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Bahrām Beyzai | |
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بهرام بیضائی | |
 Beyzaie in 2002 | |
| Born | (1938-12-26)26 December 1938 (age 86) |
| Occupation(s) | Playwright, director, screenwriter, editor |
| Years active | 1962–present |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3, includingNiloofar |
| Parent(s) | Ne'matallah Beyzai (father) Nayereh Movafegh (mother)[1] |
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Bahrām Beyzāêi (also speltBeizāi,Beyzāêi, Beyzāee,Persian:بهرام بیضائی; born 26 December 1938) is an Iranian playwright, theatre director, screenwriter, film editor, andostād ("master") of Persian letters, arts andIranian studies.
Beyzaie is the son of the poetNe'matallah Beyzai (best known by his literary pseudonym "Zokā'i").[2] The celebrated poet Adib Beyzai, one of the most profound poets of 20th-century Iran, is Bahram's paternal uncle.[3] Bahram Beyzaie's paternal grandfather, Mirzā Mohammad-Rezā Ārāni ("Ebn Ruh"), and paternal great-grandfather, the Mulla Mohammad-Faqih Ārāni ("Ruh'ol-Amin"), were also notable poets.[4]
Despite his belated start in cinema, Beyzai is often considered a pioneer of a generation of filmmakers whose works are sometimes described as theIranian New Wave. HisBashu, the Little Stranger (1986) was voted "Best Iranian Film of all time" in November 1999 by a Persian movie magazinePicture World poll of 150 Iranian critics and professionals.[5] Still, even before the outset of his cinematic career in 1970, he was a leading playwright (as well as theatre historian), so much so that he is often considered the greatest playwright of the Persian language, and holds a reputation as "TheShakespeare of Persia".[6][7]
Since 2010, Beyzai has lived and taught atStanford University,United States.
Beyzai was born inTehran, to a poet,anthologist and biographer father and a housewife mother. His father made a living through a legal occupation and could reasonably attend to his literary interests.
Bahram Beizai started skipping school from around the age of 17 in order to go to movies which were becoming popular in Iran at a rapid pace. This only fed his hunger to learn more about cinema and thevisual arts.[8]
The young Bahram did not seem very interested in his family legacy, poetry, which was pursued by his father, uncles and cousins. In high school, theDar'ol-Fonoun,[9] he wrote two historical plays which went on to become his preferred method of writing.
At the age of 21, he did substantial research on the traditional Persian plays, particularlyTa'zieh, and by 1961 he had already spent a great deal of time studying and researching other ancientPersian and pre-Islamic culture and literature. This, in turn, led him to study Eastern theatre and traditional Iranian theatre and arts, which would help him formulate a new non-Western identity for Iranian theatre. He also became acquainted with Persian painting.
In 1968, Beyzai was one of the nine founders of the Iranian Writers' Guild, a highly controversial organization in the face ofcensorship. In 1969, he was invited to teach at the Theater Department of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Tehran. He chaired this department from 1972 to 1979. With his readership, many prominent authors and artists started teaching at the department and created the most fruitful period in the history of that department.
Beyzaie's groundbreakingA Study on Iranian Theatre (Namayesh dar Iran), published in mid-1960s is still considered the most important text on the history of Iranian theater. Beyzaie is also the first scholar in Iran to publish books ontheatre of Japan andtheatre of China.
His poetic vein is unmistakable. He writes as though he had a sad look in his eyes, a detached and philosophical understanding in his tone. A vague sense of destiny haunts his plays.[10]
Some of his plays, such as his masterpieceDeath of Yazdgerd, have been translated into numerous languages and performed worldwide.Death of Yazdgerd has been performed in Iran, France, England, India and the USA, among other countries, and was made into afilm of the same name by Beyzai in 1981.Death of Yazdgerd andKalat Claimed have been translated into English byManuchehr Anvar.
In 1969, he began his film career by directing the short filmAmu Sibilou (Uncle Moustache) followed by "Safar" in 1970. With these films, Beyzai is often considered to be a pioneer of theIranian New Wave, aPersian cinema movement that was started in the late 1960s.
Immediately after, in 1971, he made his first feature filmRagbar (Downpour) which critics regard to this day as one of the most successful Iranian films ever made. The successful film addresses the lateParviz Fannizadeh as its central character and protagonist.
Since then he has produced and directed 8 films includingQaribe va Meh (Stranger and the Fog) (1974),Cherike-ye Tara (Ballad of Tara) (1979),Bashu, the Little Stranger (1986, released in 1989),Shāyad Vaghti digar (Maybe Another Time) (1988) andMosaferan (Travellers) (1992).
In 1981, the revolutionary leaders started theIranian Cultural Revolution, as a result of which Beyzaie, among many others, was expelled from the university. He continued writing and making films, though. His screenplayRuz-e Vaqe'e (The Fateful Day) was adapted into a film in 1995 and another screenplay was adapted into a film namedFasl-e Panjom (The fifth season) in 1996, while he also made four of his finest films. He also editedEbrahim Hatamikia'sBorj-e Minu (Minoo Tower).
He married the actress and make-up artist Mozhdeh Shamsai in 1992. AfterMosaferan, he failed to get a permit to produce several screenplays. In 1995, he left Iran forStrasbourg at the invitation of theInternational Parliament of Writers. Soon however, he returned and stagedThe Lady Aoi in Tehran.
In 2001, he made his best-selling filmKilling Mad Dogs, after which he managed to stage three plays before he left Iran for the United States.
He left Iran in 2010 at the invitation ofStanford University, and has since been the Daryabari Visiting Professor of Iranian Studies, teaching courses in Persian theatre, cinema and mythology. He has given workshops on theShahnameh, the history of Iranian performing arts, Iranian and Semitic myths, etc. He has also staged several plays, including his nine-hourTarabnameh.
... you can feel Bayzaie's background in Persian literature, theater and poetry. Bayzaie never received the support he deserved from the government of his home country...[11]
Some people in our old and enduring culture assume iconic significance for reasons far beyond our crooked measures. Beizai is one of them. When the annals of our contemporary history are written, Beizai will have the same significance asHafez.[12]
He is known as the most intellectual and conspicuous "author" inIranian cinema and theater. The main theme of his works is thehistory and "crisis of identity," which is related to Iranian cultural and mythical symbols and paradigms. He is considered Iran's most prominent screenwriter in terms of the dramatic integrity of his works, many of which have been made into films.
Critics have often praised Beyzai above all Persian filmmakers as well as playwrights. He was voted the best Persian filmmaker in 2002, and hisBashu, the Little Stranger was voted the finest Persian film ever. All the same, his formalism has occasionally raised criticism, even from himself.Ebrahim Golestan, who had previously objected to Beyzai's style, praised him in a letter in 2017.
Beyzaie has over 50 published plays, some of which are as follows. These works have occasionally appeared in French, English, German and other translations.
During the making ofBallad of Tara in 1978, Beyzai and his crew inLisar Castle started a troupe whose name remained in use until the 2000s: Lisar troupe.
The prizes, awards and honors he has won are numerous.
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