There are things that I love in Iranian cinema and things that I don’t. In Iranian cinema, you have to use metaphor because you are living under a dictatorship.
Love is the opposite of good sense.
For a revolution to succeed, the entire population must support it.
To die a martyr is to inject blood into the veins of society.
We were not in the same social class but at least we were at the same bed.
In any case as long as there is oil in the middle east they will never have peace.
Ouch! What are you doing, Karl, you broke my skull!
They found records and video-cassettes at their place, a deck of cards, a chess set. In other words, everything that’s banned.
And so I was lost, without any bearings... what could be worse than that?
The harder I tried to assimilate, the more I had the feeling that I was distancing myself from my culture, betraying my parents and my origins, that I was playing a game by somebody else’s rules.
I’m happy to see you so well-settled here. Now you must make an effort, you must become somebody. I don’t care what you do later, only try to be the best. Even if you become a cabaret dance, better that you dance at the lido than in a hole in the wall.
What do you want me to say, sir? That I’m the vegetable that I refused to become, that I’m so disappointed in myself that I can no longee look at myself in the mirror? That I hate myself?
Third: live together as long as you feel truly happy. Life is too short to be lived badly.
Dalam hidup kau akan bertemu banyak orang brengsek. Kalau mereka menyakitimu, katakan pada dirimu sendiri itu karena mereka bodoh. Itu akan membantu mencegahmu bereaksi pada kekejaman mereka. Karena tidak ada yang lebih buruk daripada kebencian dan balas dendam. Selalu jaga martabatmu dan jujurlah pada dirimu sendiri.
With this first cigarette, I kissed childhood goodbye. Now I was a grown-up.
I wanted to die. Where were my parents to take me in their arms, to reassure me?
In retrospect, I can see that I had always known that it wouldn’t between us. But after my pitiful love story in Vienna, I needed to believe in someone again...
It’s wonderful to have international friends.
To educate myself, I had to understand everything. Starting with myself, me, Marji, the woman.
Things always happen when you least expect it.
Bagaimanapun, selama ada minyak di Timur Tengah kita takkan pernah damai.