Once Upon a Time, Cinema

– Synopsis:

The King (Nasser Al -Din Shah), who is against cinema and censors the films himself, falls in love with one of the actresses of an old movie and in order to get hold of his lover he leaves the throne and goes after the cinema. ONCE UPON A TIME, CINEMA … is a fantasy on the pattern of fairy tales of “One thousand and one nights”, which presents a condensed history of Iranian cinema and expresses the love of cinema in general.

The film follows a character known as The Cinematographer, who is looking for someone called Atieh (Future). As he calls out to her, he is magically transported back in time from the early twentieth century to the reign of Nasser Al -Din Shah (Ezzatollah Entezami) in 19th century Iran. Captured by the Shah’s guards, he shows films from the (future) history of Iranian cinema to the Shah. The Shah is entranced and eagerly shows his family the apparently magical medium.

While watching the film Lor Girl (1932), a melodrama about feisty girl attacked by bandits, the Shah becomes enamoured of the heroine, Golnar (Fatemeh Motamed-Aria). Golnar then drops out of the film into the “real” world of the Shah’s court. The Shah has his soldiers take her to his harem to become one of his many wives. Transported to the Shah by being sent down His Harem Slide, Golnar rejects him and attempts to escape, leading to a slapstick chase-scene.