, so we showed up for the concert around 9 p.m.
By the time the band came on the stage, they started their performance rightaway without any introductions, so during the first five minutes of the show, we were not really sure if that band was “Kiosk” or some local band that is just there to entertain the expecting audience and kill the time, or maybe this false asumption was just the effect of alcohol running in our blood!
The “Kiosk” performed the new album, “Global Zoo” including nine songs on that night, which are the following:
1- Ay Ay 1
2- Sirabi e Naft
3- Pragmatism e Eshghi
4- Agha! Nigah Dar
5- Kafsh
6- Livanha,Botriha,Galonha
7- Gerogangiri Dar Bagh e Vahsh
8- Chahrkesh e Pooch
9- Yarom Bia
Sobhani’s voice was very pleasant and comprehensible.
The lyrics were all social commentaries on a wide variety of issues affecting the daily lives of Iranians all over the world, that is why everyone could some how relate herself or himself to the songs.
The guitar player, Babak Khiavchi, and the drummer, Shahrouz Molaei, were also playing a great role in making the performance pleasant with their versatile playing instruments.
The volume of the music instruments were in harmony with the volume of Sobhani’s voice, so both the songs and the music were absolutely decipherable.
The casual lyrics in Sobhani’s conversational songs and also the unity between the performers and their instruments, created an affectionate era, full of energy and joy.
When the show ended, the cheerful audience applauded the band and asks for more songs, so the band performed the first song, Ay Ay, one more time; repeating one song of the album at the end of the show, as the audience demands, is also a common routine in each Iranian concert.
Audience was fully satisfied with the “Kiosk” performance. I could tell that by catching the smiles left on many faces when they were exiting the club.
“Arash” Concert Review
Not everything, and different or out of ordinary is interesting; as a matter of fact, some innovations would be anything but interesting!
“Arash,” is what I would consider as a phony innovation.
“Arash,” is a new Swedish band with a male Iranian lead singer named “Arash” which had its first north Californian concert at the “Avalon” club in San José, on Friday, Nov. 21.
Unfortunately, everything about this event, from the very beginning part, to the ending, was a bogus indication.
The band’s music style was an unharmonious mixture of Rock, Pop, folk and the lyrics of more than a few songs, such as “Boro,” “Naro,” “Dasa Bala” and “Tike,” was an array of rubbish Iranian expressions.
The worst part of all was the fact that everything we were hearing during the performance was coming right through a record player and the band members were just bunch of amateurs, who were acting as if they were playing instruments or singing on the stage; they were performing a fake live show, right in front of our eyes!
Couple of incidents confirmed the live “Arash” performance was a fake:
First of all, during the entire performance, I could hear the flute playing, but there wasn’t any flute player on the stage.
“How embarrassing! If they had recited their performance, just once, before the show, they’d figure out, that they should have some one out there, as a flute player?” said Habib, an audience.
And the second fact was the female Swedish singer, “Rebecca,” who was inexpertly reciting in ‘Farsi.’
In the meantime, she left her microphone on the stand and started dancing on the stage and, but we could still hear her singing throughout the record player!
The hardly tolerable high volume of the show was also an unwelcoming matter for the audience.
There was only one thing that kept me standing still till the end of the show, and that was the unintentional ridicule, presented in this performance.
All I was waiting for was another hilarious incident, on the stage and apparently, I didn’t have to wait long for that moment to come along.
Since all the band members were are Swedish excluding one, so they didn’t understand the meaning of the lyrics they were singing together, so as they were all singing a gloomy, restrained song, the band, started jumping up and down, as if they were reciting a harsh rock song.
I should also mention that, before the show started, the security guards purposely wouldn’t let the people who had come to see the show, inside the club, in order to make a big line out there to create a center of attention in the neighborhood.
So even though, we’d purchased our tickets beforehand, we still had to stay in that huge line, for about one hour.
The bartenders, were also working deceitfully, in their own way; the common bar rule “first come, first serve,” Was not applying back there, so it took us almost half an hour to get our first drink, even though we were in the first row, right in front of the bartender.
“What else could possibly go wrong in a performance?”
“Arash,” was an actual thumbs-down!
“Arash,” is what I would consider as a phony innovation.
“Arash,” is a new Swedish band with a male Iranian lead singer named “Arash” which had its first north Californian concert at the “Avalon” club in San José, on Friday, Nov. 21.
Unfortunately, everything about this event, from the very beginning part, to the ending, was a bogus indication.
The band’s music style was an unharmonious mixture of Rock, Pop, folk and the lyrics of more than a few songs, such as “Boro,” “Naro,” “Dasa Bala” and “Tike,” was an array of rubbish Iranian expressions.
The worst part of all was the fact that everything we were hearing during the performance was coming right through a record player and the band members were just bunch of amateurs, who were acting as if they were playing instruments or singing on the stage; they were performing a fake live show, right in front of our eyes!
Couple of incidents confirmed the live “Arash” performance was a fake:
First of all, during the entire performance, I could hear the flute playing, but there wasn’t any flute player on the stage.
“How embarrassing! If they had recited their performance, just once, before the show, they’d figure out, that they should have some one out there, as a flute player?” said Habib, an audience.
And the second fact was the female Swedish singer, “Rebecca,” who was inexpertly reciting in ‘Farsi.’
In the meantime, she left her microphone on the stand and started dancing on the stage and, but we could still hear her singing throughout the record player!
The hardly tolerable high volume of the show was also an unwelcoming matter for the audience.
There was only one thing that kept me standing still till the end of the show, and that was the unintentional ridicule, presented in this performance.
All I was waiting for was another hilarious incident, on the stage and apparently, I didn’t have to wait long for that moment to come along.
Since all the band members were are Swedish excluding one, so they didn’t understand the meaning of the lyrics they were singing together, so as they were all singing a gloomy, restrained song, the band, started jumping up and down, as if they were reciting a harsh rock song.
I should also mention that, before the show started, the security guards purposely wouldn’t let the people who had come to see the show, inside the club, in order to make a big line out there to create a center of attention in the neighborhood.
So even though, we’d purchased our tickets beforehand, we still had to stay in that huge line, for about one hour.
The bartenders, were also working deceitfully, in their own way; the common bar rule “first come, first serve,” Was not applying back there, so it took us almost half an hour to get our first drink, even though we were in the first row, right in front of the bartender.
“What else could possibly go wrong in a performance?”
“Arash,” was an actual thumbs-down!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Setareh Delzendeh
Besides being one of the most acclaimed Canadian-Iranian artists in Canada, Setareh Delzendeh is a down to earth; warm hearted and extraordinary human being.
The first time I met her, I wouldn’t have guessed that she is famous, if I didn’t read about her background, because of her earthy and warm character.
She is about 5.6foot tall with deep green eyes, white skin, and long curly hair. She colors some parts of her hair pink, blue, green and her own natural color is olive and she dresses up in such a strange, hip fashion.
She also has a poetic and spiritual character.
During my seven years of our friendship, I never saw her face without a smile.
Her enduring smile, exotic look, unusual clothes and her gentle speaking make her an unforgettable individual.
Setareh Delzendeh was born in July 11, 1979 in Tehran, Iran. She got her bachelor degree in Theatre Set & Costume Design from Azad University in Tehran, Iran.
She worked as a set designer for several Iranian movies including “Protest” by well-known Iranian film director Masoud kimiaei.
“I was fortunate to do that project. In my interview with the director, he asked me if I want to play the main role in the movie, I answered no, I told him that my passion is set designing, not acting. “I like the work behind the camera.” I said. The director was surprised; he told me that I am the first person whom answered no to his offer for acting in his movies.
He told me that he admires my passion and because of that he will give me the set designing job even though you are I wasn’t experienced enough.”
“After then I started getting serious job offers.” said Delzendeh.
Delzendeh directed a short film, “I have become,” based on Peter Handke's Self Accusation piece.
“I had a very low budget to make that movie, that’s why I asked my close friend, Pantea Panahiha, actress to play the main role and I did the rest of the job all by myself. It was a good experience.” said Setareh Delzendeh.
In 2002, she edited a documentary movie; “Non-Stop” by Afshin Liaghat. The movie won the “Audience Prize” in Milan film festival.
In 2003, she immigrated to Toronto, Canada and shortly after, she started working with well-known theatre directors and designers, such as Soheil Parsa and Astrid Janson.
“I was so afraid of my failure in a foreign country. It is very hard to get in to the art industry when English is your second language. At first, People didn’t take me seriously because I had a different accent, but I eventually proved otherwise.” Said Delzendeh
She designed set and customs for dance projects such as York university graduation shows, Fida and Meftahi dance performance in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
She also designed set, costume and lighting for several Iranian shows in Toronto, such as Bam Relief concert in Toronto Art center.
In 2004 to 2005 she worked as Astrid Janson’s assistant, the famous set designer, on an opera composed by Puccini, Lescaut which was performed in Russia.
In 2005, she worked as director assistant with Soheil Parsa, the Artistic Director of Modern Times Stage Company on “Macbeth.”
She also was a set designer and custom designer of “Fish Eyes,” written and performed by Anita Majumdar, “Nurse Jane Goes to Hawaii,” directed by Sandy Macdonald.
In 2006, Setareh was awarded with the “Theatre Ontario Professional Training Grant.” To be Astrid Janson’s assistant on “Home child,” directed by Martha Henry in can stage and Rigoletto composed by Verdi and directed by Tom Diamond
Monday, October 27, 2008
" Burn After Reading" Review
Slug: Review
Headline: Burn After Reading
By Saloomeh Nakhsaz
Directors: Joel and Ethan CoenStarring: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, and Tilda Swinton
“Burn After Reading” is a brilliant black comedy about the society’s ignorance and infidelity. Beside its unique humor and ridicule, every dialogue is intelligent, which proves the fact that the filmmakers exactly know what they are doing.
The actors are picked up brilliantly for their specific rolls. Even the actors, who play the small rolls, show us the precise images of the very specific characters in the movie.
The movie places in Washington DC, which is the center of America's political organization.
Osborne Cox (Malkovich) is a crusty CIA analyst, who is being moved down from the CIA to a low clearance post at the estate department, because of his drinking problem.
Cox takes that very insulting. He thinks of himself as the best analyst that CIA has, and believes his removal “is political.”
“I have a drinking problem, you’re Mormon. Next to you we all have a drinking problem, whose ass I didn’t kiss.” said Cox to his boss.
Cox starts to write his memoir after being kicked out, but an electronic copy of the manuscript accidently ends up in the hands of two gym employees, Chad Feldheimer (Pitt) and Linda Litzke (McDormand).
Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) is a fitness trainer, who is too goofy and indifferent to be distinguished. But he is the only one who can help Linda’s dream comes true.
All Linda Litzke( McDormand) cares about is having enough money for her extensive cosmetic surgery , so she can date a successful man instead of attracting losers with her “reinvented appearance.”
Chad and Linda plan on blackmailing Osbourne. "This could put a big dent in my surgeries," says Linda, but Osborne does not respond to their threat as hey expected and refuses to pay them ransom..
So Chad and Linda go to the Russian Embassy to sell them Osborne’s secret files, believing Russians are the country’s enemies.
Osbourne's wife Katie (Swinton) is a negative, stubborn pediatric. She is having an affair with Harry Pfarrer (Goerge Clooney), an extreme womanizer who finds women through internet dating sites. One of the women he has recently started dating is Linda.
Meanwhile the CIA agents tries to maintain the security by secrtely monitoring every one’s movement, without having the intelligence of recognizing the important matters to look for in their monitoring prcess.
"Report back to me when, I don't know, when it makes sense," said the CIA headmaster(JK Simmon)
Headline: Burn After Reading
By Saloomeh Nakhsaz
Directors: Joel and Ethan CoenStarring: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, and Tilda Swinton
“Burn After Reading” is a brilliant black comedy about the society’s ignorance and infidelity. Beside its unique humor and ridicule, every dialogue is intelligent, which proves the fact that the filmmakers exactly know what they are doing.
The actors are picked up brilliantly for their specific rolls. Even the actors, who play the small rolls, show us the precise images of the very specific characters in the movie.
The movie places in Washington DC, which is the center of America's political organization.
Osborne Cox (Malkovich) is a crusty CIA analyst, who is being moved down from the CIA to a low clearance post at the estate department, because of his drinking problem.
Cox takes that very insulting. He thinks of himself as the best analyst that CIA has, and believes his removal “is political.”
“I have a drinking problem, you’re Mormon. Next to you we all have a drinking problem, whose ass I didn’t kiss.” said Cox to his boss.
Cox starts to write his memoir after being kicked out, but an electronic copy of the manuscript accidently ends up in the hands of two gym employees, Chad Feldheimer (Pitt) and Linda Litzke (McDormand).
Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) is a fitness trainer, who is too goofy and indifferent to be distinguished. But he is the only one who can help Linda’s dream comes true.
All Linda Litzke( McDormand) cares about is having enough money for her extensive cosmetic surgery , so she can date a successful man instead of attracting losers with her “reinvented appearance.”
Chad and Linda plan on blackmailing Osbourne. "This could put a big dent in my surgeries," says Linda, but Osborne does not respond to their threat as hey expected and refuses to pay them ransom..
So Chad and Linda go to the Russian Embassy to sell them Osborne’s secret files, believing Russians are the country’s enemies.
Osbourne's wife Katie (Swinton) is a negative, stubborn pediatric. She is having an affair with Harry Pfarrer (Goerge Clooney), an extreme womanizer who finds women through internet dating sites. One of the women he has recently started dating is Linda.
Meanwhile the CIA agents tries to maintain the security by secrtely monitoring every one’s movement, without having the intelligence of recognizing the important matters to look for in their monitoring prcess.
"Report back to me when, I don't know, when it makes sense," said the CIA headmaster(JK Simmon)
" Body Of Lies" Review
Slug: Review
Headline: Body Of Lies
By Saloomeh Nakhsaz
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong, Golshifteh Farahani, Oscar Isaac
Directed by: Ridley Scott
“Body of Lies” is based on a 2007 novel by Washington Post foreign-affairs columnist, David Ignatius. This movie shows the CIA’s desperation in Middle East. Americans lack of knowledge of Middle Eastern culture and their ignorant attitudes make the CIA helpless in the Middle East ground despite of the fact that agency has many secret agents and high tech monitoring satellites installed all over the region.
“Body of lies” is a clever feature movie. The main characters played their parts incredibly well. The actors inhabit their characters very well and make them believable to the audience.
Leonardo Dicaprio plays Roger Ferris, the CIA agent in Iraq who speaks Arabic fluently and pretends he is from Baghdad. His next mission is to stop bombings by al-Salem, an al QAeda operative based in Jordan.
Roger is an idealist who is disappointed by the way America operates in the Middle East.
Roger believes that the head of Jordan’s secret service, Hani Salaam (Mark Strong) has more power and intelligence to protect him than his CIA head master.
Hani Salaam doesn’t trust the CIA headmasters and operation is more dominant and influential than that of the CIA.
Hani Salaam finally uses Roger as bait to catch a bigger fish. He fakes the kidnapping of Aisha (Golshifteh Farahani) by terrorists in order to make Rogers contact with the al Salem and trace him to his hideout.
Aisha is an Iranian girl who lives in Jordan with her sister and works as a nurse in a medical clinic. Roger met her at the clinic where he went to get vaccinated after he got beaten by couple of real mad dogs. Aisha is the traditional Middle Eastern girl image shown to the world.
Roger tries to trace AL-Salem in order to save Aisha’s life, but he gets captured, and tortured by Al-Salem men, in the name of Islam.
Hoffman (Russell Crow) is the CIA’s spymaster. He has a wife and two children who instruct Roger how to perform, and when it’s an urgent situation, he flies out there and talks to Roger face to face and deals with issues in his own way. But Ed’s ignorance to Middle Eastern culture and his impatience make Hani Salaam not to trust Roger or any other American agent.
Ed Hoffman’s character is what the Middle Eastern people think of Americans.
He believes no one likes the Middle East and there is nothing in Middle East for any human beings.
In a conversation with his wife, when she asks Ed to come to bed, he tells his wife that he’ll come to bed as soon as he saves civilization.
He tells Roger that he is the only one who Rogers can trust but they both know that it’s not true.
Ridley Scott brilliantly shows the world’s true face beneath deception in the “Body of lies.”
Headline: Body Of Lies
By Saloomeh Nakhsaz
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong, Golshifteh Farahani, Oscar Isaac
Directed by: Ridley Scott
“Body of Lies” is based on a 2007 novel by Washington Post foreign-affairs columnist, David Ignatius. This movie shows the CIA’s desperation in Middle East. Americans lack of knowledge of Middle Eastern culture and their ignorant attitudes make the CIA helpless in the Middle East ground despite of the fact that agency has many secret agents and high tech monitoring satellites installed all over the region.
“Body of lies” is a clever feature movie. The main characters played their parts incredibly well. The actors inhabit their characters very well and make them believable to the audience.
Leonardo Dicaprio plays Roger Ferris, the CIA agent in Iraq who speaks Arabic fluently and pretends he is from Baghdad. His next mission is to stop bombings by al-Salem, an al QAeda operative based in Jordan.
Roger is an idealist who is disappointed by the way America operates in the Middle East.
Roger believes that the head of Jordan’s secret service, Hani Salaam (Mark Strong) has more power and intelligence to protect him than his CIA head master.
Hani Salaam doesn’t trust the CIA headmasters and operation is more dominant and influential than that of the CIA.
Hani Salaam finally uses Roger as bait to catch a bigger fish. He fakes the kidnapping of Aisha (Golshifteh Farahani) by terrorists in order to make Rogers contact with the al Salem and trace him to his hideout.
Aisha is an Iranian girl who lives in Jordan with her sister and works as a nurse in a medical clinic. Roger met her at the clinic where he went to get vaccinated after he got beaten by couple of real mad dogs. Aisha is the traditional Middle Eastern girl image shown to the world.
Roger tries to trace AL-Salem in order to save Aisha’s life, but he gets captured, and tortured by Al-Salem men, in the name of Islam.
Hoffman (Russell Crow) is the CIA’s spymaster. He has a wife and two children who instruct Roger how to perform, and when it’s an urgent situation, he flies out there and talks to Roger face to face and deals with issues in his own way. But Ed’s ignorance to Middle Eastern culture and his impatience make Hani Salaam not to trust Roger or any other American agent.
Ed Hoffman’s character is what the Middle Eastern people think of Americans.
He believes no one likes the Middle East and there is nothing in Middle East for any human beings.
In a conversation with his wife, when she asks Ed to come to bed, he tells his wife that he’ll come to bed as soon as he saves civilization.
He tells Roger that he is the only one who Rogers can trust but they both know that it’s not true.
Ridley Scott brilliantly shows the world’s true face beneath deception in the “Body of lies.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)