By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Majid Majidi
Starring: Hossein Abedini | Mohammad Amir Naji | Zahra Bahrami
Country: iran
Year: 2002
Running time: 94
IMDB: http://us.imdb.com/Details?0233841
Diane says: “Another gem from Majid Majidi, director of my fave THE COLOR OF PARADISE.
“Lateef, a clownish young Iranian construction worker, changes his ways when he discovers who his nemesis–an Afghani boy who took his job–really is. Lateef jeopardizes himself over and over to help the boy, but in vain. Every shot in this movie is beautiful. (Best Visual Artistry nom on the way.) If you remember the fabric-dying in THE COLOR OF PARADISE, you’ll enjoy its counterpoint here–the technology (and sociology!) of building construction in northern Iran. As in COLOR, we get a great story, a slice of Iranian culture, and a portrait of the dispossessed (blind in COLOR, refugee in BARAN) 5 cats
Michael says: “BARAN played at the Coolidge Corner Theatre as part of the Human Rights Film Festival. I had seen BARAN already at the Toronto Film Festival and enjoyed it so much, I thought I’d catch it again. The lastest by Majid Majidi (THE COLOR OF PARADISE) is a tale of redemption and sacrifice. Lateej works on a construction site where his boss employs several Afghan refugees against regulation. When Rahmat, a new boy, takes Lateej’s cushy cooks job and pushes him into the harder construction labor, Lateej’s resentment causes him to act out against the younger Rahmat. But when Lateej makes a discovery about Rahmat, his entire worldview begins to change.
“Majidi is a master of storytelling and filmmaking. The cinematic moments, such as a chase scene of Lateej pursuing two government officials who are chasing Rahmat. And I never thought I’d imagine common pigeons with such beauty.” 4 1/2 cats
Laura says: “Majidi, working again with cinematographer Mohammed Davudi (THE COLOR OF PARADISE), uses a much drabber palette than his last films for this subtle, melancholy work. He does continue themes from CHILDREN OF HEAVEN and THE COLOR OF PARADISE, however, where a wrong carried out early on is attempted to be made right.
“Latif tries to hinder Rahmat at every turn, destroying his kitchen, dumping bags of cement on his head, but Rahmat carries on, remaking the kitchen over and preparing meals that are much more appreciated by the workers than Latif’s ever were. Once Latif’s eyes are opened about Rahmat’s background he becomes obsessed, making it his goal to do everything in his power to make Rahmat’s life easier.
“Majidi lets his film linger over the minutiae of every day life, opening with a scene of flatbread being made, which Latif purchases for the construction crew’s meal. The harshness of life for the Afghani laborers is illustrated by the preciousness of an ID card and the panic which ensues when Memar must bluff his way through the periodic immigration checks visited upon his site.
“Majidi’s compassionate screenplay is enhanced by humor, mostly found in Memar’s character. Mohammad Amir Naji plays the man beautifully, outwardly gruff but a soft touch underneath. The struggle of the Afghani refugees is shadowed by Latif’s struggles to help Rahmat. Every good deed he does presents him with a setback, such as when coworker Soltan (Abbas Rahimi) takes the life savings he was to deliver to Najaf and instead uses it as a loan to return to Afghanistan and his sick wife.
“After beating down its central characters who seem to toil on futilely, BARAN leaves us with the most unexpectedly hopeful image – that of a footstep in rain-splattered mud. It’s a hauntingly humanistic film.” 4 cats