Three new films from Iran -- Baran, Djomeh and Kandahar -- deal with Afghanistan or Afghan refugees in Iran.
"I tried to make the camera and the acting imperceptible." Hassan Yektapanah
Djomeh is about a young Afghan refugee working at a dairy farm in Iran who falls in love with a Iranian woman who is of a higher class.
The film deals with racism, classicism and all the other wretched fates that befall refugees and poor alien immigrants of the world who attempt to fit into a society that really doesn't accept them. A subject that makes for good drama.
Djomeh spots the young woman in the village and out of sheer hope he begins to frequent the family owned grocery store that she works in even though he cannot really afford to buy much there. Thus begins this unusual courtship.
Like many of the films of Abbas Kiorostami - whom Yektapanah was an assitant director for - the film is told very simply but nothing is in wasted or overdone. And most significantly the landscape that surrounds the area is so prominant that it becomes a character in its own right. Yektapanah lets us see the land that the people live in - a land that is both forbidding and beautiful.
Knowing full well that he has no dowry, no family and nothing to give to the woman Djomeh talks his boss into vouching for him as a credible suitor. It's a gamble that seems reasonable and hopeful. (And afterall this is a movie). But dreamers are dreamers no matter what land they live in. Djomeh, blinded by his own naivite doesn't realize how formidable his task is. He doesn't realize that a 'no' answer is not merely a no but in fact may change his life for the worse.
On the surface this is a heartbreaking film. But given the fact that Djomeh is merely 20 years of age it stands to reason that no matter how remote his chances are he is still young enough to hope and attain his dreams in the future.
"Why is everyone crying aloud over the demolition of the Buddha statue while nothing is heard about preventing the death of hungry Afghans?" Mohsen Makhbalbaf
Due to recent events in Afghanistan when Kandahar gets released in January of 2002 it will be an historical artifact rather than a current event. But that doesn't neccesarily take away from its significants as a work of political art.
Since the Taliban have (had?) such a harsh rule over the country the women must wear a full length burka to cover themselves. And their ability to travel around is severly limited. So Nefas arranges to go with an older man who will pretend to be her husband. After traveling only a few miles, though, the Taliban comes and takes the man's vehicle. The man is so distraught that he decides to return to Iran. Nefas then recruits the services of a young boy who has just been expelled from a Taliban school. He takes her a bit of the way until she gets sick. She visits a doctor and -- again because of strict Islamic law -- she is not allowed to be seen or touched by the doctor. Instead she sits behind a sheet with a hole in it and the doctor asks questions and gives instructions through a proxy. The doctor turns out to be a black man from the United States. When he realizes that she speaks English he becomes more open and - after talking a while- he offers to take her a little further down the road toward Kandahar.
He takes her only so far and then she joins a wedding procession, which includes some men hiding out under full length dresses and a burka. While in this large procession of burka clad people Nefas attempt to make the last leg of the journey...and then the Taliban show up and start searching everyone.
The film strikes a poetic balance between fiction and documentary. Most of the actors are real people playing some variation of themselves with scenes that seque into fiction. One scene in particular features a large group of amputees at a Red Cross tent attempting to get limbs. The scene pretty much is shot like a documentary until an airplane flies overhead and literally parachutes limbs onto the land. Suddenly all the amputees race (in slo motion) to the floating limbs hoping to find one that will fit.
Staying true to the content of the film it is loosely structured and at times has an amateurish feel. But that's the cinema of Makhbalbaf - rough hewn yet poetic and always driven by a political, humanitarian streak.
The film too is the first of his in over a decade that has a less hopeful and a more contemplative (or realistic) ending. No doubt this is because the film was made before there was any chance of the Taliban being overthrown and before we in the West were willing to do anything about their oppressive rule. That has all changed. But the plight of the poor, the cippled and the starving in Afghanistan hasn't changed much. And neither has the general oppression of women. This film gives us a good insight.
Interview with Makhbalbaf
Kandarar the movie site
"Culture and art are based on common characteristics between people. No matter what country or culture you're from, you always believe in friendship, you always believe in human values, and you always believe in peace." Majid Majidi
Baran,by Majid Majidi, is the most polished of his three films. Beautiful to looks at, strongly allegorical and at times one swept up in mythic proportions it is a film that smartly balances between politics and romance.
Lateef works at a construction site that employs numerous illegal Afghani workers. One of the workers is hurt and must go home. The next day two of his relatives show up to take his place. One is an old man the other a young effiminate man named Baran. Baran (Zahra Bahrami) eventually takes Lateef's job feeding the men. Lateef is extremely upset and vows revenge until he finds out that Baran is a woman dressed as a man.
Once Lateef finds out he falls hopelessly in love and begins to plan ways to confront her. Then, one day, Baran and her father disappear. Lateef goes in search of them and finds out that they quit due to the dangers of being found and jailed for working illegally. Lateef finds them and notices their financial hardships so he begins to help them by secretly giving them his savings and earnings.
The amazing thing about Baran -- and its primary message -- is what happens to people when they fall in love. Lateef goes from being resentful and hateful to totally selfless. At first he is just acting on his instincts of attraction and he foolishly gives away all that he has including his identity papers. He doesn't realize (and maybe we don't for a while) that his actions have a humanitarian basis. But by the end he realises that what he has to lose is far less than what the Afghan's have already lost and even if he doesn't get the girl he knows he will have done something worthwhile.
The film also clearly shows the difficulty of the Afghan population in Iran. They all live together in squalid environments, working together in a community and trying to make ends meet. And when they finally earn enough money they go back home - where there is little work.
This simple tale of finding an impossible love is beautifully shot and well paced and with the right marketing it will become a classic. But more importantly - just like the other two films written about here - this is a film that touches the universality of human desires and needs. It clearly combines the personal with the political in ways that speak to all of us.
Official site