3. Mohsen Amiryoussefi’s Khab-e talkh (Bitter Dreams) To the late Abbas Esfandi

Mohsen Amiryoussefi’s film Khab-e talkh (Bitter Dreams) is an honoury tribute to the gravedigger Abbas Esfandi and other workers at the cemetery  in the ancient town of Sedeh in Iran.

Abbas Esfandi has been working for 40 years as  a grave digger until his over fatigue makes him fall ill. And slowly anticipate his own death. He strikes a dialogue with uncle Ezrael, the angel of death. He follows a monotonous routine; waking up, burying corpses,   invading his workers’ privacy through his binoculars, watching the programs on his Television set and visiting his friend at the local bath Hamam, whom he’s known for over 40 years. As his coming days are numbered, so  he starts to appreciate people around him more. Now, he plans each coming day. So he exercises, and  tries to enjoy life more to prolong his days. Having not married and without kids, he starts to appreciate the things that he missed doing at a younger age. This is exhibited by his thoughts to Delbar Ghasri , the lady who washes the women corpses. He tries to make up for the regrets of his past. There are some harsher tasks that he has to perform to complete his duty as a gravedigger. His only successor is a kid, whose sole job is burning the clothes of the dead ones and collecting their belongings. He has to go through the arduous task of training him.

Amiryoussefi started making shorts. He is known for the short documentary Caravan screened at the Clermont Film Festival and Stone hands. And his earlier documentary style influences the narration style of his debut film. The Television set plays the role of the present and future. At first, we seem to be following a live documentary about the people in the grave. And slowly, it becomes a source of information for the future. 

Vignettes of a broadcast channel interviewing the workers, switching through channels, and his thoughts are all intermingled leaving us to distinguish the relevance of each. Finally one image becomes lasting.

A man’s solitude. He prepares to leave behind a beautiful tombstone with a poem carved on it for people to remember him by. He becomes overly concerned with who will wash him and where he will be buried. 

Together with Bayran Fazli, Youssefi has weaved  outstanding experimental and documentary techniques in making this well-crafted picture. The handheld camera emphasises Esfandir’s Ezrael’s visits. Amiryoussefi is exceptional in telling the story of a human being fighting the truth of mortality. 

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