How do the themes that artists explore change in relation to the dominant (political) space? How do dominant statements influence the artists? These are the two main questions in this article. The artists consciously or unconsciously present their desired themes either in line with or in opposition to prevalent discourses and themes in their times. Sometimes, they reflect the same themes in another way, and sometimes critique them, and at times showcase other themes from an alternative perspective. One can classify Dariush Mehrjui’s movies according to this formula. Before the Islamic Revolution, his films were both the indicator and the critique of the period. His works, The Cow, Mr Naïve, and The Cycle, have different ideas; however, they contain no noticeable traces of religion and tablecloth. Their absence stems from the dominant discourses, inculcating this kind of artistic creation in movies, and Mehrjui was a critic of this (culturally oppressive) space. After the Islamic Revolution, the intellectual atmosphere and its dominant statements changed. As a director, Mehrjui is interested in Iranian history and society; thus, in his films, not only does Iranian intellectual space emerge, but also solutions to its shortcomings. Religion, tablecloths, and votive offerings are motifs that are consciously or unconsciously presented in his movies, and one can understand the transformation in Iranian history by examining them.