Semiology of Woman's Image in Ibrahim Hatami Kia's Cinema

Abstract

This research aims to make an analysis of the content and semiology of the image of the women society in the cinematic works of Ebrahim Hatamikia. The (statistical) society of this research consists of four movies (The Watchman, The Scent of Joseph's Shirt, The Red Ribbon, Invitation) out of total movies produced by him during four separable chronological sections in Iran i.e. imposed wartime, construction period, reform period and fundamentalism period from 1986. Two methods of semiology (coexistence and substitution) and content analysis have been used as variables for analyzing film content (cast role duration, age, social class, occupation type, situation, and type of dressing and theme of dialogues) and, then, a main question and three subsidiary questions were proposed. The results were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively, using the method of semiology and content analysis. The findings of the research show that the early movies produced by Hatamikia do not give the women a notable position because of the war-based background of these movies. The male gender is placed at the heart of the events and the description of the females is not feasible without the male characters; the cases and themes to which the women have no affinity. The early cinematic works of Hatamikia lack the women presence and role. However, in his later works when he enters the civil space and makes a focus on the social matters women gain some place and take role in the works of Hatamikia. But, these women are all showed as individual characters every time, who take prominence in the course of time gradually.

Keywords

• feminism
• gender
• representation
• semiology