Aesthetics of Color in Afghan cinema

Introduction

In the world of existence, seeing everything depends on light, so that without light, cannot see anything. Objects can be seen clearly with light. But seeing is done in two ways. Humans see either in color or in black and white. People who see the world around them in black and white or see some colors and don’t see another part are basically color blind.

The colors in the color wheel are basically divided into three main parts

1. primary colors
2. Secondary colors
3. Complementary colors

All the colors that can be seen in nature are created from the combination of colors and the placement of several colors next to each other. Color gives the audience a feeling and mood, color can arouse the emotions of the audience and as a result cause excitement and happiness or cause pain and discomfort in him. Color in objects and around people acts like taste in food. Just like the spices inside the food give the food a taste and it can be delicious and interesting for the one who uses that food. Colors can also affect their feelings and be pleasant and lovely or uncomfortable for the person who observes that color.

When the color is placed next to the light, the evocation of the feeling of the objects is complete. Many creatures such as dogs and cats have problems receiving some colors and cannot receive those colors correctly. This inability to receive colors in animals causes them to have problems recognizing many things in nature, just as humans have Colorblind people have problems at night and cannot see some objects well at night.

Color has existed in nature since the beginning of human existence. The combination of color that lies in the heart of nature may not be found anywhere. Their examples can be seen well in the seasons of the year. In nature, each season has its own color. But two seasons of nature contain the most colors. Spring and autumn season. Color is one of the inseparable elements of nature. The greatest joy in nature is because of the color in it. If the color is taken from nature, which is impossible, then maybe nature will no longer be a pleasure to see.

Since its inception, mankind has tried to use the colors found in nature. The first and the most basic color that mankind knew and became familiar with. The color was black and red. They recognized the red color in the blood of the animals they hunted and the black color in the smoke of the fire they made. After that, the early man identified the following colors, of course, we should not forget that the creation of colors in human nature was not so simple that he could find all the colors within a few days or a few months and could create a combination of colors. This development took thousands of years until in the last century, when suddenly there was a revolution in color and colors combination. The color combination that we may not be able to accurately count the number of available colors. Because any color you consider, you can create a combination of another color by moving a little bit of one color and reach the structure of a new color. In such a situation, we may no longer be able to say how many colors there are.

Beauty and aesthetics

Beauty, being beautiful and looking beautiful is a problem that changed the world of humanity. Humans are beautiful by nature and have always sought beauty and being beautiful and looking beautiful at any time and place. Beauty is the opposite of ugliness, just like good is the opposite of bad. In order to know beauty, we must first know what is ugliness. against which beauty arises. Basically, ugliness is something that people do not enjoy seeing and are not happy about. But beauty does not end only with the pleasantness of man. Rather, it is based on the human perception of the environment around him. Of course, it should not be forgotten that the perception of beauty is based on the surrounding environment, apart from considering the person’s literacy, nationality, language, culture and principles. If aesthetics cannot be considered outside of their composition. Because if you think about human aesthetics, without a doubt, all these parameters will be included. If these parameters are taken from it, it will be basic aesthetics. If it is accompanied by these parameters, it is geographical aesthetics. Therefore, there is a very clear border between fundamental and geographical aesthetics that separates them from each other. Aesthetics has a deep and superficial effect on the human spirit and attitude, whether it is geographical aesthetics or fundamental aesthetics. Aesthetics is basically a science, a science that discusses beauty and seeing beautiful. About how to perceive beauty.

Aesthetics tries to scientifically analyze a natural phenomenon such as the entire universe created or an unnatural phenomenon such as works of art created by an artist for its audience to understand its inner meaning. So it is the analysis that expresses the inner beauty of a work. Expressing this beauty means issuing a statement or a verdict about the concepts of beauty and aesthetics of a work of art, for the target audience of the work of art, apart from his understanding and perception. Because you pass judgment on a work of art.

Islamic aesthetics

In Islamic philosophy, which is mostly used in the Eastern world and among Muslims, the aesthetic judgment about the objectivity in the world outside the work and the knowledge of the world of objectivity is the subject of the recognition of the beauty of the work of art. This is basically a sentence about a beauty that carries an objective beauty in the present, and expresses a report of an external truth, not of an internal truth, it tries to express an objective report rather than expressing the inner feelings and emotions of the viewer of the work. At the moment of viewing a work of art, the human mind seeks to analyze the complexities of related and unrelated components of that work. The more the number of these components increases, the more difficult it becomes to understand the unity between the components and the whole and their logical and illogical relationship because their quantitative and qualitative relative relationship increases. As a result, it will be difficult for the discoverer of the work to discover the relationship between the external and internal components. In such a case, it will be difficult or maybe impossible to express the beauty and aesthetics of that work.

Aesthetic philosophy

In the philosophical discussion of aesthetics, we must not forget that we must know whether the object is a work of art or nature, because in the beauty of a work of art there are always complexities and subtleties that may not be able to understand the feelings and The rational understanding of that effect has arrived. In such a situation, it can be said that the audience or the interpreter of the work can only take control of that work and make their acknowledgments of the past and present deeper and more accurate. Therefore, it can be said that its understanding and interpretation require analysis.

In the discussion of the aesthetics of nature, we cannot use too much interpretation because the perception of nature happens all at once and everything that is is obvious. It does not have the complexity of an artistic creation, except for the existence of the creator of nature, which can be understood behind its clear face. When you see the same nature at different times, it is the same as you saw it the first time, there will not be much change in it. But the work of art can be interpreted at any time and in any situation, and in various situations, they have different interpretations and convey different meanings.

What should be addressed in this section is whether beauty can be a definable concept so that we can define a concept for it by considering some parameters. The concept is generally divided into two categories. One category is improvisational concepts, which are straightforward and direct, and the other category is theoretical and compound concepts. Impromptu and direct concepts do not have components. That is why they cannot be defined. The mind understands such concepts, as a result, nothing unknown or incomprehensible remains in it. But in theoretical and compound concepts, because the desired work has components, people have problems in its concepts. Because in the first step, a person must understand all the components that make up the work and understand it, then all those components must be defined in line with the desired aesthetics. It is in such a situation that you can never achieve a single definition. Therefore, it can be said that beauty is not one of the indefinable concepts, and it is easy to define that concept. The difference is that it may not be possible to reach a single definition, but it can be defined.

Art

Our discussion here is about the beauty and aesthetics of art and artwork. But first we need to know what is art? to reach a work of art. If we want to define art in its simplest form, we can say that art is a process or a work that creates a state, feeling, or form in a specific format, considering minimal aesthetic concepts. Such a work can be an art because it can affect the emotions and feelings of its audience. Of course, it should not be forgotten that the definition of art is not as simple as stated. Because there are many complexities hidden in a work of art that cannot be simply expressed. In general, works of art are common in expressing imagination, feelings, displaying emotions, and most importantly, being multifaceted, and these things can be easily found in their hearts.

Art and work of art move towards goals. One of the most important goals of art and work of art is to inform and make people and the target audience of art and work of art more aware. With his artwork, the artist targets the unknown angles and dark dimensions of man with his artwork. This type of targeting causes the unknown dimensions of the human soul to wake up from slumber and start searching. Of course, it should not be forgotten that each of the arts activates a specific part of the human unknown. Performing arts, especially cinema, which uses almost all arts in different ways, basically targets the human soul. Because cinema tries to form a complete art by using sound, image and literature and by combining it with music. An art that takes over the mind and intellect of the audience and directs his thoughts to the same path as the creator of the work wants. In such a situation, an important issue that must be considered is the aesthetics of art in the form of ethics, these two cannot be separated from each other because aesthetics itself is directly related to ethics. Art gains value and status when it has positive moral and educational effects on its specific and general audience. Otherwise, that art will not only have no aesthetic value, but it will not even have artistic value. Because the work of art is to convey the feelings, interests and emotions of the artist. “Art is a human activity and its purpose is to convey the highest and best feelings that humans have achieved” (Tolstoy, 1364, 76).

According to what Tolstoy said, the discussion of ethics becomes important in the presentation of the artwork. The work of art originates from the thoughts of the artist, and by being at the center of the audience’s mind, it captures his feelings. It is at that time that if the artist is not in line with good morals, the result of the effect of his artwork can be very destructive and irreparable. But if morality is good, it can be guiding and positive. Therefore, ethics is a means to imagine perception, feelings and receive concepts in the field where the supplier and the receiver are placed. This field of receiving and supplying can be in one position and it can be in different positions.

Color

In the first step, we must have a definition of color. Maybe the color cannot be defined precisely. Because they have defined color differently at any time. In general, color is the perception of visual properties, which is an interaction between light and eye cells. Basically, color is the reflection of light from objects to the human eye. which consists of three main colors red, yellow and blue. Other colors that can be seen in nature arise from the combination of these three colors in different scales. The main set of colors is known as the color wheel. This cycle is well explained by ithen in his book “iten’s Color Art”. In this book, Mr. iten has made it very easy to work and recognize color by placing colors and with a creative design that is circular and by analyzing it.

If we look at iten’s color cycle, iten has divided this cycle into four main parts.

1. Primary or primary colors
2. Second or secondary colors
3. Third or combined colors
4. Complementary colors

The first colors or the main colors are in the center of this color circle and consist of three main colors red, blue and yellow. These three colors are pure colors, no other color is involved in their formation. But these three colors create other colors by combining each other.

Secondary colors are formed by combining two primary colors. Of course, we should not forget that to get secondary colors, two primary colors must be combined in equal measure. Purple, green and orange are the second colors in the color circle of iten. Purple color is formed from the combination of red and blue color and green color is formed from the combination of blue and yellow color. Orange color can be made by combining red and yellow colors.

The formation of the third or combination colors, as the name suggests, is formed by the combination of other colors with certain values. To form these colors, we have to combine the primary colors and the secondary colors together so that we can reach that color. In such conditions, obtaining these colors becomes somewhat difficult. The combined colors are 6 colors. Pale yellow (golden), dark orange, purple red, dark blue (azure), pale blue, pale green are the colors that are created in mixed colors.

Iten’s color circle, which is divided into three parts, the outermost part is related to complementary colors. When you want to create gray color, two colors must be combined in the third ring of color so that you get gray color. Basically, the two opposite colors are complementary colors. Such as yellow and purple, green and red, orange and deep blue, purple and pale green and other colors that are opposite each other in this circle.

So, in short, it can be said that in the iten color circle, there are three main colors in the center, which themselves have created a triangle. On the three sides of this triangle, the second colors are placed and it creates a 6-sided shape. A circle is formed around this hexagon, which consists of 12 colors, which are basically the same mixed colors. Another point that needs to be mentioned here is the color temperature. In terms of temperature, colors are generally divided into two categories: cold colors and warm colors. If we consider colors as a circle and divide this color circle vertically into two equal parts, warm colors are placed in the right half of this circle and cold colors are placed in the left half of this circle.

What we have to keep in mind is that this type of color combination will be different in different parts. The combination of colors in painting is a little different from cinema, because in painting we work with color itself. But in cinema, this color converd to light. It can be said that here the work will be a little more difficult if you create the same color with the light inside the scene so that you can convey your desired feeling to the viewer or you can have an effect on him through this combination of light that you have formed. This transfer of sense and idea can be done when you can achieve color harmony in the light. This color harmony is formed when we can put colored lights together in such a way that a halo is formed at the border of their combination, so that you cannot correctly distinguish where the border between these two colors is? And this border mostly belongs to which of these colors. If the appropriate color combination is done correctly, the aura of color harmony will arise by itself. In such a situation where harmony has been formed and the audience is visually oscillating in harmony between two colors, the transfer of feelings and ideas to the audience will be completely independent and complete.

The cinema

When cinema came into being, there was no such thing as color. The early films that the Lumiere brothers produced by Cinematograph in France were all in black and white and without color. Not only in France but also other people in other places were trying to make cinema go one step further. Impressed by the cinematograph in France, Thomas Edison accelerated his efforts to build a similar device in the United States. The work of his own device (Kintophone) in the field of showing movies on the screen was not satisfactory.” (Eugene Beaver, 34)

It didn’t take long for the cinema to open its place among the people, which made filmmakers and innovators appear in the world of cinema. Among the early filmmakers, there were those who opened an important place in the history of film for their role in introducing the moving image as a storytelling device. Georges Clais in France, Edwin. S. Porter in the United States, Cecil M. Heboth and Robert W. Paul in England were innovative filmmakers who, in the first decade of the emergence of the moving image, discovered the expressive possibilities of the video camera and the theatrical ability of film editing. These innovators contributed to the development of modern art, and the emergence of a unique way of storytelling. The most important achievement of Melis for cinema and storytelling film was to discover the visual capabilities of the moving image to create cinematic imaginations. (Eugene Beaver, 59)

Although today’s cinema has advanced a lot in terms of storytelling and technology, Melis’s work cannot be ignored in this field. Melis’s works seem very primitive compared to the works that are made using cinematic tricks today - such as (2001: A Space Odyssey) (1968) and ((Star Wars)) (1977). But with these works, he went beyond the limit of recording moving images and made films that were completely born of his imagination as a filmmaker. (Eugene Beaver, 61)

Of course, it should not be forgotten that in advancing the historical development of cinema and its globalization as a visual and storytelling art, it was not only these people who were influential, but many people such as Eisenstein, Griffiths and others, with their efforts, were able to turn cinema into a tool. Powerful and attractive message transfer. In the mid-1900s, color entered the cinema, which changed the world of cinema images. “The years 1918 to 1925 are the period of the brilliant growth of cinema, in this period, new forces were suddenly used, as one gets confused by the abundance of contradictory tendencies. Film production in several countries increases dramatically. In 1925, Japan made 938 films, the number of films made in America was almost 600. France, which produced more than 100 films annually in the early 1920s, was able to produce 75 films in 1925, showing the impact of American competition on the European market. (Lawson, 75)

Middle East

It was after this period that cinema expanded and opened its way to the countries of the Middle East. “The first Soviet talking film was released in 1931.” Several films were produced in the Soviet Union this year, but some of them were not completed due to the lack of technical equipment, and some of them were able to be screened. (Lawsen, 174)

Cinema entered Iran in its early years. “Muzaffaruddin Shah Qajar left Tehran for Europe on April 13, 1900. After traveling extensively in most European countries, he went to the mineral springs of the French city (Contrexville) in the early summer, got treatment, and it was during these days that he got to know cinema. In the travelogue of Mozaffaruddin Shah, we read that on Saturday, July 8, 1900, the Shah went to watch the (Cinemophotograph) and Magic Lantern together with Mirza Ibrahim Khan, a photographer. This incident happened five years after the invention of the Lumiere brothers became popular in Paris. He, who is surprised to see the device, writes in his travelogue: (The king mistakenly calls this camera ((Cinemophotograph))” (Omid, 20, 21)

This shows that Iran has been able to import the cinematograph from the very first days of cinema. But it will take years for Iran to produce its first movie. Because at that time, Iran did not have the educated and specialized personnel to produce films. This also made Iran unable to produce films for a long time. The first Iranian movie called “Ler’s Girl” was made in 1933. This film was made with the help of Indians who had taken over cinema much earlier than Iran. “Anyway, in October 1933, Ler’s daughter is ready for the show. The first public screening began four years after the arrival of Nakhahsteen video camera in Iran in 1904 with the opening of a theater by Sahaf Bashi on Chirag Gar Street (currently Amir Kabir). And two years later, it was popularized by two Russians of origin, Rusi Khan (in Khbayyan Alaa al-Doleh) and Aghayev (in Nasiriyah, in front of Dar al-Funun). At the end of the first decade of 1921, cinema gradually achieved all its manifestations and side effects, including the audience, critics, and responsible supervisory authorities. The formation of these manifestations in Iranian cinema causes those who were interested in art and cinema to look for film production and enter educational centers to acquire the knowledge of this art, and by learning the science of cinema, they start producing films, such as the film “Girl”. Ler” is the fruit of these trainings that is produced and recorded in the history of Iranian cinema. (Hope, 63, 64, 65)

Afghanistan

The exact date of the arrival of cinema in Afghanistan is not yet known. Because until now, there has not been a detailed and comprehensive research on Afghan cinema to determine when cinema entered Afghanistan for the first time. But what is reported in most places is that the projector was first gifted by the British to Amanullah Khan Shah of Afghanistan in 1914 or 1915. But this information cannot be considered accurate because it is mentioned in some places that Shah Amanullah Khan brought the projector with him to Afghanistan during his European trip. In any case, cinema enters Afghanistan at the same time as it expands in the world. Very soon it will open its place in Afghanistan and among art friends. The first film was shown to the public in 1928 in Paghman area, which is a recreational place in the west of Kabul. Due to the fact that the kings of Afghanistan were always under the influence of radical clerics, cinema could not grow well in Afghanistan. The first cinema that was built in Afghanistan was Behzad Cinema, which was built in Kabul. After this cinema was built, the radical clerics made this cinema inactive for several years and no film was shown in it. During the time of Habibullah Kalkani, one of the kings of Afghanistan, no artistic activities were carried out in Afghanistan. After him, when Nader Shah came to power in Afghanistan, the cinema did not operate again, because Nader Shah also strictly implemented the policy of radical clerics in his government, that’s why the cinemas remained closed until the end of his rule.

Cinemas were opened aghaine after Zahir Shah came to power in 1933. Because Zahir Shah was not opposed to cinema, the reason was his view of art and cinema. Because Zahir Shah was a photographer himself and loved photography. After the reopening of cinemas, Indian movies were shown in Afghan cinemas due to the fact that Afghanistan had not produced its own films. The first feature film in Afghanistan was “Rozgaran” which was released in Kabul in 1970 and was very well received by the people. After that, other films such as “Rabiea Balkhi” (1974) and “The statues laugh” (1976) were produced in Afghanistan, which were able to shake up the fledgling cinema of Afghanistan. In the 1980s, when the communist era was in Afghanistan, most of the films like “The Patient Soldier (1985)”, “Epic of Love” (1989) and many other films, some of which were left unfinished, were produced in order to fulfill their goals. . After the Communist era, when there were civil wars in Afghanistan, and then the formation of the Taliban. During the Taliban regime, filmmaking and cinema in Afghanistan was completely stopped.

After the fall of the Taliban government in 2001 and the formation of the republican government and the establishment of security and freedom in Afghanistan, cinema revived. But this time there was a difference in Afghan cinema. Cinema had lost its true form. Because a number of films were made only for festivals, and a number of films were foreign projects that had to be produced based on a predetermined plan. This kind of project view of cinema and film production in Afghanistan prevented the formation of a scientific and artistic cinema in Afghanistan. The movies that were made, because it was a project, the filmmaker’s goal was to satisfy the project manager. He was not looking to make a good movie or produce a work of art for Afghanistan, all his thoughts and efforts were to satisfy the project owner and convince the project manager. This made the films produced in Afghanistan unable to compete with the films of the world. Most of them either didn’t make it to the festivals at all, or if some of them made it to the festivals, because they didn’t meet the scientific standards and global structures, they couldn’t compete with those films, so they were excluded from the festivals.

In this period, from 2001 to 2021, films were Production in Afghanistan that were able to show themselves in international festivals. These films were generally made by directors who were not inside Afghanistan and lived in other countries. Like Atiq Rahimi, who made 2 films “Soil and Ashes (2000)” and “Sang Saboor” (2008) in Afghanistan, and both of his films raise the name of Afghanistan and Afghan cinema in international festivals. Or Barmak Akram, who made the movie “Kabhi Kid (2008)” and the movie “Vajmeh (2013)” in Afghanistan and participated in many festivals all over Afghanistan. Among them, there were directors who were inside Afghanistan and made films for Afghanistan and tried to be equal to world cinema. Like Sediq Barmak, who makes the movie “Osameh (2003)” and the movie “Opium War (2008)” and appears in international festivals.

Color in cinema

The concept of color in cinema can have many meanings. Therefore, we should know what is meant by color in cinema? When the discussion of color in cinema comes up, two problems appear.

1. Color in the scene
2. Color in the picture

When it is meant by color in the scene, the goal is the type of color design in stage decoration and in costume design. That is, it should be investigated what kind of colors and with what color combination were used in the designed scene. Also, for what purpose and criteria have they used this type of color combination.

When the color in the image is the subject of discussion, the matter becomes a bit heavier and more complicated. Because in this case, both the color designed in the scene and the color of the light that was shone on the scene to be illuminated are examined. It is in such a situation that the color has its own effect on the scene and the characters of the film, and on the other hand, it has a psychological effect on the audience.

Film is a means of conveying thoughts. When you are watching a movie you are getting a story. A story that takes you to a world outside your real world. At that time you are in a world created in the mind of a writer. But this is not all a movie. Do not forget that film is a visual medium, not a written one. This is where the color in the image helps the film maker to convey the goals and ideology hidden in his mind to the audience by creating the desired image with the combination of certain colors and take over his curious mind and as a result take him somewhere. which aims to guide.

Two things should be considered when using color, whether it is in costume design or in the picture.

1. Color saturation
2. The degree of color

The degree of color saturation is one of the characteristics of the color that determines how much of each color you should use in your color combination so that you can get the color you want with the same pure percentage you want. It should not be forgotten that in order to get accurate color saturation, you must pay attention to the color grade.

The degree of a color shows you whether the resulting color is light or dark. Like dark blue color, which has a higher degree than light blue color. Therefore, in order to get it, you must consider the amount of color combination so that you can achieve your desired color.

Another important issue that should be mentioned here is the degree of coldness and warmth of color, which is used a lot in movies. Like the movie “The Lord of the Rings (2001)” where you can see various ranks in different parts of this movie. In some scenes, completely warm colors are used and in some scenes, completely cold colors are used to align the audience with the feeling of the scene. In the movie “Mirrors (2008)” due to the scary nature of the movie, in some of the scenes when the character enters the building, cold tonal lighting is used. The fear of the scene helps the audience to feel the fear in the scene and the fear in the character in the scene. Of course, it should not be forgotten that warm color attracts the audience much more. If in a scene, color and As soon as the warm color enters the scene, the cold color is automatically removed from the scene because it cannot resist the warm color.

This color difference can also be seen in the film “eyes wide shut (1999)” made by Stanley Kubrick. The cold lighting in the bedroom of Dr. Willian and Alice can be seen in the dark blue color that covers the whole scene and instills a cold and heartless feeling to its audience. But in the party scene, there is no cold color anymore, all the colors are warm and lively and a driving force for those who are present in the scene and the audience who is watching these scenes. Also, the use of color can be well seen in the movie “Curse of Flower Golding” (2006), a movie where color is used to convey the message to the audience.

Color in Afghan cinema

Afghanistan, like other countries in the world, tried to progress in the cinema industry. The growth in the cinema industry was good for Afghanistan in the beginning, but this growth of cinema did not last long and in different periods, Afghan cinema underwent transformations. These transformations sometimes stopped cinema in this country. Despite all these events, cinema in Afghanistan continued its way and films were produced in different eras in this country. At the beginning of the arrival of cinema in Afghanistan, the films were black and white, and most of the Afghan productions were government programs, which cannot be called films in the sense of cinema. But since the time when the Afghan filmmakers went to storytelling and movie production. These films were black and white, like the film “Difficult Days (1973)” and the film “mother’s advice (1972)”. Since color entered the cinema, Afghanistan started producing color movies. Since Afghan filmmakers learned filmmaking more experimentally and there are few educated filmmakers among them, films have never used color as a communication tool. Films such as Hamaseh Eshq (1989) or the film Men Are Promised (1984) and other films that were made after the introduction of color to cinema films in Afghanistan and the films were in color, did not use color as a narrative tool. . Their use was limited to the color of the image and they did not go ahead of him.

During the civil wars in Afghanistan, filmmaking in Afghanistan was almost stopped. It was completely stopped during the Taliban regime. But after 2001, with the presence of foreigners and the establishment of a republican government in Afghanistan, artists and cinematographers tried again to produce films. This effort, with the help of foreign institutions and countries, led to the participation of several films from Afghanistan in world festivals. In the following, we will discuss some of these films and examine the use of color in them.

Atiq Rahimi

Atiq Rahimi, who was born in 1962 in Kabul, Afghanistan, was forced to leave Afghanistan in 1984 due to the outbreak of war and became a refugee in France. Atiq Rahimi has opened a place for himself as a writer and filmmaker in France after his studies. In 2004, Rahimi directed the film “Soil and Ashes” based from Soil and Ashes his own novel of the same name, which was released in 2004 and was well received. This film represented Afghanistan’s cinema at the Oscars. Rahimi also made his second film based on a novel of his own. A novel named “Patient Stone” won the prestigious French literary award, the Goncourt Prize. The script of this film was written in collaboration with Jean-Claude Carrier and was released in 2201. Rahimi has directed several documentaries including (A) Afghanistan (2002). He has published a book of his photos from Afghanistan in France. In 2020, Rahimi made the film “Lady of the River Nile”. The film was shown in many prestigious festivals in the world, such as the Berlin Festival, and received many awards. He currently lives in France and in the city of Paris.

Atiq Rahimi has made 3 films, each of which has its own characteristics. In each of his films, Rahimi has dealt with a corner of the problems of human society in specific circumstances. In the movie “Soil and Ashes” that he made in 2004 based on one of his novels of the same name, he deals with a war-torn society. In the film “Soil and Ashes”, Rahimi narrates the bitterness of war in the homelessness of an old man and his grandson. A fluent but captivating narrative. A narrative that drags the audience to the end of the story to find out whether Dastgir Khan, the main character of the film, can reach his son and tell him about his homelessness and the village. The film has a very calm but dramatic narrative. Atiq Rahimi has not used color as a character much in this movie, but in some scenes of the movie, you can see the intelligent use of color in the movie. In the scene where Dastgir Khan is sitting on the bridge with his grandson, he is leaning on a small wall, the wall behind him is painted. The color of the wall is red and there are words written on it such as death, alive and a half-finished word that may be the word “communism”. There is a napkin in front of the old man and there is bread in it. The old man takes the bread out of it and eats it, it is only bread and nothing else. The point here is that all the colors in this scene are almost neutral except for these two colors which are red. The wall, which is the support of his peace, is red in color. I can say that Rahimi has considered the wall as a symbol of this old man’s homeland, which has become the color of blood. The old man has to lean on it to rest. A country that was turned into a ruin by the aggression of Soviet Communism, and now this old man and his young grandson are displaced. He takes the bread from a handkerchief whose color is red, the color of fire and blood. Right here, Mr. Rahimi has chosen the handkerchief with red color to show his audience that Dastgir Khan and others earn their bread from the heart of fire and blood just to survive. In this scene, a girl is sitting with her mother on the bridge next to the wrecked tank left over from the war. The color of the tent is very carefully and intelligently chosen for them. Mr. Rahimi chooses the yellow color for the mother from the burqa tent, which is a symbol of the Afghan women’s tent. The yellow color itself is a symbol of illness, sickness and autumn, which shows the end of an era like the autumn season, the life that has ended and There was no fruit for him. He chooses a red tent for the girl. A color that symbolizes fire, blood and suffering that is in front of this girl. In this film, Atiq Rahimi has chosen the colors very intelligently and based on their philosophical meaning, and he has been able to use the philosophical dimension of these colors in advancing the goals of the story in his film.

This detailed and conceptual view is more visible by Atiq Rahimi in the movie “Patient Stone (2012)”. Atiq Rahimi enters the psychological space of color in his second film and cleverly uses colors to create his dramatic storys. In this film, Atiq Rahimi uses a burqa veil, which is a type of veil for traditional Afghan women. But the color that Rahimi used for the tent in the movie “Soil and Ashes” is different from the color of the tent in the movie “Sang Sabour”. This shows that Atiq Rahimi chose the color in the image and the design of their costumes with a special look. Because he wants to convey the suffering hidden inside the character to his audience by choosing the color. The color of the scarf in his two films is completely different because the type of suffering that these two characters endure is different. This shows that Atiq Rahimi is very careful to choose the type of color in his films and chooses them with understanding and tact.

Atiq Rahimi uses a combination of colors in the movie “Lady of the River Nile (2020)”. For girls who have come to a religious school, he uses the color of white clothes, which is a sign of purity and purity. It has used a green and beautiful location for their training place. He built the statue of the Holy Mary in a green and beautiful paradise-like atmosphere, which is pleasant and lovely. This type of symbolic use of colors in the film shows that the filmmaker is trying to create a symbolic work to convey his message to the audience. Although Rahimi has used color in his other two films, the use of color in the film “Lady of the River Nile” is completely different from his other two films. In Rahimi’s previous films, we only see color as a color and its color concept, but in the film “Lady of the River Nile” it has a symbolic and social use. In this film, apart from its symbolic and semiotic use, color has found a religious function. It is in such a situation that it can no longer be said that Atiq Rahimi has used color as a beauty tool, but he has used color as a character with philosophical conceptual meanings in the film.

Sadiq Barmak

Sediq Barmak was born in 1962 in Panjshir, Afghanistan. He studied cinema at the University of Moscow, Russia. After finishing his studies and returning to Afghanistan, he was the head of Afghan Film for a while. After the fall of the Taliban government, Barmak made his first film in 2003 in Afghanistan. This film narrates the life of an Afghan female doctor who loses her job under the Taliban regime and her family is in trouble. Sediq Barmak is trying to make his film completely realistic. Of course, it should not be forgotten that making such a film after the Taliban regime, when there was no cinema, is considered a big leap in Afghan cinema. The film has a regular structure. Sediq Barmak has also tried to conceptually use color in some parts of his film in the design of sets and costumes. At the beginning of the film, he shows the main character of the film, who is a woman and a doctor in a hospital, with a chador of golden orange color, and other women in the same sequence, who are demonstrating, with the same type of chador but with blue color. This particular use of the tent for the main character can have two meanings. One is that Sediq Barmak wanted to separate the character from the other characters in the film in the first step in order to attract the audience’s attention to him because he is a completely different color from the other colors in the group of women present in that scene. You can easily see him among women. On the other hand, it is the literal and conceptual meaning of the color of the tent, which means suffering and sadness for the character. In any case, using such a color for the character of the film can be correct and appropriate. In the scene after the girl’s hair is cut, the dress she wears as a boy’s dress is dark in color. Perhaps, by choosing such a color for the character of the girl, Barmak wants to convey to the audience that hard and exhausting days are ahead of this girl.

Barmak doesn’t use much color in his other film “Opium War (2008)”. Except in one part, that is in the scene where the men come to the old man’s place of life to get back the loan money they gave him. In this scene, the men are wearing a long green handkerchief. The color green, which is a sign of life and immortality, is a sacred color in Middle Eastern culture, especially in Muslim countries. But here it is used for those who have Salah in their hands. It may be said that using this color to design the clothes of such persons and for such characters may mislead the audience conceptually. and lead him to another path. Unless the filmmaker meant something different from the concept of the color itself by using the color green for these characters and sought to instill a meaning outside of the original concept of that color.

Kaveh Arik

Kaveh Arik was born in 1981 in one of the central provinces of Afghanistan called Daikundi. Like many Afghan immigrants who were forced to leave Afghanistan after the Soviet Union entered Afghanistan, he immigrated to Iran and spent his childhood in Iran. He studied filmmaking and theater courses in Iran. In Iran, he directed several theaters with theater groups and made several short films. He returns to Afghanistan in 2011. He continues his artistic and theatrical activity in Afghanistan and performs several theaters and makes several short films. In Afghanistan, he is trying to activate theater groups. For this reason, he forms the meme theater group. This group taught theater to young people all over Afghanistan. Kaveh Arik has participated in many festivals with his artworks, which have brought him awards. One of his plays, which has already been staged in Afghanistan, called “Empty Suitcase”, was translated into French by Gilda Shahvardi and published in France.

Kaveh Arik has produced a short film called “Two Ladies” in 2021. Just like many Afghan filmmakers, who during the last 20 years mostly turned women’s issues into films, Arik also chose a female issue for his film. In this film, he deals with the lives of two young women which is a toy in the hands of a man. Unlike Afghan filmmakers who work in realism style, Arik enters the world of surrealism and makes his film in a real/surreal format. Due to the fact that in surreal films and dramas, the film goes out of the real state, the filmmaker is forced to use unconventional designs in decor, light and color. For this reason, Arik uses unconventional lights and an unconventional color in this film. In order to be able to narrate his drama and convey the hidden feeling in the scene to the audience, Ayrik uses a special lighting in the scene, lighting that is combined with color. The colors in Arik’s film are completely calculated and chosen based on the meaning of the concept. In the scene where the drama enters the mental space of the characters, when two characters are sitting in front of each other. He wants to light a cigarette. The camera approaches the characters and captures them in a close-up frame, the colors change. The color of light turns yellow on the faces of the characters and a pink light appears in their background. This color of lights in this scene induces a sense of love in the characters and in the scene and conveys it to the audience. Exactly this kind of psychological use of light and color can also be seen in the scene where the character is in the bedroom with another woman and they are retelling their mental imaginations for a moment. Colored lights are shining from several sides around the heads of the characters. and has created a dreamy atmosphere.

Not all Afghan filmmakers used color and light outside of a realistic style. At least I haven’t seen it. This type of use of light and color is unprecedented in Afghan cinema, and it can be seen for the first time in the movie “Two Ladies” by Kaveh Arik. In his film, Arik has tried to use color in lighting and create special effects of color to convey the feeling of the scene to the audience.

Result

In a country like Afghanistan, all filmmakers use social issues within the same country’s society to make films. When an artist uses a real social issue for his artwork, he has no choice but to use a realist structure to narrate it. This is the reason why all the films produced in Afghanistan have a real structure and ordinary lighting, and color has no place in them in a special conceptual sense. In Afghanistan, movies are made in color. The filmmakers use color in their films, but not as a color of a character and a specific concept like the “blue” film or the “red” film. But simply because their film is in color. In these movies, color has a character and helps convey the special feeling and message of the drama to the audience. Without the characters expressing a dialogue, the light and color in the scene conveys the message to the audience by stimulating the audience’s senses and taking possession of their thoughts. But this kind of drama narrative and storytelling is not seen in Afghan films. The reason for that is the type of subject choice and the way the filmmaker looks at the narrative drama. As it was said in the text, the few filmmakers who have science and an active mind use light and color as one of the narrative tools of their film drama, considering the meaning and philosophical concept of color.

References:

Tolstoy, Leo. 1985. What is art? Translator: Dehgan, Kaveh. Tehran, Amir Kabir.

Eaton, Iohannes. 2022. The art of color. Translator: Shrowa, Arab Ali. Tehran, Yesavali.

Ugeen Biwor, Frank. 1988. The history of cinema. Translator: Torani, Behrooz. Tehran, Printing and Publishing Organization of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.

Lawson, John Howard. 1983. The evolution of cinema. Translator: Yelfani, Mohsen. Tehran, Agha.

Omid, Jamal. 1995. History of Iranian cinema 1978-1900. Rawzanah, Tehran.

A space odyssey. (2001), directed by Stanley Kubrick, UK, USA.

Stars War. (1977), directed by George Lucas, United States of America.

Ler’s daughter (1933), directed by Ardasher Irani.

The times (1970), directed by Sultan H, Hashem.

Mother’s advice (1972), directed by Abdul Khaliq Alil.

Difficult days (1973), directed by Vali Latifi, Rafiq Yahyahi.

Rabia Balkhi. (1974), directed by Dawood Farani, Abdul Khaliq Alil.

The statues laugh. (1976), directed by Toryali Shafaq.

It is a promise to men. (1984), directed by Sayeed Vorkzai.

patient soldier (1985), directed by Latif Ahmadi.

love saga (1989), directed by Latif Ahmadi.

Eyes Wide Shut. (1999), directed by Stanley Kubrick.

Dust and ashes (2004), directed by Atiq Rahimi.

Lord of the Rings. (2001), directed by Peter Jackson.

Osama. (2003), directed by Sediq Barmak.

The curse of the golden flower. (2006), directed by Zhangh Yimo.

patient stone (2012), directed by Atiq Rahini.

Kabuli kid (2008), directed by Barmak Akram.

Opium war (2008), directed by Sediq Barmak.

Mirrors. (2008), directed by Alexsander Aja.

Vajmah (2013), directed by Barmak Akram.

Lady of the river Nile (2020), directed by Atiq Rahimi.

Two ladies (2021), directed by Kave Ayrik.

Blue. (1913), directed by Kreshtof Kieslofski.

Red. (1994), directed by Kreshtof Kieslofski.