BARAN Asian New Classics

Majid Majidi’s impressive BARAN touches on the issues of Iran’s relationship with neighboring Afghanistan. The story is focused on a construction site full of illegal Afghan workers, where Lateef, a 17-year-old Iranian worker, is irresistibly drawn to Rahmat, a young Afghan worker. An accident where an Afghan worker falls and breaks his leg sets the narrative in motion. When the site supervisor offers work to one of the injured man’s children, the teenaged Rahmat bravely attempts to fill his father’s shoes. The young man is not quite strong enough to perform the demanding task, and he soon captures the eye of an initially hostile and suspicious Iranian worker, who eventually comes around, offering help and protection.

This is the beginning of a surprising, touching and delicate relationship between two cultures. Supported by the superb camera work of cinematographer Mohammad Davudi, who finds color and beauty amidst the drab grey of a building site, Majidi turns BARAN into a beautifully conceived and realized work, which serves as an impressive follow up to his popular films CHILDREN OF HEAVEN and THE COLOUR OF PARADISE.