| The
Review: |
Break out the No-Doz, folks, 'cause
odds are you're going to need at least a box or two to make
it halfway through Majid Majidi's "Baran," one of the slowest,
dullest, most inconceivably dull films to come along in many
a moon. My first attempt at viewing the film afforded me a
twelve-hour nap, after which I began the film again, from
the beginning, and somewhere along the line I lost consciousness.
Two days and two caffeine pills later, I was back in the chair,
ready to make it through come hell or high water. ***
And boy, let me tell ya: I've never
been so frustrated for sitting through a movie so wrapped
up in its own self-importance, the kind that blinds the filmmakers
to the fact that what they think is actually complex and deeply
moving is as bland as baby food. Sure, you can make a movie
about a society many label as different or harsh, or in this
case, hostile and aggressive, but just because you can accurately
depict living conditions and ways of everyday life doesn't
mean that makes it the least bit interesting or affecting.
***
In "Baran," we're taken to the
working-class sector of present-day Tehran, Iran, where a
teenage construction worker named Lateef (Hossein Abedini)
lives out his life fetching food and cigarettes and preparing
tea for the other workers. At first, he's seen as more of
a jester than a diligent worker, and his constant pleading
with his guardian, Memar (Mohammad Amir Naji), for responsibility
over his own money makes him look wasteful and ignorant. But,
God, why complicate matters in the review? Here's the low-down:
after a Afghan male worker suffers an on-site injury, he sends
his son Rahmat (Zahra Bahrami) to keep up the income. Lateef
is at first competitive of his position, but once he discovers
the real identity of the newcomer, his life begins to change.
***
It's pretty easy to point out the
various themes and political underpinnings of the film, that
is, unless you're comatose by the time these elements begin
to take shape. The segue from boy to man that occurs in Lateef
is seen through his opinion of Afghan workers, whom he initially
sees as imposing, but later accepts as human beings. His growing
affection for Rahmat, who is actually a girl in disguise,
provides a reason for him to take things seriously. These
changes and life-affirming motivations hardly ever reach a
heartfelt level, however, because 1) they're hardly original,
and 2) the film is too busy living up to its "May Cause Drowsiness"
tagline that it forgets to inject and feeling into the proceedings.
***
This is the type of film where the
audience gets the inkling that the filmmakers are trying to
appear smarter than they really are. Sure, the fact that "Baran"
portrays Iranians and Afghanis in a more positive and humanistic
light is commendably timely, but when everything else about
the material has the interest equivalent of a bottle of Nytol,
you can't help but wonder how anyone is supposed to learn
anything from the film.
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