Original subtitles

This edition of THE HOUSE IS BLACK has been carried out on the initiative of the magazine Cinema,

with the authorization of the producer of the movie, Ebrahim Golestan.

The used copy is that of the International Oberhausen Short Film Festival, developed from the original negative.

Some elements have been completed using a copy in the French Cinemateca.

THE HOUSE IS BLACK

There is no shortage of ugliness in the world.

There would be even more

if man closed his eyes to it.

You will see on the screen an image of the ugliness,

a portrait of the suffering,

that would be unjust to ignore.

Out of respect for the man, we should fight against this ugliness,

to alleviate this suffering.

That is the hope which has inspired this movie.

Lord, I praise you for having created me

and for having created my father and my mother

and for the water that flows and the trees that give fruits.

Lord, I praise you for having given me the hands for work,

for the eyes to see the marvels of the world

hearings to listen the beautiful melodies

and the feet to go wherever I want.

Who is this that praises you in the hell, oh Lord?

Wednesday...

Thursday...

Friday...

Saturday...

Sunday...

Monday...

Tuesday...

Wednesday... January...

Thursday... February...

Friday... March...

I will sing praise to your name, oh Eternal!

I will sing praise to your name with the harp of ten strings

because you have created me in a wonderful way.

My bones didn't hide from You when they were formed.

I was created in the bowels of the earth.

Each one of my members are inscribed in Your great registration.

And Your eyes, my God, they have seen me in the womb.

I won't see the spring anymore but the words will remain.

brought here by Destiny My heart is bursting with grief.

The leprosy is a contagious illness.

The leprosy is everywhere.

The leprosy accompanies the poverty.

The leprosy eats up the tissues, it hardens the tendons,

it blunts the tactile sense, it stiffens the fingers,

it attacks the eyes, like it attacks the liver and the marrow of the bones

and opens the road to other illnesses.

The leprosy is not incurable.

To take care of the lepers it is to stop the infection.

in places where the protection has been effective, the leprosy disappears.

The leper might recover if he is treated from the beginning of the malady.

The leprosy is not an incurable illness.

Oh generous God,

Please grant Your benevolence to our supplications.

You are the master of the men and the spirits.

In the name of God, gracious and merciful,

in the name God and for the heaven's sake,

I prostrate myself before You completely,

Oh generous God, I turn my face toward Yours

and I undergo Your orders.

I leave my luck in Your hands,

my left and my right,

my sides and my destiny.

I obey Your orders and Your power,

and there will be no reversal

and no power but that of God.

O, that I had wings like a dove!

I would fly away and be at rest

because I see the violence and the quarrels.

I have suffered a lot in this earth.

The earth is pregnant with inertia and he gave birth to the wrong.

My God, where I take refuge outside of Your spirit and Your presence?

If it rode the winds of the dawn

and lived in the sea,

I would feel the weight of your hand on me

You made me drink the wine of the indecision.

Your roads are inscrutable.

Your roads are inscrutable.

I am content with anguish of my heart

I am content with the bitterness of my soul

While I keep silent, my bones waste away

because your hand weighs on me.

Remember that my life is a breath.

I am as the spilled water

and as those that are already dead.

And the shade of death coveres my lids.

Let me alone, that I may find... [a little comfort]

before leaving forever to the country of darkness.

Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild animals.

Remember that my life is a breath

and that it is divided in months of pain.

And around me the cheerful songs

the noise of the mill

and the alive light has disappeared.

Happy those that harvest at this time

and whose hands can pick up the spikes.

Listen to the history about the fire in the desert without prints.

The song of those who sigh

and lifting the hands towards the sky, they say:

"Alas, my wounds have become insensitive."

Oh you, having forgotten about time,

you get dressed in red, you take jewels of gold

as you loose your long hair reaching the hips,

You make up your eyes with kohl,

don't you remember that it is useless to become beautiful

you are a song in the desert,

abandoned of yours.

It's getting late, the shades of the afternoon begin to lengthen

and like a cage full of birds, our life is full of moan.

The turtle doves are begging for the justice and we are waiting for the light.

At the beginning of the night, Sometimes, we see a luminous star.

This star is Neptune.

The star Neptune is very brilliant.

The star Neptune is next to us.

The star Neptune doesn't twinkle.

Why should we thank God for having given us father and mother?

You, respond!

I do not know, I don't have parents.

Tell me four beautiful things.

The moon, the sun, the flowers, the game.

Tell me three ugly things.

The hands, the feet, the eyes.

Form a sentence with the word "House".

House of lepers

The house is black.

Oh overflowed river pushed by a current of love,

come toward us, come toward us.

Movie is made by the commission of the Aid Society for the Lepers

for GOLESTAN-FILM, Teheran.

Cinematography by: Soleiman Minassian

Sound: Mahmoud Hangval, Samad Pur-Kamali

Production assistants: Herand Minassian, Amir Karrari

Producer: Ebrahim Golestan

Screenplay, editing and direction: Forough Farrokhzadd