The Cyclist (1987)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

The Cyclist (1987) – M. Makhmalbaf

Peculiar tale of an Afghani migrant to Iran who, in order to raise funds for his wife’s emergency hospital stay, agrees to ride a bicycle in a small circle for seven days non-stop.  Of course, this is a circus, especially when extreme bets are placed on the outcome and the opposing forces seek to influence the result – both have teams of doctors attempting to fill Nazim (or breeze, nee Ateh) with either vitamins or Valium.  Director Mohsen Makhmalbaf creates a weird feeling of hyper-reality which might be the result of the woozy Arabic music, the occasionally bright colour scheme (many blues) and the strange and surreal proceedings.  Standing back a bit, it seems that the film could be seen as an allegory for the exploitation of the desperate among us -- perhaps Afghanis in Iran, particularly, but humans more generally.  What won’t they do for money and what sort of sick game might it be for those who are rich and powerful to make sport out of or money as a result of suffering.  Yet, the film never feels preachy or horrible, just strange and rather suspenseful – will Ateh complete the feat or not?