Alborz

Another thing that is quite fascinating, I remember that was one of the earlier examples of films that attempted to kind of bring authenticity as much as they can in their representation of the film.

You have these aerial views of the embassy, you have supposedly the Sheraton Hotel that Tony Mendes is staying, the glass windows, and then you can see the Alborz Mountains covered in snow.

are in the distance.

So there's a lot of attempt to kind of put elements that as an Iranian, as someone who born and grow up in Tehran, you would look at it and you kind of feel you are there.

And underground in Iran, Iran is a mountainous country.

We have the Alborz mountain range and the Zagros mountain range.

Undermountains means undermountains.

It's not underground.

Now, were that to happen, the Pentagon already had contingency plans in place to respond with nuclear weapons.

to send special forces in with man-packed nukes, portable nuclear weapons, to bring down the Alborz mountain range and literally collapse the mountain so that the Soviets' tanks would not be able to get through.

If that had happened, the Soviets would have responded with nuclear weapons.

Now, this is the nuclear... terror, really, that hangs over this story.

From their black tents long files of horse they streamed.

As when some gray November morn the files In marching order spread of long-necked cranes Stream over Caspin and the southern slopes Of Elburz from the Aralian estuaries, Or some floor Caspian reed-bed, southward bound For the warm Persian seaboard; so they streamed.

The Tartars of the Oxus, the king's guard, First, with black sheepskin caps and with long spears, Large men, large steeds, who from Bokhara come And Khiva, and ferment the milk of mares.

Next the more temperate Turkmans of the south, The Tukhuz and the lancers of Solor, And those from Atruk and the Caspian sands, Light men and on light steeds, who only drink The acrid milk of camels and their wells.

The sun by this had risen and clear'd the fog From the broad Oxus and the glittering sands; And from their tents the Tartar horsemen filed Into the open plain, so Haman bade, Haman, who next to Peronwisa ruled The host, and still was in his lusty prime.

From their black tents long files of horse they stream'd, As when some gray November morn the files In marching order spread of long-neck'd cranes Stream over Caspin and the southern slopes Of Elburz from the Araluen estuaries, Or some fraught Caspian reed-bed southward bound For the warm Persian seaboard so they stream'd, The Tartars of the Oxus, the king's guard First, with black sheepskin caps and with long spears, Large men, large steeds, who from Bokhara come And Khiva, and ferment the milk of mares; Next the more temperate Turkomans of the south, The Tukurs and the lancers of Salor, And those from Atruk and the Caspian sands, Light men and light steeds, who only drink The acrid milk of camels and their wells; And then a swarm of wandering horse who came From far and a more doubtful service own'd, The Tartars of Ferghana.

From the banks of the Jakratis, men with scanty beards and close-set skullcaps, and those wilder hordes who roam over Kipchak and the northern waste, Kalmuks and unkempt Kazakh tribes who stray nearest the pole, and wandering Kirghizes who come on shaggy ponies from Pamir.

These all filed out from camp into the plain, and on the other side the Persians formed, first a light cloud of horse, Tartars they seemed, the Iliads of Khorasan, and behind, the royal troops of Persia, horse and foot, marshalled battalions bright in burnished steel.

It's got obviously desert.

It's heavily mountainous with the Alborz Mountains, for instance.

And it's also got rainforest as well.

So it's one thing to train for desert conditions.

From their black tents, long files of horse they streamed.

As when some grey November morn the files in marching order spread of long-necked cranes stream over Caspin and the southern slopes of Elburs from the Aralian estuaries, or some floor Caspian reed-bed, southward bound for the warm Persian seaboard, so they streamed.

The Tartars of the Oxus, the king's guard, first, with black sheepskin caps and with long spears, large men, large steeds, who from Bukhara come, and Khiva, and ferment the milk of mares.

Next the more temperate Turkmens of the south, the Tukas and the lancers of Salor, and those from Atruk and the Caspian sands.

Here is the son of the king.

I bid you to do him no harm, but to love and treat him as your brother.' She tows the tenderest of food for her little guest in her curved beak She brought him the milk of wild goats and honey from the home of the bees She gave him ripe sweet berries and whatever she could find that was good for a growing child Her nestlings loved him as their brother and shared with him all the pleasant things that were theirs in their lofty home thus months and years went by the simurgh never grew tired nor slacked her care and the white-haired babe grew into a prattling boy and then into a youth strong and beautiful part two one day some travellers were passing near the foot of mount elburz they looked up and saw the great nest of the simurgh midway between the earth and the sky as they looked they beheld a youth walking on the rocky height and going in and out of the nest as though it were his home the youth was fair of face and faultless in form but his long flowing hair was white as snow the travellers were filled with astonishment at what they saw and went on wandering into seistan in every town they told of the strange sight they had seen and the story soon spread through all the land was not long before a servant of the king heard it and it was repeated even to saum the hero then one night saum dreamed a dream he thought that a horseman came riding from the mountains with news of the son he had so cruelly cast off the horseman stood before him and reproached him saying o foolish king think now of your folly You doomed your child to death for no other reason than that his hair was white.

You feared the laughter of men, and still you are called a hero.

Behold, you have been put to shame by a bird who has more pity and kindness than you for your own child.

How long will you be so wicked, so cruel? Arise, make haste to find your son.

then saum awoke sad at heart and sorely grieved he called his head men to his bedside and asked them about the youth who had been seen on mount elburz and one of them who was bolder than the rest spoke up and bitterly reproached them Oh hard-hearted King he said you have been more cruel than even the tiger or the bear For even they loved their little ones and do not cast them off for some blemish and You unfeeling man have rejected your child because of his white hair Go forth quickly and repair the evil you have done and if your child is still alive take him to your heart and Turn to the almighty for forgiveness The king bowed himself to the earth in sorrow and shame.

Then he gave orders that his fighting men should be put in readiness for marching.

And the next day, at the head of a great army, with horses and camels and elephants, he set out for the mountains to look for his son.

Mount Qaf is a legendary mountain that in Persian tradition stands at the edge of the known world.

Sometimes we call it Alborz, but it's not literally the same as Alborz because Alborz mountains are a real mountain range in the northern part of Iran.

But Qlaf is kind of the more mythological name for this mountain range.

And again, the idea that this king lives beyond this mountain range means that we have to go to the edge of the known world and eventually transition to the unknown, to the unseen world.