Smell of Camphor, Fragrance of Jasmine - 2000
Directed by Bahman Farmanara
An aging film director, Bahman Farjami (played by the film's director Bahman Farmanara), experiences haunting dreams, family problems, and other assorted chaos while attempting to make his first film in twenty years.
Color, 1 hour 33 minutes, Farsi
Original Title: Bou-ye Kafor, At-re Yass
Watch Trailer (Farsi w/English subtitles), Watch Scene (Farsi w/English subtitles)
Star Rating
Firouzan Rank # 4
Cast
| Bahman Farmanara | Bahman Farjami |
| Roya Nonahali | Young Woman |
| Reza Kianian | Dr. Arasteh |
| Valiyollah Shirandami | Homayouni |
| Parivash Nazariye | Farzaneh |
| Firouz Behjat Mohammadi | Hegeleh Rental |
| Hossein Kasbian | Abda |
| Mahtaj Noojoomi | Bahman's Sister |
Crew
| Writer | Bahman Farmanara |
| Director | Bahman Farmanara |
| Producer | Morteza Shayesteh |
| Director of Photography | Mahmoud Kalari |
| Sound Recordist | Parviz Abnar |
| Production Designer | Zhila Mehrjui |
| Editor | Abbas Ganjavi |
| Sound Mixer | Parviz Abnar |
| Music | Ahmad Pezhman |
Pictures
Director Bahman Farmanara plays his own alter-ego.
The film frequently cuts to a cleric reading the burial rights.
Giving a lift to a troubled woman.
Bahman visits his wife's grave and finds that the neighboring plot that he believed he had reserved for himself has been occupied.
Renting a Hegeleh for his own mock funeral.
Bahman's nightmare.
Trying to incite a spark of coherence in his senile mother.
An unhealthy heart and a preoccupation with death in his professional and personal life lead to a hallucination in which Bahman attends his own funeral.
Bahman is unhappy with all of the funeral arrangements, including the camera crew's chosen shooting angles.
Tossing a stone in the water and watching the ripples.
DVD
External Reviews
By Elvis Mitchell The New York Times
Bahman Farmanara's "Smell of Camphor, Fragrance of Jasmine" has a pixilated charm and, under the surface, a current of despair. Mr. Farmanara's sense of humor flows into this three-part story about Bahman, a filmmaker coming to terms with his own mortality; he could be an Iranian Woody Allen using his own life for scoring laughs off himself.
"Your call is a good thing for a bad day," the depressed Bahman says to his son, who has called him in the section of the film called "A Bad Day." This melancholy lump of a man clutches his left arm in pain, often as he's reaching for a cigarette. His current job isn't generating many thrills for him either; he's making a documentary on Iranian burial rituals for Japanese television. "They pay well," he says to his son. He understands that he has to keep working, though. "When a filmmaker doesn't make films, it's like death," he observes, his blue eyes rimmed with sadness. Continued
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