engels

Many erotic movies suffer from a weak plot, and this one is no exception. The writer must apparently have thought that putting some drama scenes together and adding a good amount of flash-backs would form a plot. It does not.

But then, you might say, this is an adult movie, and if the plot is that bad, I just fast forward between the sex scenes. Nice thought, but it does not work. The erotic scenes are simply not good either. There are a few scenes that are quite erotic, but these are rare, most of the supposedly erotic/sexual scenes are simply boring. And rather than fast forward through both plot and erotica, it's better not to start watching the movie at all. The little nice erotica (I liked the first quarter or so of the scene where the main character is trying on some flimsy bathwear) is really not worth the wear on your fast-forward button.

'Dance of Dust' tells the story of a boy, working in the brick making. The various stages of the process, from putting the clay in the shapes to the carrying away of the bricks by the trucks. It's hard, dirty work, and a poor life, and if the rains are early it's all for nought. It also tells about the boy falling in love with a girl, who in the end has to leave with her mother.

I saw the movie without subtitles. This seems little of a problem, because there is little talking going on, most scenes contain none. However, exactly for that reason I would have liked another type of subtitles. Because the movie has not much talking, the scenes have to bring over their message in another way, and symbolism of course scores high. Problem is, this is an Iranian movie, and I know too little of the culture to understand the meaning of many of the scenes. Too many scenes thus cannot be understood in their correct context.

The movie contains many beautiful pictures, but as a fake documentary of the life of brick makers fails to keep one's attention for the full 1 1/2 hours. Fortunately there is more behind this movie. Unfortunately, that something is only there for someone with more knowledge of Islamic and Iranian culture than I have to see.

To be honest, the movie was ok, but not as good as I hoped it would be. I have seen the series only once or twice (not being home at the right time and lacking a video), but from what I have seen I prefer the series to the movie.

Of course it's all a matter of taste. And then I do not mean the bad taste of the makers (I had heared about the many swear words before, feared it would be boring, hoped it would be funny, found it had a good function in creating a consistent atmosphere), but the preference for the various movie styles. I simply do not like musicals, and although some of the songs in this movie are actually quite good, I am of the opinion that they break the tempo of the movie, in a negative way. I had hoped to see more humor. There is a good dose of humor, but I still feel the density is considerably lower than in a TV episode. On the other hand the makers have succeeded very well in having a morale to their story and at the same time making fun at that very same morale.

All in all, anyone who has been following South Park all the time certainly has to see this movie and will not be disappointed, but those who, like me, have only seen a little bit of it, or just heared of friends how good it was, would do better to make a tape of two or three of the TV episodes. Certainly not a failure, but as certainly not a masterpiece.