video recommendation: Baran

Published in The Post-Star (D4)

11/18/05

Baran 2001. Written, directed, and produced by Majid Majidi. Starring Hossein Abedini and Zahra Bahrami. 94 minutes. Rated PG for language and brief violence. In Farsi and Dari, with English subtitles.

This film offers a rare and intimate glimpse into modern Iran, a part of the world that most of us will never see first-hand. The script is simple, and the acting a bit amateurish, but the message is powerful.

"Baran" is set mostly on a construction site in the capital city of Tehran, where more than 1.4 million Afghan refugees have ended up after two decades of war in their homeland. Most employers won't hire them without a national ID card, so they struggle to make a living as day laborers -- sound familiar? Some things are the same in any language.

The first character we meet is Lateef, an impish, handsome young Iranian who runs the kitchen at the building site. His boss, Memar (Mohammad Reza Naji) employs dozens of undocumented Afghan immigrants, and Lateef considers himself above them because he has an ID card. He also has a hot temper and a streak of arrogance.

When one of the Afghan men falls on the job and breaks his foot, Memar hires the man's son, Rahmat, to replace him as the family's sole breadwinner. But Rahmat is silent and frail looking, and it becomes quickly evident that he isn't capable of heavy labor.

Memar shows a soft side when he decides to give Rahmat the job of cooking for the workers instead of firing him. This means kicking an infuriated Lateef out of the kitchen and in with the rest of the construction crew.

Lateef devotes the next few weeks to making Rahmat miserable, until a surprise revelation stops him in his tracks: Rahmat is actually a girl, Baran.

In one beautiful instant (and remember, beauty means suspending disbelief), Lateef falls in love with Baran, who is unaware he knows her secret. He abruptly channels his vengeful passion into a self-sacrificial quest to make her life easier.

Watching Lateef's transformation from a selfish jerk into a humble hero is at turns comical and heartbreaking -- but writer/director/producer Majid Majidi doesn't shy away from the reality that love can't always conquer all.

Images are more important than words in Majidi's work, giving it a cultural transcendence beyond subtitles. It's only in retrospect that viewers realize that Baran didn't have a single line in the script. Her eyes said it all.

"Baran" is available at Crandall Public Library. If you enjoy it, check out Majidi's other visually stunning films -- "The Color of Paradise" and "Children of Heaven."

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