THE MOVING PICTURE BOY ARCHIVE

TAJROBE

Title: تجربه
Roman transliteration: Tajrobe [also transliterated as Tedjrobeh, Tadjrebeh, and Tadjrobeh]
English translation of title: Experience
Year of release: 1973
Director: Abbas Kiarostami
Screenwriters: Abbas Kiarostami and Amir Naderi
Country of Production: Iran
Genre: Drama
Length: 56 minutes
Language: Persian
Availability: Available with English subtitles on the Criterion Eclipse Series 47 (Region A) blu-ray, Abbas Kiarostami, Early Shorts and Features
Principal boy: Hossein Yarmohammadi as Mamad. This was his only screen role.

Synopsis
In this beautifully shot film, Kiarostami's very first feature, Mamad, an orphaned working class adolescent, works as an errand boy in a photographer's studio, where he also sleeps at night. Socially and sexually isolated, he finds himself attracted to an older girl from a better-off family. When the girl finally sees him, in a fleeting and silent encounter, Mamad seems not to notice the mocking aspect of the smile that the girl gives him, no doubt because she is at least acknowledging his existence; and so he decides to give up his current job in the hope of getting a job in the girl's house, a decision that will ultimately lead to emotional hurt. As an adolescent boy, chasing after girls brings little but disappointment, and Mamad's society seems not to offer any alternative outlet for his burgeoning sexuality and need for emotional connection.

The story was written by Amir Naderi (later famous for directing Davandeh... / The Runner) and is clearly very much autobiographical (Naderi was orphaned at a young age and had to make his living in various ways). Naderi himself abandoned the project when he was offered the chance to make a different film, leaving Kiarostami to remodel it as he wished.

Screenshots