Baran Review
by Laura Clifford (laura AT reelingreviews DOT com)January 7th, 2002
BARAN
-----
When illegal Afghani worker Najaf (Gholam Ali Bakhshi) breaks his foot, Tehranian building contractor Memar (Mohammad Amir Naji, "Children of Heaven")
takes on his young son Rahmat (Zahra Bahrami) so the family will have an income. But Rahmat is too small for physical labor, so Memar switches him with
teenage Latif (Hossein Abedini), who resents giving up his cushy job preparing
and serving tea and meals. Intent on undermining Rahmat, Latif makes a startling discovery in writer/director Majid Majidi's ("The Color of
Paradise")
"Baran."
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 "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" ("Rain") leaves us with the most unexpectedly hopeful image - that of a footstep in rain-splattered mud. It's a hauntingly humanistic film.
B+
For more Reeling reviews visit www.reelingreviews.com
[email protected]
[email protected]
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
