#the_loser_man

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Marde Bazande (The Loser man)

Marde Bazande is the latest movie directed by Mohammad Hosein Mahdavian which was first shown in the 40th Fajr festival. Having already made a name for himself by directing Shishleek and the blockbuster series Zakhme Kari exclusively shown by Televika, Mahdavian decided to go for a different story though working along with the same cast from Zakhme Kari.

A middle-aged detective, Ahmad Khosravi is assigned to a murder investigation and having looked for clues, discovers a corruption network. Ahmad is relentlessly trying to catch the culprit at the expense of his private life and that of his two children. He thinks he’s about to unravel this crime mystery when he is all of a sudden in for a surprise!

Cast and crew of the movie

Javad Ezati, Rana Azadivar, Anahita Dargahi, Babak Karimi, Mehdi zaminpardaz, Majid Nowroozi, Amirhosein Hashemi, Amir Dejakam, Sajad Babaei, Manoochehr Alipoor, Shabnam Ghorbani, Venoos Kaneli and Melika Pazoki are the actors of Marde Bazande. The script of the movie is co-written by Hosein Hasani, Ebrahim Amini and Mohamad Hosein Mahdavian. Amir Banan and Kamran Hejazi are the producers of Marde Bazande.

What movie critics have to say

Seyed Ehsan Emadi

This movie is definitely a step, if not more, backward in Mahdavian’s career path! The plot offers nothing beyond he has already maneuvered around in Zakhme Kari, that is speaking vaguely of Iran’s corruption networks which go to any lengths to gain what they want, brutally crossing all the red lines and committing the most dreadful crimes. Alas, the movie only obliquely refers to such nasty crimes, though for understandable reasons. Just as Zakhme Kari series, Marde Bazande fails to delve deeper into such crimes. What’s the point of all this superficiality? You may wonder!

The artistic and dramatic aspects of Mahdavian’s work, though this time void of his typical ambitiousness, is just like his other movies. One or two adrenaline-pinching scenes, such as car chasing scenes or the train about to come any moment when one criminal is tied to the train track, though performed well have nothing to say compared with Derakhte Gerdoo or Rade khoon glorious sequences.

 Contrary to Peyman Moadi’s role in Majaraye Nimrooz or Javad Ezati’s in Lottery, Ezati is really not a plausible option for a stubborn and smart detective who happens to be a grandfather! Only is it in Ghahveye Talkh as a comedy series that Javad Ezati can play the role of an old man! In Marde bazande, his playing the role of an elderly is nothing short of hilarious!

In the first trimester of the film, we mistakenly think we are busy watching a robust detective story! But as we continue watching, we realize how shallow the whole concept is! The detective’s troubled relationship with his son is a cliché at its best! Babak Karimi’s secretive and mysterious personality adds to the complications of the scenario.  As a result, Marde Bazande is not even as good as Lottery! After all these unrelated happenings, the mystery is unravelled in the most irrational manner and makes the viewer wonder why it took the director two good hours to take them to where they finally got!

With seven movies, one documentary and a 15- episode serial only in 6 years, Mahdavian is known as a very prolific director. Still, I suppose he should give himself a break as the ideas and emotions behind movie production sometimes do need to sink in

 Mohamadreza Moghadasian

Marde Bazande depicts the life of an aging silver-haired detective whose life is unsettled and is supposed to solve a crime mystery. He’s a hopeless loser who despite his miserable personal life, have always tried to be moral and to follow the path of righteousness. Dedicated entirely to his career, his relationship with his son has gone south, but this very criminal case is a watershed in his personal and professional life. Going through something akin to a metamorphosis, he manages to overcome his fear and uncertainties and takes a bold decision.

The script of this movie is quite an improvement compared to Mahdavian’s previous work, Zakhme Kari, thanks to his co-writer Ebrahim Amini. Javad Ezati’s playing the role of a man in his mid 60s is also truly remarkable. He has starred in many movies directed by Mahdavian playing a variety of roles. In Marde Bazande though, he has managed to successfully pull it off to act as an elderly man and definitely deserves to be nominated for the best male leading actor.

The director has done a superb job regarding filming, framing and photography to illustrate the modern society of Iran. However, his fear in being more outspoken regarding the plot is his Achilles’ heel which is particularly noticeable towards the end of the movie when the viewer expects their questions to be answered but is instead left high and dry!

The rampant corruption has penetrated the society and the detective who is supposedly the protagonist of the story, can’t even be remotely effective in serving justice! The loser man remains a loser man! He finally patches things up with his son, but that’s a negligible victory compared with what the audience expects him to have achieved!

Merits of Marde Bazande

Javad Ezati’s stardom

Mahdavian’s progress to non-historical genre and his relative success in storytelling

Kamal Poor Kaveh

In the light of this film, Mahdavian is now a director who has launched his journey on the path of success by providing his viewers with different movies every time. Marde bazande is a very intricate crime movie which reminds us of Raymond Chandler’s novels and his popular detective Philip Marlowe. He’s surrounded by lie, envy and opportunism and is ultimately able to provide us with the clues.

 The usual elements of a crime movie are all present in Marde Bazande. A murder case, a determined investigator, rainy streets, a seductress and sophisticated financial and emotional affairs are all combined in this mystery and as the plot thicken, more suspects come into play.

Javad Ezati will probably stay in his fans’ minds for many years to come in his role as Ahmad, the aging adamant detective with his rough voice and unique posture.

 The biggest pitfall of this film is its many dialogues which can puzzle the audience especially those with less intense concentration.

Merits of Marde Bazande

The main actor’s deep understanding of his role as a lonely, yet determined  detective which is exemplary in cinema of Iran

Less use of dramatic music which is orthodox in detective movies

The bird’s-eye view of the leading character at the last sequence of the film which highlights his loneliness and his moving toward a different     direction

Reza Saemi

Having already tried his hand at a detective genre in Zakhme Kari production, Mahdavian has produced yet another whodunit movie. It touches upon the financial corruption between the blue bloods of Iran

(the politician’s children mainly sons) and tries to solve a murder which has its roots in governmental and economic mafia. Marde Bazande is both a melodrama and a mystery which condemns the status quo!

Among its many positive points, I can mention the great picture composition, the amazing play by Javad Ezati and his thick different make up, but above all introducing a detective who is a devastated aging father and an outcast investigator who is eventually removed from the criminal case when the big investors exert their influence.

Marde Bazande is the story of those heroes who don’t become corrupted merely to win

Merits of Marde Bazande

A  non-stereotypical picture of an Iranian detective

Javad Ezati’s extraordinary performance

Seyed Arya Ghoreyshi

Mohammad Hosein Mahdavian has now once again returned to his realm of power after having a different experience with the movie Shishleek. Marde bazande is a dark intricate thriller which targets the country’s political circumstance. A victim’s suspicious murder leads us to a world of mistrust. Within the classic genre of a crime movie, Mahdavian and his team have tried to address some of the thorny issues of Iran at present. We are also reminded of the fact that how forged the terms social genre or social movie are.

Marde bazande meets the primary expectations of its viewers. It can keep the audience at the edge of their seats for as long as two hours. It has moved beyond the conservative norms followed in the cinema of Iran due to the courage shown by Mahdavian and his co script writers.

Having said that, this movie is by no means a number one movie and has many flaws! The detective and the melodrama genre are not blended well with one another and this has made Marde Bazande a dichotomous film! This allegedly loser of a father and a detective is now trying to prove himself to the world as he gradually changes both in his personal and professional life. Still, the movie suffers from lack of unity.

Another shortcoming is raising the viewers’ expectations at the beginning of the movie and not being able to meet it by the end as at first, we expect a startling revelation is about to take place, but are completely disappointed by the end! Of course this can be due to the sensitive content of the film.

Rest assured, Mahdavian is a very competent director who knows how to rub his viewers the right way. If only he and his colleagues would go the extra mile to make the script richer in content so that the result wouldn’t be a relatively appealing but an imperfect film.

Merits Of Marde Bazande

Javad     Ezati’s facial mimicry to convey a vast spectrum of emotions

The     director’s effort to be loyal to the genre, though imperfect

Touching     the less talked-about topics in the cinema of Iran

Ali Seifolahi

It’s an example of a detective story with the film noir genre. It consists of a typical weary detective with a traumatic life, a complicated crime, a mystery to unravel and a seductress with a lot of censorship! Beyond the rainy streets, the movie has three layers of story: the investigator’s effort in finding clues, the discovery of a corruption network connected to the government and the detective’s failed relationship with his son.

The movie could have become a blockbuster! It could have been a very entertaining detective story illustrating the fears and the pains, the victories and defeats of the detective, it could have become a perfect example of a melodramatic and detective genre, but alas, didn’t become any of them as it fell into the trap of cliches and turned into a pedestrian film with a very conservative approach. They could have written any name in front of the title of the director but Mahdavian! What a pity!

Merits Of Marde Bazande

Hadi     Behrooz’s film-taking

Shabnam     Ghorbani’s act as Marzieh

Amir     Hosein Hashemi’s act as the detective’s assistant

Ahmad Shahvand

Considering its every aspect, this movie is lackadaisical! With due respect to the leading character and his role, Javad Ezati reminds us of Baba Eti in Ghahveye Takh comedy series! Therefore, the whole movie goes to waste and apart from one or two scenes of the accidents and the railway, there’s nothing to flex!

Merits Of Marde Bazande

A     must-hear music of the closing credits

The     train track scene Share this:    http://r.televika.com/losermantumbler