HYPEBy Eunice Ng
The Lowdown
It’s 2001 in Iran. Many Afghan refugees are moving to, and seeking work in, the country to escape the Taliban regime back home. Young Iranian Lateef (Hossein Abedini) has a cushy job at a construction site preparing tea and meals for workers. Life is not so easy for the many Afghan workers at the site though, most of whom are working illegally and paid much lower than the normal construction worker. When Afghan worker Najaf (Gholam Ali Bakhshi) falls and breaks his leg, he has no choice but to send his son Rahmat (Zahra Bahrami) in his place to work for the family. The young and weak Rahmat gets assigned to Lateef’s job, which, of course, infuriates Lateef. He plays pranks on Rahmat until one day when he finds out that Rahmat is actually a girl!
The Love
This film explores love of a different culture – one that is conservative and self-sacrificing but nonetheless exciting and touching. The young characters barely converse, but convey their love in other simple ways. It is truly an innocent and heartwarming romance.
The Rest
The film moves at a slow pace and requires patience from the viewer until the end. It is, however, tear-jerking at certain points as it emphasises the plight of Afghan refugees in Iran through the simple, unassuming romance of a young Iranian and Afghan refugee of contrasting social backgrounds.
Rating: 2.5/5
DVD Info
English Title: Baran
Language: Farsi, Dari
Subtitles: English
Movie Release Date: Jan 31, 2001 (in Iran)
DVD Release Date: Oct 22, 2002
Rating: PG
Run Time: 96 minutes
Special Features: Trailer
Where to get it: Video Ezy, Amazon.com