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Displaying Modern Life: Experiencing the Promises, Desires, and Perils of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s Tehran through Window-Shopping in Crossroad of Events (1955), Mr. Naive (1971), and Under the Skin of Night (1974)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 May 2025

Javad Nematollahi  and
Alireza Sayyad
Javad Nematollahi*
Affiliation:
Department of Research in Art History, Faculty of Arts, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
Alireza Sayyad
Affiliation:
Faculty of Cinema and Theater, Iran University of Art, Tehran, Iran
*
Corresponding authors: Javad Nematollahi; Email: nematollahij95@gmail.com
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Abstract

This article delves into the experience of urban modernity in Mohammad Reza’s Tehran, focusing particularly on the phenomenon of window-shopping as depicted in three films: Chaharrah-e Havades (The crossroad of events, Samuel Khachikian, 1955); Aghay-e Halu (Mr. Naive, Dariush Mehrjui, 1971); and Zir-e Pust-e Shab (Under the skin of night, Fereydun Gole, 1974). These films, set against the backdrop of Tehran’s urban metamorphosis, offer a narrative of the modern metropolis as a site of exhibition, where the gaze of characters from lower social or economic strata is ensnared by a plethora of visual spectacles. The critical portrayal of shop displays and the phenomenon of window-shopping in these films offer profound insights into the complex interplay of desires, promises, disappointments, and fears that the state’s modernization projects and urban consumer culture evoked.

Keywords

Iranian filmsPahlavi eraTehranurban landscapewindow-shopping
Type
Article
Information
Iranian Studies , First View , pp. 1 - 15
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Association for Iranian Studies.

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