Baran Review
Samedi, septembre 25th, 2010
Majid Majidi, director of “The Children of Heaven” (first Oscar-nominated film from Iran), gives us another heart-warming (and slightly poignant) film about “Baran” (meaning “Rain”) . The film has a romantic taste in a subdued sage, and perhaps a very immediate and political message. But like a lovable brother and sister in “Heaven,” “Baran” is about the two people in Iran tenderly depicted by Majidi.
The anecdote starts with a young man Lateef working at a construction place somewhere in Iran. The work is hard, and many workers are actually not Iranian, but illegal immigirants from Afghanistan. The boss Memar (superior Mohammad Amir Naji, father of the children in “Heaven”) is in fact a top-notch fellow, but doesn’t (or cannot) give worthy wage to them. There, Lateef has been assigned a rather easy job, serving tea and bread because of his father.
But one day Lateef must originate to work, this time a accurate one. For one of the workers of the site broke his leg, and a son of the injured, very puny boy named Rahmat, replaces this guy who could be idle until then. Temperamental, discontent, Rahmat acts very nastily before this little boy … until he finds a surprising secret about “Rahmat” who in fact is named “Baran.”
Buy,Download, Or Stream Baran! Click Here
The rest of the epic should remain untold. The man begins to change his attitudes to this newcomer, silently protecting Baran and keeping the secret from the people around them. But what can he do? And how far can he go when he knows someday Baran and the family must go relieve to the country where the society is aloof very unstable? All those emotional changes happening in this man’s heart are tactly dealt with Majidi’s lyrical chronicle, without being too sugary and sentimental.
I understand some people’s complaint that this film (and Iranian films in general) is too slow-moving. And I judge the latter half, which should have shown more of Baran, seems a bit overlong. The 90 minutes surely feel long even for me (though I have watched many films from that country) . Composed, the charms of the simple account with rich details of the everyday life in Iran which the Western media rarely mask are irresitible.
Certainly it moves lifeless, but “Baran” presents us what a qualified cinema can do with its gracious visuals and valid attitudes towards filmmaking and the people it pictures.
Buy,Download, Or Stream Baran! Click Here
Those who are alive to in Iran-Afghanistan relations should peruse “Kandahar” and “The Cyclist.” The frail in a sense follows the possible life of Baran, and the latter is a tall hit in Iran about a most desperate bet done by an ancient illegal immigrant from Afghanistan, who has to drag a bicycle through one whole week.
Filmed before the tragic events of September 11, and yet as timely as today’s headlines, this Iranian film captures the scrape of Afghan refuges in Teheran. There are more than 1.4 million of them who fled the Russian invasion in 1979. Many have grown up never seeing their homeland and, like illegal aliens everywhere, work the hardest for the lowest pay. And yet, this is a adore narrative.
The scene is a skeletal construction space where workers are putting bricks in the frame of a big building. Shot from a distance, the people leer like worker bees. But they soon become individuals as the director moves the camera towards them. Work is hard, dusty, backbreaking and hazardous. And there are both Iranians and illegal Afghans working there. The owner, played by Mohammad Amir Naji, is always screaming “gain befriend to work” but we soon come by out that his bark is worse than his bite. He’s under pressure to find the job done correct or he won’t be paid, and he also has a warm position in his heart for the hard-working Afghans who must hasten and conceal whenever the inspectors advance around.
Lateef, played by Hossein Abedini, is a 17-year mature Turkish Iranian and so therefore has a precious identity card. His job is the cook and “tea boy” on the residence. He’s plump of ego and loves to joke around, often getting into arguments and scuffles. One day, one of the Iranian workers gets injured and, in order to feed his family, sends Rahmat, in his space. Rahmat is shrimp and gorgeous and cannot carry the heavy bags of cement and so therefore is assigned Lateef’s job. Lateef is at first inflamed and is especially exasperated when Rahmat’s cooking is praised by all the workers. Later events invent him change his attitude though.
It is enthralling that throughout the entire film, Rahmat doesn’t reveal one single word. However, the audience doesn’t miss anything as every possible emotion comes through with unbiased expressions and gestures. The account is a rich emotional experience against a background of harsh reality. The cinematography and direction are proper. I could feel the strain of muscles doing heavy work. I saw the beauty of the natural countryside, and felt the anxiety of never having an identity card. I shuddered at the image of a wintry stream, which would be exquisite except that women laborers, cool and overworked, were eking out a living by captivating boulders. This is the sage of vulgar struggle. And yet, it is the worship yarn that shines through.
Electric Cigarettes
Free Electric Cigarette
Flush Mount Wedding Album
How To Increase Credit Score