museumofdave 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. Do we need to care about this people? Can we even identify with them?Box office winners in America are generally about childhood superheros dressed up in expensive duds or weave dark make-believe tales about vampires or medieval revenge. They are aimed primarily at 14 year old boys, but many adults flock to them for entertainment. And they are entertaining, just as most fast food is filling, but often not very nutritious. The fact that Baran couldn't even crack 1/90th of the box office take of either of those films says something infinitely sad about audiences not willing to stretch their consciousness, experience an alternate reality, or understand some of the people our soldiers in the Middle East might be meeting on a daily basis. Baran is an open window into another culture and leaves behind something other than a ticket torn in half.

Paul Papadopoulos 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. The workers are mostly illegal Afghani immigrants like himself. The government inspectors frequently raid the site and the Afghani workers scamper safely away in time, each time. This suggests that the rather seedy Iranian supervisor or boss man bribes the inspectors (though there is no actual shot of him doing so).The supervisor is almost always short of cash to pay the workers (Latif is owed one year's salary but is given bits of cash by the boss if he demands it). The civil engineer is not pleased with the shoddy work done and refuses to pay him until he fixes the problems.Nevertheless, it is revealed later that the supervisor has a heart of sorts. 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 weak stand-in cannot manage the heavy work so is given Latif's job and the hero has to take on the hard jobs which causes some resentment. 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). The photography is brilliant, and we get some fleeting glimpses of the better-off areas of Tehran but most of the time we see the sordid living and working conditions of immigrants at the bottom of the pile, although one country village has a certain unusual charm.. Indeed, some of the scenes, shot exclusively in late autumn or winter are almost lyrical.

cs_weaver One of the aspects of this film not touched by other reviews here is the quality of the directing. it is incredible how as you watch the film your natural inclination to see the situation solved is completely drowned out by the motion of the film. 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.

Vivek Thakur There are directors who give one or two classics and are considered immortal and than there's Majid who gives classic back to back. Well I don't have word for him.Baran is one such film from the director who has given us Children of Heaven. The simplicity of the film and the simplicity of cinematography are exemplary. Way the beauty of Iraq is captured is amazing. Each scene is aesthetic yet poignant. With minimal dialogues and no dialogues for the girl playing the title role it is quite an experimental film. 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. They cast which was mostly non-professional actors looks authentic and spontaneous. The technical aspects are simple like an achievement. And last scene when rain (Baran) starts pouring down to fill the mark created by Baran's shoes is overwhelming.To write about the director will be like undermining his work. In one word he is brilliant.If you have not seen it you are completely missing one genre of films.