The Man Who Never Knew Too Much – The Beehive review

Provided that there are merely a few names in the history of Iranian cinema that could be shining as outstanding filmmakers; a name would definitely be on the top of the list: Fereydoun Goleh; A name so unappreciated and unacknowledged that regrettably, most international critics and cinephiles simply wouldn’t recognize him and his masterpieces. In fact, it is indeed a pity that all the whole world knows about the Iranian cinema is limited to Abbas Kiarostami and Asghar Farhadi while other prominent and spectacular Persian directors still remain unknown after years of creative activities in Cinema. The reasons why this unfortunate negligence has occurred would require another time and place to discuss as the focus of this piece is only on Goleh’s oeuvre with his most cherished movie at heart The Beehive.

Having studied cinema and theatre in the US and being classmates with Martin Scorsese, Steve Macqueen and Fey Devaney[i] in the 1960s, Goleh returned to Iran to experiment his favorite type of movies conventionally called ‘urban, street-based’ cinema. After some unsuccessful experiences, to cut it short, he finally managed to make a striking trilogy with the main theme of ‘wandering about’ as well as ‘spiritual journeys’ with two of them happening in the mega city of Tehran and one taking place on the roads leading to North of the country; not to mention a main sub-theme existing in all three: the rite of passage.

This trilogy, namely Under the Skin of The Night and The Beehive; frame individuals with lost souls from slums wandering around the streets and alleys  looking for some kind of meaning and purpose and The Mandrake  is an exploration through mysticism and Irfan for a man discovering love in a subjective and spiritual trial which leads to destruction. Yet I believe as The Beehive is Gloleh’s most celebrated and also an exemplary movie , it highly deserves more attention, particularly when it has become a great number of Iranian critics’ choice as one of the top 10 movies throughout the history of the Iranian cinema(though as far as I’m concerned it is undoubtedly number 1).

   Ebi; a man from the margins of the society, dispossessed and uprooted, is released from jail with Agha Hosseini, a friend and mentor. The rest of the film revolves around his struggles and endeavors to take back what belongs to him; his identity and his fair share piece of the cake which could only be a chair posing like a throne. The Beehive is a depiction of a city -and in a big picture, a country- in a complicated turmoil while nothing less than, say, New York in terms of complexity, chaos and darkness but a lot scarier and hollower. He is a loser, an underdog fighting his whole life just to be somebody -a legit person winning respect of others. This former wrestler is now in a dilemma; either to lose a certain bet (a traditional game being played in cafés for centuries in Iran) and suffer the humiliating consequences or for once step up and do what has to be done. Ebi has been kicked aside by almost everybody his whole life; getting beaten up, exploited, stabbed at and now he has a chance to prove something to himself and perhaps others. Throughout this path, Goleh points his camera into the heart and soul of the character and stands next to him, so that for the first time, he might feel he actually can do something in all his miserable life. However, he’s not alone. Agh Hosseini, watching him all along from prison to the present, knows what his protégé needs and the wager is just a pretext for him to teach Ebi a lesson, though learned in the most severe way. At the beginning of the film, Ebi enters a pub and asks for drinks but since he doesn’t have any money, he asks them to pay for it too which proves him to be a freeloader and a bum. Obviously, they refuse and start a fight but he, coming out prison just now, doesn’t engage and leaves. In the meantime, somebody has been watching this pathetic shenanigan and perhaps the first spark setting fire later was struck at this moment.  As my favorite character of the film, Agh Hosseini is willing to make Ebi realize what he has been missing in life and despite the fact that he had been incarcerated for a long time himself, owing to  a deep understanding of his friend and disciple , decides to help him through a game of Torna ; a traditional wager played in cafes across Iran. The outcome of the bet, according to Agh Hosseini is one thing: Ebi must go from south of Tehran to the north of it-from the most destitute to the most privileged areas- visiting pubs and bars, drinking alcohol, not paying a single penny. Surprisingly, Ebi picks up the wager and wants to ‘get to the finish line’ for the first time in his life in spite of having the choice not to accept the verdict. What happens after this is what constructs the backbone of the drama.

It’s all about going on a journey to find oneself and take a beating to death while doing that and our decisive man does it without a shadow of a doubt. This path has seven stops; seven steps in which the man orders drinks, refuses to pay and gets smashed for it but the question remains as to why particularly 7? Number 7 represents completeness and perfection which in turn comes from the spiritual belief of Genesis:  God created all things in 7 days. Additionally, there are 7 stages in Iranian/Islamic Irfan towards salvation and redemption: seeking, love, wisdom, self-sufficiency, monotheism, astonishment and annihilation. Correspondingly, what happens to Ebi is that he intentionally goes through his journey to achieve what has been taken from him by the society as well as the corrupt system and the societal stratification here is solely a catalyst to get ahead ; in fact, the more they beat him, the more he becomes intent to ultimately shatter the mirrors that don’t reflect his true-self.

It feels like anybody who likes urban films, especially the ones focusing on social injustices and discriminations, including the earlier Scorsese’ films in the 70s like Means Streets and Taxi Driver, will be into The Beehive as well. Come to think of it, this film was made a bit before Taxi Driver but the resemblance is tremendous considering the atmosphere and the pickle the characters are in, and also the harrowing impression they make of both Tehran and New York regardless of their colossal differences. After all, both were carrying the same amount of filth, although with distinct roots and causes. On the other hand, Goleh’s film was made very few years before the Iranian revolution and seeing it now makes us realize he had seen something crawling under the skin of the society back then, on account of his chosen one and those around him in that pseudo-apocalyptic café hitting a dead-end in those rotten lives they were living. It’s highly likely they were the ones demonstrating the next few years in the streets of Tehran, looking for a way out. However, I assume the film to be considerably more than that since the people like Ebi are still visible all over. Not to mention, The Beehiveis also a psychological drama about winning and losing; searching for a purpose to live honorably with your head held high. Most certainly, Travis Bickle and Terry Malloy (On the Waterfront) would do the same as Ebi did, though they never got beaten like him prepared to die on the way.

Kudos to the greatest Iranian actor ever lived who hasn’t been able to work for 4 decades in his country, although those films he played in the 70s are beyond enough to put him on the pedestal forever. Behrouz Vossoughi portrays Ebi in a way that it’s like each punch and kick he takes, we take it as well and as he bleeds, we bleed. When he gets out of the seventh and last stop with that mutilated face and body, and then pulls that chair and sits on it like a king on a throne, we believe him and our hearts beat for him. The former, loser athlete is on top of the world now because he has proved he still exists and more importantly, Agh Hosseini is now pleased with his mate.

[i] Dorostakr, R (2021); Fereydoun Gole, life and artworks.

by: Mehran Arian

© 2020-2022. UniversalCinema Mag.