Venice Film Festival 2022 | Interview with cast of World War III

Interview with cast of World War III: actor Mohsen Tanabandeh, director Houman Seyyedi, and screenplay writer Azad Jafarian

Shakib (Mohsen Tanabandeh) doesn’t have much: he lost his wife, son, and house in an earthquake. But one day, while working on a movie set, life gives him a second chance. However, love in the guise of Ladan (Neda Jebreili) gets in his way, and from being a kind shy man, Shakib turns into a despotic tyrant. But aren’t we all undergoing this risk? With the same irony that contradistinguishes the movie, we discussed this and other peculiarities, with director Houman Seyedy, leading actor Mohsen Tanabandeh and screenplay writer Azad Jafarian. World War III, competing in the section Orizzonti, won two awards at the 79^th Venice Film Festival: for best movie and Mohsen Tanabandeh for best actor.

Giulia Dickmans, UniversalCinema Magazine (UM): I am half Sicilian half German and there is a running joke in my family: without Mafia and Nazism the movie industry wouldn’t know what to do. (everyone laughs) So is World War III yet another movie about Nazism, but from a very unusual angle? How did you get the idea? Are you passionate about the genre? You also refer to Anna Arendt and the banality of evil. In which sense?

Houman Seyyedi (HS): The movie is about obstacles, material but also emotional, towards happiness in life, and what we, as humans, do to overcome them —which means sometimes making big mistakes. Therefore, the story itself told us what its needs are. Based on what we wanted to say and, and what we wanted to convey, we were guided by it throughout our choices. We’ve thought about a thousand different scenarios. For example, who else could have been the main character if it wasn’t Hitler? But we couldn’t find a convincing answer, so we came to the conclusion that no one else could have replaced him. The whole World War II setting is just vital to the story. And this made things complicated for us because we had to go and build everything. It was pretty terrifying to approach the whole project because we had never done anything like that before. And we had somehow to figure it out and make it work.

(UM): Are you saying that the scenes of the movie showing how you build the set are documentary-like?

Azad Jafarian (AJ): Not really, it’s more like we’re making fun of ourselves. (everyone laughs)

(HS): Also, the choice of developing a film within the film, it’s a concept I never thought of. I was never willing to do so; I am not in that genre so much. But again, the story itself dictated it and we just went along with what the story demanded.

(UM): And how do you think a movie, which deploys irony to tackle such a sensitive topic as concentration camps, will be perceived in Europe? I think you managed to approach it with great sensitivity and Mohsen’s performance does the rest, but aren’t you afraid? Do you think the public here will react very differently from the Iranian one?

(HS): It was always very important for us to make sure that we wouldn’t hurt or offend anyone, group, or person. Therefore, during the writing process we, Azad and I, always kept that in mind. And I even shared the script with researchers of the topic and German friends, to see how far we could go, because the lines were blurry, and we didn’t want to cross them. And when we first came here to Venice, we were worried about the German critics’ feedback. Yesterday we had an interview with one of them, who really seemed to have liked the movie.  But we don’t know how the German audience will receive it. Are they going to give themselves permission to laugh? I guess we will see how it goes in a month when we will have the German premiere in Hamburg.

(UM): This question is for Mohsen. Shakib, your character in the movie, doesn’t want to become a movie star, right? He’s always reluctant, shy, and tries to hide. Is it a feeling you can relate to personally? Was it easy to interpret him?

Mohsen Tanabandeh (MT): Not at all, I am an actor and I want to be seen. However, there are other aspects I have in common with Shakib. For example, this longing for anarchy and chaos. Generally speaking, a lot of people, especially those working in art, have a predisposition for it, you could say it is part of their research. However, for working-class people, whose social circumstances are harsher, it’s not a deliberate choice. Difficult events often force that side to emerge, as in the case of Shakib.

(UM): Do you refer to this point, in almost every Iranian movie, where the hell breaks loose, and everyone starts screaming and hitting each other physically? (Everyone laughs) Is it a stylistic choice, to comply with the Iranian movie tradition, a trademark, or is it rather a reflection of what is happening today in Iranian society?

(HS): In our story, we look at people and how they are changing to pursue happiness. So, when we were writing the script, we just focused on the principles of screenwriting, not much else. If the main character doesn’t change during the movie, it might not be exciting to watch. It might be boring. So, these violent scenes are not a reflection of society, rather than, again, what the story needs, and us complying with screenplay writing principles. But of course, the movie is a product of the society I am part of. So, whatever ends up in the film, basically it is inspired by my own family, my neighborhood, and the society I have lived in for the past four years. But it’s more of a subconscious reflection of it, rather than a portrait of it.

(AJ): And if I may add, I believe that the physical violence and the intense arguments we show in Iranian movies are because we don’t have the option of showing intimacy. So fighting is a very strong dynamic, which kind of replaces and stands for all the others.

(UM): It is peculiar that three out of the four Iranian movies being presented here in Venice this year deal with the five senses. In your World War III, one character is deaf, in Bi Roya by Arian Vazirdaftari and Beyond the Wall by Vahid Jalilvand, the protagonists have some sort of sights alterations. Is it a coincidence? Or rather a metaphor for something else?

(HS): I guess in general it is a coincidence. In our case again, just a necessity of the script, to explain why Shakib and Ladan have a privileged intimacy. Like Ladan, also Shakib’s mother was deaf, and therefore they can communicate in the sign-language. This way, we made it acceptable for the audience, that someone from the working class falls in love with a prostitute, which usually is taboo.

(UM): Another completely unrelated question is about the production conditions on the set that you show and expose in the movie. They appear to be precarious, not only concerning the finance aspect, but also security issues and the exploitation of professional figures. Are you reporting a structural issue? Also considering the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins last year on the set of Rust.

(HS): My intention was never to criticize the film industry or the process of filming. I was rather looking for an opportunity to be able to say how, even on a much smaller scale, people can turn into dictators. I always ask myself if I am turning into a dictator of sorts. Because when you strive to make the best version of something, especially if you’re a perfectionist, filmmaking has the potential to make dictators out of people who are after their vision. You may end up mistreating others.

(UM): So Houman did you mistreat Mohsen? How was it to work together? (everyone laughs)

(HS): Well Mohsen is a very bright actor and more importantly, very motivated. Some actors who have done a lot of movies, like him, start losing interest in the process, but he on the contrary works hard and it was a pleasure to work with him.

(MT): Thank you, and for me, it was also a great pleasure to work with Houman. We are both actors and directors, so we sometimes had confrontations about how things needed to be done… (he laughs). It wasn’t an easy production, but by listening and working together I think we made the best out of it. You know, I also sometimes had the feeling I was turning into a tyrant, and I was very scared of it. As a famous actor, the chances to abuse your position are higher than for normal people. During the production, at times I found myself bossing around someone to bring me food or my costume and such minor things, just because I could. Therefore, I can totally relate to what Houman said before: the path to becoming a dictator is very short, especially in the film industry.