movies and difference: semiotic study of the movie “aroos-e-atash” (the bride of fire)

the present paper aims to study the iranian-made movie “aroos-e-atash” (the bride of fire), using semiotic methodology at the three following levels: description (social codes), representation (technical codes) and ideology (ideological codes). the process of interconnections and interactions between these three types of codes resulted in these findings: although the movie enjoys an emancipation dimension and tries to challenge an inhumane tradition (violation of women rights), it totally ignores cultural considerations and adopts a modernist approach (populist, intellectualistic, individualistic, etc.) to review tribal traditions and customs. the film attempts to employ various signs at the three abovementioned levels to place the average urban culture in contrast with tribal culture and judge the tribe’s customs and traditions without considering tribal cultural-social attributes. such a judgment is far from leading to understanding of cultural differences, but rather would bring about the “marginalization” of the “other”.