Decadence and Downfall In Iran: The Greatest Party In History | Real Stories

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Published 2022-11-01
In 1971, the Shah of Iran, the self-proclaimed 'king of kings', celebrated 2,500 years of the Persian monarchy by throwing the greatest party in history. Money was no object - a lavish tent city, using 37km of silk, was erected in a specially created oasis. The world's top restaurant at the time, Maxim's, closed its doors for two weeks to cater the event, a five-course banquet served to over sixty of the world's kings, queens and presidents, and washed down with some of the rarest wines known to man.

Over a decadent five-day period, guests were treated to a pageant of thousands of soldiers dressed in ancient Persian costume, a 'son et lumiere' at the foot of Darius the Great's temple, and the opening of the Azadi Tower in Tehran, designed to honour the Shah himself.

Every party leaves a few hangovers. This one left a country reeling, never to recover. It crystallised the opposition, led by the Ayatollah Khomeini. More than any other event, this party marked the break between the king of kings and the people of Iran he reigned over. A Storyville documentary.

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All Comments (21)
  • @ronneyrendon
    "Young people will always look for answers." Beautiful and so well said.
  • @samuels8167
    What Shah spent on celebration of the 2500th year of Iranian monarchy was a fraction of what Ayatollahs spent a decade later on their war against Iraq.
  • @aspetm3846
    In Shah's time (Mohammad Reza Pahlavi), we Armenians as a small minority had every rights and good opportunity for living, education, cloture, religion and many others which you couldn't find many other places so we are always appreciated to have a kinds of good life style in Iran before backward anti Iranian movement of 1979.
  • @latharna67
    Respect and Love to Iran from Éire 🇮🇪 🇮🇷(Ireland)
  • @roujin_3884
    Thank you for making this, as an iranian its really good to see people learning more about iran. Especially with the recent events happening..
  • @evasmith2705
    My friend just visited Iran with her son, a second time in a few years. Iranian people are nice and friendly , the country is beautiful , they said. They were in the northwestern part of Iran. Love from Hungary.
  • @meb6625
    Shah is our beloved and amazing king. we owe everything Iran has today to him and his father Reza Pahlavi. People wanted Religion back then and now they have it, you can't even breath without getting lashes.
  • @emalebrian
    I was travelling overland in 1977, and for 1 month, through Iran . I was amazed how warm and friendly the people were, how happy and liberated the country was compared to Afghanistan, which I arrived from. Only old women would wear a vale. I never saw beggars in the street. I remember, buildings going up everywhere and instead of building a road around a mountain,there was a tunnel through a mountain many kilometres long. It was impressive. Now we have one of the most violent and delusional governments, being the major sponsor of terrorism. Congratulations to and long live the women of Iran and their quest for freedom.
  • @toniclarke118
    Khomeini destroyed Iran. One of the most beautiful countries in the world. It had everything, Persians are the kindest most generous people I have ever met.
  • Very good documentary ! Many of us were sad to hear the news that the Shah of Iran exiled in 1979. Love from India.
  • @user-hc1tu5nh1u
    37:53 Hits so hard. God bless this man and his family.. "Young people will always look for answers." Beautiful and so well said..
  • @sepideh1111
    I wish he hadn't left Iran , that was a demonstration of power which wasn't a good idea . He underestimated his enemies especially molas . He said after he leaves people will wash the walls with tears, which was true
  • Absolutely facinating documentary!!!! Have seen a few docs on the Shah but loved all the old footage and interviews from the different sides in this one. Excellent!
  • @blotzkrog
    38:10 As an Iranian I cry every damn time in pride.... one of the most touching recorded moments in the history of my land
  • Best regards from Iran to your grave in Egypt my father,after you we missed Iran,live,life.......we missed everything
  • @jompfish
    A valuable documentary for the world to rediscover the pass history of Iran "
  • Events like these are done as an investment, where great deals are sealed; unfortunately, any deals made here could not come to fruition as a result of the revolution.
  • The king seemed like a really reasonable guy... Given his responses to questions
  • Great docu, I just wanted to watch 5 min and was hooked all through it. Thank u