ABSTRACT
Madness is a very cinematic theme. Often it engages the film spectator psychologically for the fear of the murderous mad person. At other times the spectator is shown the hallucinatory images on the mad person’s mind in an aesthetically pleasing way. The predictable unpredictability of the mad person also adds to the fascination with the theme. We, the spectators, can always be sure there is a surprise just around the corner. What often happens is a surprise because on the screen as in real life madness defies the logic of mainstream society. It is, therefore, not surprising that madness has been a central theme for some of the most important Iranian films, albeit differently from how the theme is treated in the dominant Hollywood paradigm. In this chapter, I will examine the representation of madness in Iranian cinema before and after the 1979 revolution by analysing The Cow (1969), Marriage of the Blessed (1989) and Crimson Gold (2003). I argue that madness as a central theme has been utilized by the creators of the films to express political views and challenge in a unique way the dominant political discourses under the repressive regimes of pre- and post-revolution Iran. While the films have similarities in how they treat the theme, their differences throw the disparities between the pre- and post-revolutionary intellectual milieus into sharp relief.
