Baran

Plot synopsis:
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It is winter in Teheran. Lateef is 17. He works in a building construction managed by MEMAR, the site foreman. Lateef's job is to serve tea and prepare food for the workers with whom he is always quarrelling. The workers come from all parts of Iran. Some workers are Afghans refugees from war torn Afghanistan. They have no identity card and are employed illegally as cheap labor. When the labour inspectors show up, the Afghan workers must hide.
As the story starts, an Afghan worker, NAJAF, falls from the building and breaks his leg. He is taken to the hospital. The next day, SOLTAN, another Afghan worker, brings in RAHMAT, Najaf's son, who is around 14 to replace his father. Memar soon realizes that Rahmat is not fit for this hard work and decides to switch the jobs between Rahmat and Lateef. Lateef is furious, threatens Rahmat, tries to sabotage his work and spies on him. One day, by looking through the door where Rahmat works, he is totally shocked to discover that Rahmat is a girl. As he is watching her combing her hair, he finds himself in a strange state and surrounded by unusual sounds.
From there on his attitude changes completely, he becomes protective, helpful and gradually desperately in love with Rahmat. While Rahmat does not express herself verbally at all, with time she seems to respond to this love. During a surprise visit of the labour inspectors, they find themselves face to face with Rahmat. She panics and runs away as they chase her through the city streets. Lateef runs after them, struggles with the inspectors while Rahmat flees. Lateef is beaten up and taken to the police station. Now Memar has to pay a fine, comply with the law and lay off all Afghans.
Lateef can't bear Rahmat's absence and decides to locate Soltan to get some news of her. He goes to the village where the Afghans live, walks around, meets an enigmatic cobbler and ends up in the courtyard of a shrine near a graveyard where Afghan families are gathered for a local milk ceremony. He inquires about Soltan but gets no clues. Among the Afghans in the courtyard, stands Rahmat with girl clothes. She notices Lateef, stares at him for a while before leaving the ceremony. Lateef is not aware of her presence. The next day on the road he finds Soltan and learns that Rahmat works in the village near the river. Lateef rushes there to find Rahmat in a pitiful state, working with other women at carrying heavy stones from the river. He is distressed and wants to find a way to help her out of that ordeal.
He gets all his accumulated wages from Memar and hands them to Soltan asking him to pass them on to Najaf. They agree to meet the next day at the shrine after Najaf has given the money to Najaf. The next day at the shrine, instead of Soltan, it is Najaf who shows up to inform Lateef that Soltan has gone to Afghanistan. He tells Lateef that Soltan came to him and offered him some money he had borrowed from someone. He also tells Lateef that he has refused the money and has advised Soltan to keep it for himself and use it to leave immediately to Afghanistan where he had a life and death issue in the family. Lateef is shocked and worried.
He gets even more worried the next day when he overhears a conversation in Najaf's house that Najaf is himself now faced with family problems in Afghanistan as his brother has just been killed in the war. He also hears that Rahmat's real name is BARAN. Lateef goes back to the river to find Baran, exhausted, now carrying logs of woods out of the river in an atmosphere reminder of a war field. Powerless in front of the hardship she is going through, he returns to the construction site in a state of depression. The next morning, Najaf on his crutches is in the construction site to meet Memar. Lateef overhears Najaf begging Memar without success to lend him some money.
Lateef takes a desperate measure to get money. He goes and sells the only valuable things he still has, his identity card. When he brings the money to Najaf, it is to learn that thanks to this money, Najaf and his family are returning to Afghanistan. Lateef is overwhelmed by this news and finds refuge in the shrine. There, in a state of anguish and despair, he hears coming from all around him the same sounds he heard when he saw Baran the first time. He surrenders to his fate.
The next day in a dreamlike atmosphere, while helping Najaf to load the truck with the house effects, Lateef, now with a serene look, is finally face to face with Baran. Through eyes contacts and physical proximity they exchange their love. As Baran covers herself and walks to the truck, her shoe gets stuck in the mud. Lateef gets on his knees, takes the shoe out of the mud and hands it to Baran so she can wear it and leave. The truck takes Baran away. Left alone, in the empty place, Lateef stares at the footstep in the mud left by Baran's shoe and smiles while the rain covers it. [http://www.cinemajidi.com/baran/synopsis.html]

Tags: romantic

Review:
What I initially perceived to be a movie about a group of men working at a building site, was indeed a powerful story of unselfish love.
With the way love and sex is treated in many movies, it was wonderful to see how one could feel the love and devotion of one person of another without as much as a touch or kiss.
I was also so touched by the lengths that the young man went through to help the girl he loved and her family.
There is so much that us take for granted in our daily lives that by seeing this movie we can start appreciate what we have.Latif gave everything in the name of kindness and love for his neighbor.
Well I don't have word for him.Baran is one such film from the director who has given us Children of Heaven.
If any one has noticed the film there are only on three instances that background score comes into play and during this time you will notice that we are watching a movie and not a documentary.
If films are about capturing a slice of human life, presenting it as justly as possible and thereby helping us understand ourselves better, than I think Iranian filmmakers have done just that...over and over again!'Baran' is again a gem of a film - basically a love story which beautifully talks about the prevailing socio-cultural dynamics in Iran at the time.
And Zahra Bahrami as Baran - a very controlled beautiful performance.The "still sad music of humanity" reverberates in Iranian cinema all the time except that it is also complimented with refreshing doses of humour and joy revolving everyday situations and actions.
Simple, Human, Beautiful, Touching, Sensitive, Irresistible A Wonderful Love Story.
The master Memar (Mohammad Amir Naji) makes Rahmat responsible for feeding the worker, and brings the young Lattef (Hossein Abedini), who was responsible for this task, to the heavy work.
However, when Lateef finds that Rahmar is indeed a girl called Baran (Zahra Bahrami), he falls in love for her and spends all his savings and gives his best efforts to protect her family and her."Baran" is a simple, human, beautiful, touching, irresistible wonderful love story.
The actors and actresses have very realistic performances, showing an excellent direction and the character Baran does not speak any word along the story, using only her facial expression to disclose her inner feelings.
And the sacrifice of Lateef to please the family of "Baran" shows the essence of a pure and platonic love.
The story is in some scenes humorous, in others moving.This film has lessons to teach in humanity and generosity.It is also a window for viewers in Western countries (such as myself) whose lives are so far removed from those of the characters and real people like them.
Its unusual to find such a philosophical film that keeps both your eyes and heart wide awake.The truly altruistic nature of love, the crazy things it makes you do and not regret are born out in this film in beautiful ways.
From an Iranian perspective it is an interesting look at cross-cultural phenomena but I think the average American doesn't know enough about Afghani, Kurdish and Iranian culture to appreciate that.You see this coming from the start but I'll warn you that the next thing I say might spoil part of the film for you:My favorite scene is at the end when she drops her burka as she realizes he loves her, realizing how dangerous her beauty is, how it has left this poor boy in emotional and financial chaos and how she cannot do anything to help..
Baran is the story of an Iranian construction worker, Latif, who is not really doing his job - he serves tea and food to the rest of the workers, managing to avoid the really hard work.
He seeks to protect and help her, and his entire life is slowly and surely changed for the better because of her.Many people have critisized this film, saying it's poorly acted, the script is badly written, etc.
This movie is not in the least bit American, therefore the viewer needs to be open minded to the different culture of Iranian cinema.
He makes some astonishingly clever use of symbolism such as the last scene when Lateef looks back at Baran's footprint (after she has departed), it represents the print she left on his heart.
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.
Like Kandahar, our attention is drawn to the desperate plight of the Afghan people.Baran begins with a note about the reality of the 1.4 million refugees from Afghanistan living in Iran, a number that has probably increased substantially since September 11th.
Afghans are forbidden to hold jobs by Iranian law and must work illegally, usually in unskilled heavy labor jobs.Shot in the style of the Italian Neo-Realists (realistic stories told against real backgrounds with sometimes non-professional casts), Baran has a tone of drabness, only occasionally interrupted with bursts of color.
At a construction site in Northern Tehran, Memar (Mohammad Amir Naji) employs a large number of Afghans to work along side of Turks and Iranians.
A 17 year old Iranian tea boy, Latif (Hossein Abedini), an Iranian Azeri, feels his job is threatened by a new worker Rahmat (Zahra Bahrami) who comes to work when his father is injured on the job.
After Latif discovers Rahmat's secret (he is a she named "Baran"), the film is devoted to his transformation from a selfish wise guy to a caring and surprisingly generous young man.
The film becomes a series of encounters in which Latif, infatuated with Rahmat, secretly tries to help her in any way possible, donating his entire savings to her family and involving himself in protecting her from the hands of inspectors looking for illegal immigrants.
Though I found Baran to be, at times, somewhat repetitious and dramatically weak (it doesn't help that Latif and Rahmat never interact), it is a humanistic film, full of warmth and humor.
Though a film about dehumanizing working conditions, its true focus is the emotional awakening of a young man who has discovered his own self worth through the act of kindness to another, perhaps symbolizing the discovery of the plight of Afghans by the Western world.
Majidi's films are like simple beautiful piece of art, it's same as reading Oscar Wilde or O Henry's classic short stories.
This is a thoughtful, beautifully made film about very poor people, a film about the growth of spirituality within a young man who falls in love without saying a word to the beloved; it is a magical film made mainly on a second-rate construction site, a fascinating look into folks to whom the cheap thrills of most American films would be completely irrelevant.
The Iranian Majid Majidi directs his film with a natural, neorealist flair without effects or a big budget.
His story of forbidden love is classic; the principal characters Lateef and Baran start off awkwardly since Baran dressed as a boy Rahmat in disguise takes Lateef's job at a construction site in Iran.
So, I won't use many to review the film.Majid Majidi composed a poem in the form of 'Baran'.
After I watched this movie I feel not to watch American movies anymore because I realized how the movie should be.The meaning of "Baran" is rain it makes very good sense by finishing the movie with raining scene.
We need more of these films.Baran was a wonderfully written, wonderfully directed feel-good movie.
And by staying alive I mean rock-bottom, hand-to-mouth survival.It's also about self-realization, and how human beings are capable of putting others before them, and of sacrificing everything to help someone in need.When an Afghani worker is injured at a construction site, he sends his son to take his place so that he can feed his family.
The characters of Latif, Baran (the girl) and Memar (the overseer at the site) are especially strong.
I see this film after many years that I living out of Iran ,I think that maybe it is humdrum for someone but it have a really romance story .
not only me but many of the guy's that I know them ,see this film for more than one time.also I must say about actors and back ground of this , I think that it have a poor camera moving ,and also not have a wide back ground , but actors ,specially first boy and Afghans girl have a nice play in this film ,it has a simple story but have a deep looking to human life (real life) so I hope that this film director and actors make more film like this , I guess that it's have a many customer like us out of Iran ..
This romance tale, shot in contemporary Teheran, is a simple one of a young Afghani, Latif, illegally working as a bread and pasta deliveryman and tea boy for construction workers on a site in a Tehran outer suburb.
In the meantime the hero Latif, a romantic if quarrelsome lad lose his soft tea boy and deliveryman job in favour of a young and physically weak stand-in Afghani worker who has arrived to cover for a close relative who has a had a bad accident on the site and is disabled for several months.
The rest of the film is taken up with Latif falling in love with a beautiful but shy young Afghani girl (I'm not telling how this happens nor the secret which is revealed during the process).
It does mean that my students are reading subtitles rather than listening to English, but reading in chunks is a real-life reading skill, so I like to mix subtitled non-English movies in with English ones.Being Iranian, this movie is, of course, squeaky clean for showing to students in a conservative society.The character of Lateef is fun to do a character word-web about and my students came up with some great descriptive words, since his character is not all positive, and changes over time.
Like the Iranian film "Djomeh," which I saw in November, this film's main character is a young man living in Iran working for an older relative, this time in a construction job.
The main character of the movie Latif (Hossein Abedini) works as a cook at a construction site In Teheran where all sort of tribes come together to work: Kurds, Azeiris and illegal Afghans.
Latif is an aggressive person and he looses his easy job to an illegal Afghan boy and so he must do now the heavy work which makes him still more angry about his condition.
The movie is also in the same time a love-story with unreal aspects but the last scene with the girl going to Afghanistan and putting on her burqa on her face is again a jump into reality and the movie ends in the rain.
This movie is before all a social drama showing the inhumane conditions of one million Afghan immigrants in Iran but the director does not loose his optimism and some scenes are rather humorous..
Latif (Hossein Abedini) falls in love at a person, Baran (Zahra Bahrani), who is not the person that it is in reality.
However, as much as I enjoy these lovely little foreign flicks which spend huge gobs of time scrutinizing the miniscule details of their story, someone should point out that movies such as this are devoid of most of the things people go to movies to see and "so little" is at best a questionable foundation for any film.
"Baran" will play best with foreign films buffs.
A story of tender feelings of a youth against the back ground of the plight of construction workers,and refugees in Iran...Well this is BARAN for you.There is nothing much to be told about the story line which is weak, and which mostly revolves about the infatuation ( wrongly termed as "love" by many people )between a boy and a girl.The director has handled the theme in a soft and subdued way at times using idioms and avoiding excessive melodrama, which sets the film apart from the usual loud and lustful,so called love stories found in main stream films all over the world.The ending showing the footprint of the girl getting wet in the rains and yet not getting washed away is remarkable, which displays the deep and firm footed emotions the boy has in his mind for the girl.Good cinematography has helped this film in creating the necessary ambiance.However there are many flaws in the film.First the acting.The actress doing the role of baran is pathetic.
One of them is personal...I just don't like this kind of teenage love story but that problem can't be blamed on the movie.The other two were issues involving the casting.
Another thought-provoking, unique, deep, understandable, warm, loving and touching tale comes from Iran, by the hand of Majid Majidi, the one who brought "The Children of Heaven" to our eyes.
He has fallen in love.After this, nothing matters, only this girl (Baran, we hear from her father; and if you don't listen carefully, you'll miss it, because it's the only time the word is said).
A young man, Lateef, may be 18 years old falls in love with a fellow construction site worker Baran.
There's no way Lateef can win her hand but its a complete triumph of love.What a brilliant film.
Story looks like a love story but Majidi actually talks about women problems, refugees, illegal workers, immigration problems and of course conflict of right and wrong defined in a society.
There are so many things Lateef does for Baran which I ended up thinking 'not possible' but the real question is 'isnt love selfless?'.
There are actually so many things going on in this film.Hossein Abedini as Lateef is fantastic.
While I was not blown away by the film like I was by THE COLOR OF PARADISE (which, I would place in the top 10 best international films I have ever seen), the look and delicate directorial touch make this a wonderful film to see.The film is set mostly on an Iranian construction site.
*Spoiler alert*BARAN centers around 17-year-old Latif (Hossein Abedini), the cook and gofer at a Teheran construction site.
The camera work throughout BARAN is also exceptional - the construction site is captured in great detail through the graceful and uncluttered cinematography (by Mohammad Davudi), the harshness of Teheran's environment (this film features some of the most effective use of rain, snow and fog this side of a Kurosawa epic) is casually ever-present, and serves to underscore the intensity of the story, and the scenes set in the Afghan refugee settlement are uncomplicated in their minimal beauty, and are consistently devastating in their emotional power.
Baran is a dramatic love story written, directed, and produced by "Majid Majidi" in 2001.
Like his previous smashing hit works at that time, like "Children of Heaven", "The Colour of Paradise", and "The Father", Baran keeps on moving the audience emotionally in a slow pace, covering the story in a very cultural dramatic manner.
Baran's story is very close to human life scenarios that is beautifully visualized and written with a strong message for love and peace where people could actually relate to the strong portrayed characters to their real lives and feel every little emotion of the character throughout the movie.The story of Baran revolves around two very strong characters; 'Lateef', a seventeen years old Kurdish worker who works at a building site in Tehran; and 'Baran', an eight years old girl whose family is a poor illegal Afghani immigrant.
Every coming day, 'Lateef' feels that he is getting more emotional, sensitive and a better human being by admiring her, her simplicity and personality and tries to be like the person she is.
The conflict comes when the Iranian government issues an order to stop all Afghani immigrants to work in Iran and move back to their country and sends forces to arrest them.
He is in so much love that he wants to keep 'Baran' away from every pain and hurdle in her way and spends his money and everything that he had and makes her and her family to move back to their country.The ending scene of the movie is very beautifully and dramatically visualized.
The Tonga starts moving and 'Baran' removes her veil from her face and looks at 'Lateef' and gives him a smile showing that she's happy and thankful and she has felt his affection for her and 'Lateef' smiles back that he got her message and goes back happily.The amazing camera work, beautiful background score and amazing story keeps the audience engaged till the end of the movie, both emotionally and visually.
Baran fulfills every aspect to be a blockbuster emotional drama movie by touching audience's heart.
we see that though this movie is slow it is not static,the characters are well portrayed and the plight of the workers is brought out as a background theme.what is central to the theme is how love makes a person outgrow the limitations of his heart and teaches him to open himself up.selflessness is an endearing note,but sometimes i feel that why you do something matters as much as what you do.there is no rationale here.eternal lovers will tell me that love knows no reason ,but i somehow refuse to believe that.
i would say that this film is certainly worth a watch but do not expect a Marji majidi level movie...because for those who fell in love with "children of heaven:" this is surely a let down.