The Rain

I've plugged Majid Majidi's emerald of a film a couple of times before, but somehow I just thought about it tonight, in the middle of this parching drought on my little island, which is strange because Baran means "the rain" in Farsi. Nonetheless, I just wanted to take a minute to remind those out there that Baran is a very enjoyable, and completely surprising film. I had never expected to sympathize with a character who was completely mute- although I am female, I rarely shut up- but once you understand the cultural constraints that Majidi is operating under, it is totally remarkable that the movie is as powerful as it is.

It is interesting to note that in Iran, Afghans are a minority. The depiction in this film was the first time that I had ever even laid eyes on an Afghan in my entire life, and its a tall order to make you care about a person from a group that you have never even heard of and whose ways are totally alien to yours. I guess the really interesting thing about Majidi is that he manages to make something so different into something so powerful. Even in Iran, Afghans do the scut work- and are basically illegal aliens that can sometimes be disregarded or even heavily exploited, which is what the film so arrestingly depicts. The treatment of Afghan people in comfortable Iranian society has always been a bit of a can of worms, and its not always talked about- right along with child labour abuse in Pakistan, etc. That's what made Majidi such a sensitive trailblazer. There are some other progressives in Iran that have felt that Iranians should be helping their much more disadvantaged Afghan brethren (sisterate ;)) and Majid freely chose to fall into this relatively enlightened category.

Here is the website for this film, for those who are interested.