Movie Description
From Iranian director Majid Majidi (CHILDREN OF HEAVEN), BARAN is the story of Lateef, a 17-year-old boy who lives in Teheran and works in the kitchen on a construction site. Hotheaded and always ready for a fight, Lateef resents his boss Memar for holding his wages to send to his father at the end of the year. When Rahmat, a young Afghan boy, replaces Lateef, Lateef's new job is lugging heavy bags of cement up the stairs. Hungry for revenge, Lateef sets out to make Rahmat's life miserable. One day, while spying on Rahmat, Lateef realizes that the boy is actually a girl hiding her gender so she can work to support her family. Lateef falls in love and decides to help her with what little money he has. In the process, he blossoms and changes from a sullen teenager into a generous young man.
BARAN is a wonderfully romantic tale about sacrifice and devotion. But underneath this simplistic fable is a political film about 1.5 million Afghani refugees suffering in Iran, and Majidi shows a remarkable talent in making BARAN seem like a romantic love story. BARAN belongs with the best Neorealist films as an example of filmmaking that stares boldly at the pertinacity of the human spirit.
| Credits | | Producer: | Fouad Nahas, Majid Majidi | | Cast: | Hossein Mahjoub, Hossein Rahimi |
Notes
Theatrical release: May 3, 2002 (NY/LA)
Editorial Reviews
"...The lovely clarity of this story, which seems to have been drawn from the literature of an earlier age, is well served by the artful subtlety of the telling..."
New York Times - A. O. Scott (12/07/2001)
"...A sweet story of unconsummated love....Majidi's direction has never been smoother or more confident..."
Box Office - Shlomo Schwartzberg (01/01/2002)
"...Beautiful, thoughtful, romantic..."
Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert (05/19/2002)
"...Iranian director Majid Majidi remains a consummate visual poet..."
USA Today - Mike Clark (10/25/2002)
"...[A] delicate, melancholy story..."
Entertainment Weekly - Lisa Schwarzbaum (05/17/2002)
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