Criticism of the movie “Kejpileh”; When cinema becomes an excuse to become a trend

After five years of Hatef Alimardani’s absence from the cinema, his return with “Kejpileh” made many curious; The director who showed with “Koche Baynam” has a sharp social perspective and with films like “Seven Months” and “Abajan” he was able to create an acceptable balance between art cinema and the mainstream. But the result of this return is a wandering and contradictory work that, instead of dealing with social issues, looks more like a project to go viral on social networks than a film with a definite cinematic identity.

A repetitive idea with poor execution

The story of “Kejpileh” is about Sima Tharvati, a famous and pessimistic actress who suddenly finds herself in a man’s body. An idea that has been experienced many times in the history of world cinema and has a great capacity to criticize gender stereotypes and create a dialogue about social roles. But instead of taking advantage of this capacity, Alimardani leaves everything superficial and only at the level of jokes and convenient situations. The film is clearly from “Oh! Türkiye’s “Bilinda” is adapted, but while the original version had a dramatic approach, here everything has turned into a rushed and clichéd comedy; A comedy that reminds of the repeated formulas of popular cinema of the eighties.

Expensive makeup, but useless

A significant part of the film’s energy is spent on Elnaz Shakerdoost’s male makeup; Makeup, which was supposed to be the engine of the narrative, but in practice, is too artificial and attention-grabbing. The result is that instead of accompanying the story, the audience is constantly reminded that they are watching an actor’s performance and not the character of the film. Voice acting also fuels this disbelief. The combination of these two weaknesses destroys the fantasy atmosphere of the film and cuts off the audience’s connection with the story. Shakerdoost’s dance scenes, which became hot on Instagram, have also become a promotional function rather than being part of the narrative; It is as if the film was designed from the beginning to be clipped on social networks.

One-dimensional and tasteless comedy

“Kejpileh” has placed almost all of its comedy load on sexual jokes and repetitive situations. This old method has been seen many times in low-quality Iranian comedies and is a sign of lack of courage and creativity in designing humorous situations. The continuous repetition of clichéd and sexist dialogues becomes repetitive and annoying instead of being funny; Slogans that are neither a real critique of stereotypes nor create a new discourse. Instead of criticizing gender roles, the film itself reproduces the same stereotypes and uses humor in the most shallow way possible.

One of the most fundamental weaknesses of “Kejpileh” is its script. The body change of the main character has no logical explanation and is just an excuse for a series of superficial jokes. The narrative is full of discontinuities, oversimplifications and lack of payoff, and the makers seem to have expected the audience to be entertained by every twist like decades past. But today’s audience, even in a comedy, expects coherence, internal logic and characters’ payment; Things that are rarely seen in “Kejpileh”.

Elnaz Shakerdost, who previously performed brilliantly in “TT” and “Autobahn Deer”, does not get a chance to show her abilities in this film. Heavy make-up and irregular direction have made his acting superficial and far from reality, and his acting has no resemblance to his previous works, as if there was no director for him. Naimeh Nizamdoost is the only bright spot in the games and creates some genuinely funny moments. On the other hand, Soroush Sehat and other actors have become victims of a script that practically does not allow them to play serious roles.

summary

Hatef Alimardani was once one of the hopes of Iran’s social cinema; But “Kejpileh” shows that returning to a genre regardless of the changing audience tastes and quality standards of today, can have a disappointing result. The film is torn between the two goals of attracting the general audience and presenting serious themes and succeeds in neither. “Kejpileh” could build a bridge between comedy and social issues with an attractive idea. But in the end, everything remained on the surface and the film became a product that was made more for distribution in the virtual space than for screening in cinema halls.

This film is neither a compelling comedy, nor a coherent narrative, nor powerful performances. In fact, “Kejpileh” is an example of how a good idea, in the absence of creativity and attention to detail, can turn into a work whose only achievement is a few viral clips on Instagram. Finally, the cocoon is the cocoon that never turned into a butterfly.

Film ID “Kajpileh”

Director: Hatef Alimardani
Author: Hatef Alimardani
Actors: Elnaz Shakerdoost, Soroush Sehat, Nima Shabannejad, Naimeh Nizamdoost, Farnoosh Nikandish, Zahra Davodenjad.
Product: 1404, Iran
Summary of the story: The story of “Kejpileh” is about a character named Sima Tharvati, a famous actress who becomes a man due to her cynicism towards men and her life changes a lot.