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>
> Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2006 23:47:05 +0100
> From: "Henry M. Taylor" <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: The Kiss
>
> According to Robertson, Iran is the one major film-
> producing country where on-screen kissing is still banned (curious:
> no kisses in Kiarostami's works?!).
No,not once, not even in THROUGH THE OLIVE TREES. Curiously, the prohibition on kissing on screen (although, if I read it correctly, I believe that the original post on this topic was inquiring about film characters kissing inside a cinema) has never struck me as a hindrance while watching post-revolution Iranian films. Kiarostami is a perfect example of this: I doubt that anyone watching his narrative and documentary features and shorts has ever paused to ponder why there's no kissing. The issue never surfaces since the (narrative) circumstances that may naturally lead to a kiss simply don't happen in his or other auteur films, even in commercial Iranian film I've seen--a crucial difference from male-female relationship stories in Indian cinema, where the semi-kiss (or "invisible kiss") can indeed become an issue for the Western viewer. Although it should be noted that some very recent Indian films have broken this taboo.
Robert Koehler
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