THE KEEPER: THE LEGEND OF OMAR KHAYYAM
Director: Kayvan Mashayekh.
Produced by: Kayvan Mashayekh, Sep Riahi, Jason Tenenbown, Andrea Borella & Belle Avery
Written by: Kayvan Mashayekh & Belle Avery.
Director of Photography: Matt Cantrell & Dusan Joksimovic.
Edited by: Duncan Burns.
Released by: Arrival Pictures.
Language: English & Farsi with English subtitles.
Country of Origin: USA. 95 min. Rated: PG.
With: Vanessa Redgrave, Rade Serbedzija, Moritz Bleibtreu, Christopher Simpson, Bruno Lastra, Adam Echahly, & Marie Espinosa.

The Keeper begins as might a historical documentary, zooming in on a sandy modern-day map of the Middle East, while displaying didactic captions summarizing generalities about Iran and its surrounding countries. Immigrants, the film notes, are slowly losing their cultural heritage as time proceeds, generations age, and natives drift further from their homelands. Even at the outset, the film is clear about its point: to recall the importance of salvaging one's cultural past. Specifically, director Kayvan Mashayekh focuses on carrying the memory of Omar Khayyam, the great poet and astronomer of 11th century Persia, into the modern day.

His story is structured in a manner quite prevalent in Middle-Eastern literature, most recognizably in A Thousand and One Nights, in which an outlying narrative frames other story lines no less significant in scope. A young boy, Kamran (Adam Echahly), wants to know the story of Khayyam. His older brother, who is suffering from leukemia, retells Khayyam's life story from his hospital bed. This plot line fails to sufficiently move the viewer - partly due to the soap-operatic acting style on the part of Kamran's Iranian family, and to the somewhat melodramatic nature of the situation. Oddly, Kamran speaks Farsi with his family, while the central story line is in English. Obviously, the film is clearly aimed at a Western audience (the film would never be permitted in Iran due to sensual content; moreover, it would be almost unnecessary there, where virtually all know of Khayyam. He is much less known in Western countries).

In addition, with the possible exception of Kamran, the characters in the contemporary narrative are not developed enough to be sympathetic, unlike Khayyam and the characters with whom he interacts - Malikshah (the Seljuk King), Iman Muaffek (Omar's mentor), and Darya (his only true love). In addition to its historical relevancy and informative component, this part of the film is a beautifully-captured love story.

Besides the language barrier, the historical narrative contrasts quite strikingly with its modern-day counterpart. But despite the drastic differences in costuming, setting, etc., the two narratives merge seamlessly and manage to keep the viewer entertained and undisturbed by the apparent discrepancies. The film could have easily emerged as two separate and unrelated stories, creating an absurd side-by-side combination. Instead, Mashayekh successfully carries out the embedding device, and succeeds in capturing the essence of Omar Khayyam, while relaying an additional and essential message - the value of cultural roots in forming one's identity. Parisa Vaziri
January 13, 2006