Decadence and Downfall: The World's Most Expensive Party

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.

[psoup.]

whoever wrote these subtitles is taking way too much creative liberty

[melissarmt]

I was young but I remember this on the news and in the papers. To millennials, the Near and Middle East must look like one enormous war zone but it has changed so much in the last fifty years. This is a fantastic documentary. There is so much detail here and how on Earth did you get all the radio, video and photos? Sorcery!

[mailman]

Imagine if it would have been celebrated as a national celebration for all, instead of a excessive personal event. A celebration of the people, not the shah.

[chloejasper]

I was in Iran in 1975. I was just a young 21. There was such political tension in the air..i was basically oblivious. The coup was brewing. I was told, "do not say anything about the shah...people go missing & weeks later show back up only a shadow of what they once were...literally the victim of frontal lobotomies. Parts of their brains removed... walking vegetables. My head & mind were too young to understand I was in the experience of a lifetime, consequently, my experience was almost wasted on me...except for the fragments of my memories I can now pull up & connect dots & relive with this perspective. I will tell you I literally KISSED THE GROUND when we arrived back in NY. It's a shame what this radical revolution had done to this country. The people are the most lovely, giving, generous, with such decorum...& They loved the freedom... women with educations, etc. Very sad. As a guest in this country, they literally treated me like ROYALTY...preferring to feed me while denying themselves food. THAT part of my experience I will NEVER forget...the graciousness of the people.

[shidehhafezi]

I was born and raised in Iran and I was 9 years old back then. I remember watching the marching of the armies through the centuries and I was mesmerized. For me. It was a lesson in the history of my own country.

[safranpollen]

I was 12 years old and I remeber the photo journals have been full of this event. It was my first contact with Iran and after I started to read some books of history. And since that time, I was fascinated ot the culture, Isfahan, Shiraz, the tribes at north to the Moghan dessert. Tribal rugs Gasghai, Schahsawan, Belutschi, are till today my passion, a real deep passion. I still hang on my dream, to be once at Isfahan, Shiras, Zargos mountains for flying at Rokh and so the spirit of my personal oriental dream and of course one time in life be inspired at Persepolis....

[Contessa]

I knew a woman that had lived in Tehran a couple of years before the fall. Her husband worked from one of the international conglomerates and Katherine was a photo journalist. She said it was an absolutely fascinating city. Her pictures of herself at that time in Tehran were really cool. 😃👍👍

[doublehappiness]

Great documentary; so much to take in visually, and very nicely paced.

[sidstovell]

I remember well the Shah's downfall but had never heard of the party. What an incredible story!
What's the line..paraphrased...
.... Ozymandias, king of kings
Look on my works ye mighty, and despair.

[antonpressing]

We had quite a few iranian students in Germany. They thought the monarchy was obsolete and repressive. One day they had to go home 1973. 6 years later they lived under a religious dictatorship.

[meisterwindu]

Now one of my favorite documentaries, it felt like an ARTE documentary.

[GuestGuest-xw]

The richness of the country is defined not how royalty and their close one and their surrounding live and where they escape with money to continue their lives but if they have real middle class and how regular people live and if these regular people have opportunities in life.

[Contessa]

Most of the rich educated Iranians came to settle in southern California before the fall. They are the largest group of Iranians outside of Iran.

[bizygirl]

I was friends with the daughter of the Shah’s ambassador to the US in my late teens. They had recently fled Iran permanently at the time we met. She had lived a life a decadence up to that point.

[WorldPeace-AdamNeira]

A very interesting documentary that we just watched in full. Thank you for publishing it.

[rgarlinyc]

Astonishingly good documenting of the last days of the Shah's Iran - informative, chilling in parts, the 'scales drop from our eyes'. Who would've thought the arrogance, the dismissal of the powerless, the very decadence of the regime would herald the rise and still destructive history of the fundamentalists..!

[ninibepis]

I thought i knew things but apparently this was a total blank area in my knowledge of recent history. Just incredible.

[truthhearit]

Khomanni was in exile in france before the islamic reveloution. Khomanni made a promise not to make things religious to other oppoisition groups, therefore gaining thier support. He immediatly reniged.

[LIT]

My Iranian Dentist was sitting in one of her college classes when Islamic revolutionaries came in, told them to leave and never return. I'm glad her family got outta there.

[nickfotopoulos]

"...Aaahhhctually, you have it in YOUR museum...you TOOK IT from usz" 👀🤣