| Breathful | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Daryush Shokof |
| Produced by | Tom Dokoupil Taies Farzan |
| Written by | Daryush Shokof Daryush Shokof |
| Starring | Souzan Alavi Blondine Costaz Taies Farzan Christina Fraas |
| Music by | Tom Dokoupil |
| Cinematography | Daryoush Zandi |
| Editing by | Tom Dokoupil Daryush Shokof |
| Release date(s) | 2007 |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | English |
Breathful is a gangster-comedy film with an all-woman cast made by Daryush Shokof in 2007 in Berlin, Germany.
The title was used previously by Shokof for another movie in 1990 in New York, called: Ben Hur, the breathless, taxi-driver in Casa Blanca, or simply, the "breathful". It is dedicated to freedom of women worldwide, and most specifically in his homeland of Iran.
Contents |
Two friends, Taies Farzan and Narges Rashidi (both Iranians living in Germany), try to get rich quickly by getting drugs on credit from a drug lord (Sigi). They go through lots of absurd situations in order to sell the drugs, and are unable to sell them. They bring the drugs back to Sigi and ask her to forget the deal. Their life turns into a miserable ride from that moment on. They first try unsuccessfully to sell the drugs to a close associate. Simultaneously Berta (played by Taies Farzan) continues on with her routine job of daring hold ups of store clerks. She brings home hard cash as Fuss (Narges Rashidi) continues in contacting her society of elite friends in a calm, cool, and relaxed manner—in contrast to all the pain Berta has to go through to make ends meet. Fuss' ignorance and collectedness finally aggravates Berta to the point of explosion. They fight and have disagreements throughout the film. Their troubles and conflict peak as Fuss suggests they should become painters and sell art works to get rich overnight, and for Berta to stop all that rubbish store robbery business. The Gallery scene is a true delight as Berta and Fuss put on a real show in exhibiting their art works. Their situation gets more helpless as Fuss has an affair with the Boss' beautiful daughter Naomi. Sigi finds out about the affair and thereafter it is evident that the climax is near as Sigi goes to get her daughter back and kill the two of funniest girl couples in the gangster world. The shootout leaves many dead bodies. Their bloody bodies are escorted from the scene by the crazy, brave and mysterious taxi-driver, Benny Hur.
Daryush Shokof cast two Iranian lead actresses, Taies Frazan and Narges Rashidi, mainly because he dedicated this movie to the freedom of women worldwide and most specifically to Iranian women in his own homeland Iran.
He believes women are brutally under dictatorial, and unjust treatment by the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran which is currently ruling his country. Shokof made an attempt in the gangster-comedy genre to show that women can do it all without any participation of a male actor throughout. Films in this genre are usually dominated by men.
The film won the Best Director award for Daryush Shokof the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival NYIIFVF in 2007.