Captain Khorshid
Encyclopedia
Captain Khorshid is a 1987 Iran
ian film
written and directed by Nasser Taghvai. It is based on Ernest Hemingway
's 1937 novel To Have and Have Not
, but it moves the setting from Cuba
to the south of Iran and the shores of the Persian Gulf
, all the events of the film are nationalized.
It is considered one of the greatest Iranian movies by critics.
. They want to escape from the area, so they ask a middleman to strike a deal with Khorshid. Khorshid is asked to illegally take them out of the country with his boat. At first he is reluctant, but because of the hardships of living he accepts the job. The criminals murder one of the village's wealthiest merchants and steal the money needed for the trip. At the beginning of the journey the criminals kill the middleman, in the middle of the trip they attack Khorshid and his crewman. The crewman is killed, Khorshid faces them single-handedly. He manages to kill all the criminals, but he himself dies due to the injuries he sustained.
immigrants of the novel are excluded - the four Cubans become Iranian criminals in exile, who are much more evil and uncontrolled.
Harry Morgan is first pictured as a cold-blooded murderer but later we find out that he is a good man, Khorshid has our sympathy from the beginning.
The ending is also different, as Khorshid dies in his boat.
The most important similarity is the fact that Khorshid, as Morgan, is driven to crime by economical worries.
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
written and directed by Nasser Taghvai. It is based on Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
's 1937 novel To Have and Have Not
To Have and Have Not
To Have and Have Not is a 1937 novel by Ernest Hemingway about Harry Morgan, a fishing boat captain who lives with a prostitute and runs contraband between Cuba and Florida. The novel depicts Harry as an essentially good man who is forced into blackmarket activity by economic forces beyond his...
, but it moves the setting from Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
to the south of Iran and the shores of the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
, all the events of the film are nationalized.
It is considered one of the greatest Iranian movies by critics.
Plot
Captain Khorshid is a sailor who although only having one hand, manages to sail his little boat. In his village, due to its hot climate and hard living conditions, dangerous criminals are sent into exileExile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
. They want to escape from the area, so they ask a middleman to strike a deal with Khorshid. Khorshid is asked to illegally take them out of the country with his boat. At first he is reluctant, but because of the hardships of living he accepts the job. The criminals murder one of the village's wealthiest merchants and steal the money needed for the trip. At the beginning of the journey the criminals kill the middleman, in the middle of the trip they attack Khorshid and his crewman. The crewman is killed, Khorshid faces them single-handedly. He manages to kill all the criminals, but he himself dies due to the injuries he sustained.
Comparisons with To Have and Have Not
Apart from the obvious shift of location from Cuba to Iran, the main difference lies in the fact that the female character is overshadowed in Taghvai's adaptation and has a smaller role. The ChineseChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
immigrants of the novel are excluded - the four Cubans become Iranian criminals in exile, who are much more evil and uncontrolled.
Harry Morgan is first pictured as a cold-blooded murderer but later we find out that he is a good man, Khorshid has our sympathy from the beginning.
The ending is also different, as Khorshid dies in his boat.
The most important similarity is the fact that Khorshid, as Morgan, is driven to crime by economical worries.