What follows is the result of an idea to connect the field of philosophy and thought with the world of drama. Let us choose sentences to ponder from the statements of the members of the philosophical group, which are archived in the “Chistiha Blog” (http://chistiha.blogfa.com); and after manipulating the concepts of those statements, and doing a brief exercise and editing, let us create a dramatic idea that will continue to form another dialogue, another concept, and another thought.
In the principles of drama writing, “ideation” and “drafting” have a specific method; but we tried to be one step before the idea and the plot. At the same stage of mental spark or, in our own words, the “study” stage, where the writer’s hand is open to writing down any image, concept, or point. Here, we have not limited ourselves to not mentioning the technical instructions, performance arrangements, dialogue, staging, and other matters, and left them for more detailed plans; on the contrary, we have completely written down whatever came to mind at the moment.
During our group meetings, we came to the conclusion that it was not necessary to obtain refined and precise plans from our conversations. It was only necessary to immediately edit and record everything that came to mind in an instant as a “study.”
And now we share the same with you. May these exercises and sketches be the beginning of a path to step on a bridge between philosophy and drama.
Ideas on the Bridge from Philosophy to Drama: Etude 116
Note: These sketches have been registered with the Islamic Culture and Guidance Department. And the intellectual property belongs to the author.
These sketches are only allowed to be republished on the “Chistiha” site.
Idea number one hundred and sixteen
Etude 116
A young boy, about 27-28 years old. His name could be Sepehr for us.
The entire film takes place in a student room.
A single character. No words. The sound on the image is the sounds of memories. All the dialogues of the college; the professors’ lessons, the words of other students. And we don’t hear this boy’s voice in any dialogue. That is, he has neither dialogue nor monologue in this film.
In the main scenes, he is wearing a white shirt and loose pants made of milky white fabric. His face has an incomparable calm. And there are no pimples on his face. And he doesn’t have a beard. In these scenes, nothing moves.
In short scenes, he is wearing a navy blue shirt and gray sweatpants. In these scenes, his face is full of pimples. And he also has a relatively long beard. And he looks a little disheveled and worn out.
The beginning of the film, in a white shirt. He is looking at his face in front of the bathroom mirror. His eyes fall on the shaving cream and razor. His hand goes towards them. And then he goes towards his neck. We feel that he is about to cut his jugular vein. But nothing can be understood from his distorted gaze. A ticking sound rises. This sound is from the siphon. The hand that goes to close the valve belongs to the time when he is wearing a black shirt.
Such movements occur continuously throughout the film. Of course, except for a few cases, and that too from behind and to the side, and from a medium distance, we do not see the boy in the black shirt. The entire film belongs to the time when he is wearing a white shirt.
And the stories that we can understand throughout the film from the dialogues of others that are on these images are that Sepehr’s field of study is psychology. Bachelor’s degree. The professors are very strict. And the other students are also reckless and intoxicated with youth and euphoria. And they do not know anything about Sepehr’s mental state. And we feel that the students are constantly harassing him with their sarcasm, sarcasm, and mockery. The topics also go back to the cultural and educational distance. And of course, poverty and wealth. Students who have low culture but are rich and have high-end cars. And that they are trying to get a consulting office in the upper reaches of the city. So that they can take advantage of their “clients”! And this Sepehr, whose culture and upbringing is annoying to them because he is so organized and tidy. They cannot communicate with him in any way. And it turns out that Sepehr has not been able to pay his landlord the rent for several months and is under stress. Unemployment. No future horizon. And postgraduate studies that are really difficult for him. And of course, loneliness. Perhaps we would like to know more about his fate. That he probably has a small family. His father was forced to go to a small city and rent a small house. And a field he did not like. And he has to continue in this distant city. And his inability to cook.
The various scenes where we see the regular objects of this house express an isolated and at the same time obsessive character. There is no television, radio or telephone. And this room has only one window that opens onto a one-meter balcony. The reality is on the other side of the narrow alley with the buildings opposite; which of course we will not see much. The camera rotates in this room; and we only notice this window at the last moment. The moment when Sepehr passes through this window in a white dress and we realize that all this time it was his spirit that was roaming the room. And when Sepehr’s spirit leaves the window, the camera slowly and imperceptibly zooms in and approaches the window as in the final credits an absolute whiteness and pure light cover the entire frame of the image.
In these moments, we only understand the meaning of the words and sentences and those dialogues that Sepehr committed suicide (seeing the blood trail from the bathroom to the balcony). A student who could have been useful to this country. And this room could have been a cozy corner for him to concentrate and study. Perhaps we will only realize that Sepehr should have looked at these objects properly. But he never looked at the objects in his room. He was always waiting for a dreamy future. The most accessible things were lost to him. And he had no reflection, except humiliation and self-deprecation.
Finding the cause of the problem is important: that the professors do not even once ask what the purpose of studying is. They do not even once approach the student. And from the professor’s podium they only speak one-sidedly. And that too repetitively. Even if they are teaching courses in general psychology and personality psychology and counseling in the field of psychology. It seems like everything is artificial. Except for that window light. And that beautiful absolute whiteness. And that’s it.
Author: B. Khosravani
It is recalled that any copying and extraction of these ideas, from an ethical and legal perspective, is only possible by mentioning the address, and use for performance will only be possible if the author’s written consent is obtained.