Devout Infidel

After leaving the theater and the 20 minutes that seemed a lot longer, we wondered into the Gallery Shop. A lot of Eastern art, handmade stuff, books and videos are on display for sale there. As I was looking, I came upon “The Keeper, The legend of Omar Khayyam” movie by Kayvon Mashayekh. I know what you’re thinking: that’s not new. Well, yeah, I’ve been meaning to get it and watch it, but never got around to it until yesterday at Sackler.

Remember that we’re kind of down and depressed about the whole Falnama thing and the Tazieh movie, but the finding of this DVD on the shelf perked me up. I don’t claim to be a Khayyam scholar or expert, but I have read his robaeyat and know that he was a man of science and agree with his view on life and universe as a whole. As a child, I spent a few years in Neyshaboor (where he’s buried) and visited his magnificent tomb there many times. To me, his wisdom still stares at us through almost a millennia of our nations’ tough history.

I bought the film and went home to watch it.

Loved it is the word I use to describe it. It lifted my spirit after the disappointing Sackler visit and made me feel good about my motherland again. The movie describes his life and love as well as his wisdom and thoughts. I need to explore the DVD a little more in hopes of finding out how much of the story is factual and how much is not. I say this because there’s one aspect of the movie that bothers me a lot; let me explain.  

It has always been my understanding (and hope) that Persians did not engage in slavery at anytime in known history. I may be wrong, but that has been my understanding. The movie, however, describes a culture where slavery is systemic in 11th Century Persia although it does not go into details. Perhaps Mr. Mashyekh has added that little tidbit to spice up the movie as it involves the love of Khayyam, Darya, but it did confuse and disturb me a little. All in all, a great movie – I definitely recommend it if you have not seen it.

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