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Baran (Hamsay-e khoda) (2001)
Directed by: Majid Majidi
Date of birth: 1959, Tehran, Iran
Writing credits: Majid Majidi
Country: Iran
Language: Farsi / Dari
Color: Color (Fujicolor)
Runtime: 94 minutes
Released: 2001
Genre: Adventure / Drama / Romance

Plot:

In a building site in present-day Tehran, Lateef, a 17 years old Iranian worker is irresistibly drawn to Rahmat, a young Afghan worker. The revelation of Rahmat's secret changes both their lives.

Summary: Timely and Beautiful

I saw this film at a sneak last week. This is a film by Majidi Majidi the amazing Iranian director who's last film was "The Color of Paradise." At its center "Baran" is a love story that is about that most romantic of loves - the unrequited kind. What makes the film so timely is that in involves an Iranian who is in love with an Afghanistan illegal immigrant. The performers are non-pros and the effect this has upon the viewer is close to documentary in nature. We become involved in the Afghan culture in a very real and immediate way.

Summary by: James Tupel
New York City
Date: 2 November 2001

Cast overview:

Hossein Abedini .... Latif
Zahra Bahrami .... Baran
Mohammad Amir Naji .... Memar
Hossein Mahjoub .... Bric à Brac Trader
Abbas Rahimi .... Soltan
Gholam Ali Bakhshi .... Najaf
Jafar Tawakoli .... Inspector
Yadollah Hedayati .... Chief of Lors workers
Parviz Larijani .... Shop ownerj
Mahmoud Behraznia .... Building Contractor
Pasha Barabadi .... Inspector
Kamal Parto .... Inspector
Maghsood Moghadan .... Chief of Turkish workers
Peiman Daraian .... Building Engineer
Mohammadollah Dad .... Middleman in the Bazar

*****

Baran is the romantic story of one Iranian teenage boy, Lateef (Hossein Abedini), who suddenly finds himself deeply in love with a young Afghan girl, permanently altering his view of everything he thought he knew to be true.

Lateef, a good-hearted, lazy and often mischievous boy, works as a caretaker on a construction site, providing tea and food to the Afghan workers who work illegally for scant wages. The site boss, a kind but frugal man named Memar (Mohammad Reza Naji), provides Lateef with only a small weekly allowance and holds onto the remainder of his wages claiming it is for his own good.

When an Afghan worker, Najaf (Gholam Ali Bakhshi), suffers a fall on the construction site, he cannot tell the authorities where or how he got injured due to his illegal working status. This incident threatens everyone's jobs. The following day, an Afghan worker and a family friend of Najaf's, Soltan (Hossein Rahimi) arrives to work with the injured man's son, Rahmat (Zahra Bahrami). Soltan convinces Memar that Rahmat can fill in for his father. Memar reluctly agrees.

Rahmat has an incredibly difficult time handling such physical labor. After Rahmat drops a heavy load, a furious Memar reassigns Lateef to the hard construction work and Rahmat to the less taxing caretaking duties. Resentful over his new assignment, Lateef sabotages Rahmat at every turn-smashing up the caretaker's room and even throwing water at him. But in one moment, Lateef's attitude dramatically changes.

One day, Lateef hears singing and turns his attention to the caretaker's room. Behind the curtain, Lateef sees a beautiful girl, and watches as she brushes her long hair. Stunned by her bravery in taking this taxing job on behalf of her family, and beguiled by her beauty, Lateef is instantly taken with her. He sets out to impress her and protect her.

When Government inspectors force all Afghans to be fired from the site, Lateef discovers he cannot bear to be without her. Jeopardizing social standing and endangering his own well being, Lateef stops at nothing to save his love.

Directed by one of Iran's most accomplished international director, Majid Majidi (The Children of Heaven, The Color of Paradise), Baran is the sweet romantic tale about love's astounding ability to cross the boundaries that lesser men create. (Summary taken from Magic Lantern)

Director's note

On behalf of Iranian people, Iranian cinema and myself, I would like to extend my deepest sympathy to the American people over the inhuman tragedy that struck New York. Without a doubt, this disaster brought pain to our hearts and souls, and its bitter memory will always be with us.

Baran is a glimpse at the Afghan refugees who have been living in Iran for the past three decades. According to the International Red Cross' statistics, one million and four hundred thousand Afghanis are living in Iran. But the real number borders on three million. The savage rule of the Taliban in recent years has displaced a great number of Afghani people into the border towns of the neighboring countries.

Over the past three decades, the oppressed people of Afghanistan have been helpless victims of internal and external aggression. Young generations of Afghans have inherited nothing but war and blood. The years of the Soviet occupation and mass murders have been followed with civil wars and now the genocidal rein of the Taliban.

In the context of what is unfolding in the region as we speak, if the American military actions bring about the downfall of the Taliban, we should all rejoice, but only if this is achieved without inflicting more harm on the innocent people of Afghanistan. However, this may be only wishful thinking. In the early days of the attacks, we see that hundreds of helpless people have been killed or injured. These are people without shelters--unlike Taliban, Bin Laden, and his mercenaries, who are said to be living in underground bunkers and are not likely to be harmed anytime soon.

If the humanitarian organizations, nations and governments, don't act responsibly, we may witness one of the worst disasters of the human history in the coming days and weeks. Close to a million Afghani women, children and elderly will be stranded behind borders and, without any protection, will die of starvation and disease. If this actually happens, how will the collective human conscience justify it? Aren't we all human beings regardless of our race or color? So if any innocent people are harmed anywhere in the world, we should all share the pain. In the beautiful language of the Iranian poet Sa'di:

Children of Adam are all members of the same body

Who, in creation, were made of the same essence.

The film Baran is a tale of affection, altruism, sacrifice, and love-- a love that knows no borders. Love can conquer all borders. Let's dream of a day when the world is ruled by love, not war.

I wish you dear friends hearts full of love.

Respectfully,
Majid Majidi

ABOUT THE CAST

Many of the actors in the film are not trained. Majidi often uses real people in his films instead of classically trained actors. All of the Afghans in this film are Afghani refugees living in Iran. Like many Afghanis living in Iran, they all speak Persian, but with a very specific accent that is easily recognizable by Persian-speaking people.

Hossein Abedini (Latif)

Hossein Abedini starred in the 1996 Majidi film, The Father.

Zahra Bahrami (Rahmat/ Baran)

Zahra Bahrami has never previously appeared in a film.

Mohammad Amir Naji (Memar)

In addition to his role in Baran, Mohammad Amir Naji has appeared in Birth of a Butterfly (1998) and Majidi's critically acclaimed The Children of Heaven (1999).

Hossein Mahjoub Abbas Rahimi (Soltan)

Hossein Mahjoub Abbas Rahimi has never previously appeared in a film.

Gholam Ali Bakhshi (Najaf) Gholam Ali Bakhshi has never previously appeared in a film.

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