واکاوی روایت بصری بازنمایی تاریخ در مستند تلویزیونی آخرین روزهای زمستان با رویکرد نئوفرمالیستی

Introduction: Historical documentary cinema occupies a distinctive position at the intersection of historical representation, narrative construction, and cinematic form. Rather than functioning as a transparent record of historical reality, historical documentaries reconstruct the past through formal choices that organize narrative, image, sound, and editing into meaningful structures. Historical representation therefore depends not only on factual content but also on the formal systems through which history is narrated. Neoformalism, developed by David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, provides an appropriate framework for examining these systems by conceptualizing film as an organized network of stylistic and narrative devices whose functions emerge through their interaction. Although originally developed for fiction cinema, Neoformalism offers valuable analytical tools for historical documentaries, where archival footage, reenactments, interviews, and narration collectively construct historical discourse. Within Iranian television documentary production, The Last Days of Winter is one of the most influential documentaries portraying the life of Hassan Bagheri during the Iran–Iraq War. By combining archival materials, dramatized reenactments, handheld cinematography, and narration, the series constructs a persuasive historical reconstruction. Despite its importance, previous studies have focused mainly on its ideological or historical dimensions, while its formal organization has received little systematic attention. This study addresses that gap by examining how the documentary's formal structure constructs its visual representation of history from a Neoformalist perspective.
Background and Conceptual Framework: The study is grounded in Neoformalism and documentary film theory. Neoformalism views cinematic form as an integrated system in which every stylistic device performs a function within the whole. Concepts such as fabula and syuzhet, motivation, dominant, defamiliarization, and formal function provide the analytical basis of the research. Among these, the concept of the dominant is particularly significant because it explains how one organizing principle coordinates all other stylistic elements. In The Last Days of Winter, the dominant is identified as a hero-centered reconstruction of history around which narrative, cinematography, editing, sound, and mise-en-scène are organized. To adapt Neoformalism to documentary analysis, archival footage, reenactments, interviews, and narration are treated as components of a unified formal system rather than as transparent historical evidence. This perspective is supported by Bill Nichols' concept of documentary voice, which argues that documentaries organize and interpret reality through formal choices. Accordingly, this study analyzes historical representation as the product of formal organization rather than historical accuracy itself.
Methodology: The research adopts a qualitative interpretive-analytical approach based on Neoformalist film analysis. The corpus consists of the complete ten-episode television series The Last Days of Winter directed by Mohammad Hossein Mahdavian. The television version was selected because its serialized structure offers greater narrative complexity and formal diversity than the cinematic adaptation. The sequence served as the primary unit of analysis, since Neoformalist functions emerge through interactions among multiple shots rather than isolated images. After repeated viewing of the series, thirty purposively selected sequences were analyzed according to four dimensions: narrative organization, visual organization, editing organization, and sound organization. Selection was based on narrative importance, historical reconstruction, and formal prominence. Throughout the analysis, interpretations remained grounded in textual evidence extracted directly from the documentary rather than assumptions about actual audience reception.
Analysis and Discussion: The findings indicate that the documentary constructs a coherent formal system in which narrative, visual style, editing, and sound collectively reinforce a unified representation of history. At the narrative level, information is distributed through a hero-centered structure that gradually reconstructs Hassan Bagheri's historical role. The relationship between fabula and syuzhet becomes evident as historical events are selectively organized to maximize coherence, emotional engagement, and narrative progression rather than chronological completeness. Visually, the documentary recreates historical authenticity through costume, makeup, production design, locations, and simulated archival aesthetics. Handheld cinematography functions as a motivated realist strategy that minimizes perceptual distance between reenactments and archival materials, strengthening historical plausibility. Framing techniques, particularly close-ups and layered spatial composition, consistently direct attention toward the protagonist and reinforce the documentary's dominant organizing principle. Editing plays a central role in maintaining narrative continuity. Rhythmic variation, temporal compression, and transitions between interviews, archival materials, and reenactments regulate the flow of information while guiding viewers through complex historical developments. Editing therefore functions not merely as a connective device but as a mechanism for organizing cognitive progression. Sound further consolidates the documentary's formal structure. Voice-over narration connects fragmented historical materials into a coherent account while providing an interpretive framework for historical events. In line with Nichols' concept of documentary voice, narration contributes to organizing rather than simply reporting history. Musical patterns, including epic, tragic, and minimalist themes, regulate emotional intensity across different narrative situations. Ambient sounds, battlefield effects, radio interference, and strategic silence strengthen perceptual realism and sensory immersion. Together, these formal strategies demonstrate that the documentary's persuasive power results from the interaction of its stylistic components rather than any single technique. The dominant principle of hero-centered historical reconstruction coordinates narrative, visual organization, editing, and sound into a unified formal system that enhances historical credibility while encouraging a coherent interpretation of the past.
Conclusion: This study concludes that in historical documentary cinema, form functions not merely as an aesthetic dimension but as a mechanism through which historical meaning is constructed. The Neoformalist analysis of The Last Days of Winter demonstrates that historical representation emerges from the coordinated interaction of narrative organization, visual style, editing, and sound rather than documentary content alone. The documentary's formal design enhances historical plausibility, narrative coherence, and emotional engagement through its hero-centered organization. At the same time, the integration of narration, selective information distribution, and coordinated stylistic devices promotes a coherent reading of history while reducing interpretive plurality. These findings demonstrate the applicability of Neoformalism to Iranian historical television documentaries and contribute to documentary studies by showing how formal systems organize representation, cognition, and historical meaning. Future studies may extend this approach through comparative analyses of Iranian historical documentaries and broader cross-cultural research on documentary form and historical memory.