- What happens when in an attempt to re-educate the masses everything you have been taught is proclaimed false and your whole universe of values crumbles violently before your eyes?
- In a drab, anonymous gray school governed by a strict authoritarian regime, an apparently unremarkable day is turned on its head following a seemingly ridiculous announcement. Disbelieving at first, the all male, identically uniformed pupils are informed that what they had always been taught as fact is no longer true. When the incredulous students speak out, what initially seems laughably absurd becomes desperately real as they are forced to question how far they will go to stand up for their beliefs. Two & Two is an allegory for the absurdness of dictatorship and tyranny - and the resilience of the human spirit.—Anonymous
- With the principle's announcement over the loudspeakers that change is imminent in the school, the uniformly attired students assemble in their lustreless and muted classroom, only to hear from the very lips of their teacher, an absurd and illogical demand. Against such a preposterous statement, no opposition will be accepted and with the teacher strongly demanding to accept the altered truth, more and more will succumb, however, solely, yet, boldly, someone among the compliant pupils still stands his ground, representing the voice of reason. In the end, as the inflexible system, with the teacher as its vehicle, relentlessly oppresses the freedom of speech, is there a place for the obstinate one who refuses to participate in the dogma of the many?—Nick Riganas
- A suited, male teacher (Bijan Daneshmand) enters a decaying, dirty classroom with twelve schoolboys are busily chatting. When the see the teacher, the boys immediately are silent and rise to attention. The teacher checks his watch. At precisely 8:00 a.m. through an intercom on the wall, the headmaster announces that there will be ongoing changes in the school and that the students are to listen to all instructions from their teacher. The teacher then begins the lesson by writing "2 + 2 = 5" on the chalkboard. When the children protest, he immediately silences them, calling for order in the classroom. He then continuously commands the students to repeat the equation after him. One timid student (Ravi Karimi) raises his hand and carefully suggests that two plus two is four, not five. The teacher calmly commands him, "Don't think, you don't have to think," and again reassures the students that the answer is indeed five. The teacher then demands the class to copy the incorrect equation into their notebooks, which depicts how power is circulated in the society. Another student (Pouyan Lotfi) stands up in protest and adamantly shouts that the answer is four instead. The teacher angrily asks him, "Who gave you permission to speak?" The student holds his ground, maintaining that two plus two is equal to four. He holds up his fingers so that the other students can see. Further attempts by the teacher to force the student to acknowledge that two plus two equals five fails. The teacher then leaves the classroom. Another student *Amir Pasha Jafarzadeh) argues that the protesting student should relinquish his stand or they will all get in trouble. The teacher returns with three older students, bearing red armbands in a similar fashion to the Soviet & Chinese Red Guard and an army-like stature. The teacher introduces the students as some of the school's very best students. The teacher asks the senior students for the solution to the equation, and the three answer five in perfect union. The student remains determined, and is called to the front of the room, where he is handed a piece of chalk to complete the equation, "2 + 2 = ." Clearly frustrated, the teacher tells the student that this is his last chance to give the correct answer. The three senior students suddenly raise their arms and point seemingly invisible rifles at the boy against the board, imitating an execution. The boy, after some deliberation, boldly writes "4." The teacher is visibly disappointed, and sudden gunfire is heard as blood splatters across the blackboard and the boy's body slumps, lifeless, to the ground. The rest of the class is silent, stone faces processing what they had just seen. The senior students proceed to carry out the dead boy's body, and the teacher resumes his lesson as if nothing occurred. As the teacher continues to order the students to write down "2 + 2 = 5" in their notebooks and repeat the answer aloud. At last, one student is seen scratching out "5" and replacing it with a careful "4."
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