Rating: 
Summary: A Kierkegaardian Masterpiece
Review: Majid Majidi's wonderful new film Baran is quite simply a masterpiece bound to become a classic in the next few years. Majidi's movies are always able to bring awe to the audience because of their simplicity. They are well-photographed character-based films.This one, Baran, is my favorite. I see it as not only as a love story, but also a Kierkegaardian exploration of faith. It evokes the irrational which humankind embraces purely by virtue of the miracle of faith and love. Lateef's actions are certainly illogical, but nevertheless, by virtue of the absurd, he pursue's his love to no end, and is left with spiritual satisfaction. Two important notes:
1-Baran in Farsi means rain. This is important.
2-It is not illegal, as one reviewer claims, to make films in Iran which are concerned with love. Although there is no denying the limitations and obstacles which a director has to deal with to get his film past the censors at the Ministry of Culture.
Rating:
Summary: "Baran" Means "Rain"; Story of Tender Feeling Deftly Told
Review: Majid Majidi, director of "The Children of Heaven" (first Oscar-nominated film from Iran), gives us another heart-warming (and slightly poignant) film about "Baran" (meaning "Rain"). The film has a romantic taste in a subdued narrative, and perhaps a very immediate and political message. But like a lovable brother and sister in "Heaven," "Baran" is about the two people in Iran tenderly depicted by Majidi. The story starts with a young man Lateef working at a construction site somewhere in Iran. The work is hard, and many workers are actually not Iranian, but illegal immigirants from Afghanistan. The boss Memar (excellent Mohammad Amir Naji, father of the children in "Heaven") is in fact a good fellow, but doesn't (or cannot) give much wage to them. There, Lateef has been assigned a rather easy job, serving tea and bread because of his father. But one day Lateef must start to work, this time a real one. For one of the workers of the place broke his leg, and a son of the injured, very small boy named Rahmat, replaces this guy who could be lazy until then. Sulky, discontent, Rahmat acts very nastily before this small boy ... until he finds a surprising secret about "Rahmat" who in fact is named "Baran." The rest of the story should remain untold. The man begins to change his attitudes to this newcomer, silently protecting Baran and keeping the secret from the people around them. But what can he do? And how far can he go when he knows someday Baran and the family must go back to the country where the society is still very unstable? All those emotional changes happening in this man's heart are tactly dealt with Majidi's lyrical narrative, without being too sugary and sentimental. I understand some people's complaint that this film (and Iranian films in general) is too slow-moving. And I think the latter half, which should have shown more of Baran, seems a bit overlong. The 90 minutes surely feel long even for me (though I have watched many films from that country). Still, the charms of the simple tale with rich details of the everyday life in Iran which the Western media rarely cover are irresitible. Certainly it moves slow, but "Baran" presents us what a good cinema can do with its good visuals and sincere attitudes towards filmmaking and the people it pictures. Those who are interested in Iran-Afghanistan relations should see "Kandahar" and "The Cyclist." The former in a sense follows the possible life of Baran, and the latter is a big hit in Iran about a most desperate bet done by an aged illegal immigrant from Afghanistan, who has to ride a bicycle through one whole week.
Rating:
Summary: "Baran" Means "Rain"; Story of Tender Feeling Deftly Told
Review: Majid Majidi, director of "The Children of Heaven" (first Oscar-nominated film from Iran), gives us another heart-warming (and slightly poignant) film about "Baran" (meaning "Rain"). The film has a romantic taste in a subdued narrative, and perhaps a very immediate and political message. But like a lovable brother and sister in "Heaven," "Baran" is about the two people in Iran tenderly depicted by Majidi. The story starts with a young man Lateef working at a construction site somewhere in Iran. The work is hard, and many workers are actually not Iranian, but illegal immigirants from Afghanistan. The boss Memar (excellent Mohammad Amir Naji, father of the children in "Heaven") is in fact a good fellow, but doesn't (or cannot) give much wage to them. There, Lateef has been assigned a rather easy job, serving tea and bread because of his father. But one day Lateef must start to work, this time a real one. For one of the workers of the place broke his leg, and a son of the injured, very small boy named Rahmat, replaces this guy who could be lazy until then. Sulky, discontent, Rahmat acts very nastily before this small boy ... until he finds a surprising secret about "Rahmat" who in fact is named "Baran." The rest of the story should remain untold. The man begins to change his attitudes to this newcomer, silently protecting Baran and keeping the secret from the people around them. But what can he do? And how far can he go when he knows someday Baran and the family must go back to the country where the society is still very unstable? All those emotional changes happening in this man's heart are tactly dealt with Majidi's lyrical narrative, without being too sugary and sentimental. I understand some people's complaint that this film (and Iranian films in general) is too slow-moving. And I think the latter half, which should have shown more of Baran, seems a bit overlong. The 90 minutes surely feel long even for me (though I have watched many films from that country). Still, the charms of the simple tale with rich details of the everyday life in Iran which the Western media rarely cover are irresitible. Certainly it moves slow, but "Baran" presents us what a good cinema can do with its good visuals and sincere attitudes towards filmmaking and the people it pictures. Those who are interested in Iran-Afghanistan relations should see "Kandahar" and "The Cyclist." The former in a sense follows the possible life of Baran, and the latter is a big hit in Iran about a most desperate bet done by an aged illegal immigrant from Afghanistan, who has to ride a bicycle through one whole week.
Rating:
Summary: A calm movie ^_^
Review: One night when I was browsing around the video rental store, I found a movie, Baran, sitting there on the shelf, and I knew I just had to watch it! Since it was foreign, Baran intrigued me right away. This Iranian movie made by Majid Majidi has a very calm atmosphere that will suck the watcher right into the movie, almost as if he or she were actually in Tehran. The story is about a seventeen-year-old Iranian named Lateef who works at a construction site in Tehran. He does the little jobs, like serve the workman tea, or buys the lunch for the work site that day. Suddenly, when an Afghan worker has an accident, his son, Rahmat fills in for his injured father's place. Lateef finds Rahmat annoying; he can't lift very heavy things very well, and is sometimes clumsy. Also, Rahmat is a better cook, which takes away from Lateef's job, and Lateef then has to do more construction work. The big twist of the movie is when Lateef finds out Rahmat's secret, which then changes their lives. Baran is a very good movie; it has no guns, weapons, or political muck. It simply tells a believable story about two teenagers in modern Iran. While watching it, I found it sad how the Iranian government doesn't like Afghan refugees in their country. During the movie the construction team had to keep it quiet and lie about what nationality that some of the workers, like Rahmat's, were. Also, I think to understand the plot better, the viewer should know a little background information of Iran/Afghanistan. The biggest reason I like this movie (besides being so un-Hollywood) is the ending, which is when a big rainstorm came to Tehran. That is very poetic way to end a movie, since Baran means rain.
Rating:
Summary: subtle explosion of emotions
Review: One of the best of the iranian cinema in the recent years, "Baran" is a genuine falling-in-love story at it's purest. Directed and filmed under the strict 'vice-and-virtue' censors of the islamic republic, where such subject is taboo, Majid Majidi and the cast have created a masterpiece of human emotions that gradually builds up through the film, and reaches it's intensity without even one realizing it, and all done in the most subtle way characteristic of the the recent great films from Iran.
The story is so simple yet original, and complicated in the nonverbal emotions expressed between the main characters. It's a must see for anyone into films with substance.
Rating:
Summary: subtle explosion of emotions
Review: One of the best of the iranian cinema in the recent years, "Baran" is a genuine falling-in-love story at it's purest. Directed and filmed under the strict 'vice-and-virtue' censors of the islamic republic, where such subject is taboo, Majid Majidi and the cast have created a masterpiece of human emotions that gradually builds up through the film, and reaches it's intensity without even one realizing it, and all done in the most subtle way characteristic of the the recent great films from Iran.
The story is so simple yet original, and complicated in the nonverbal emotions expressed between the main characters. It's a must see for anyone into films with substance.
Rating: 
Summary: Diverting, but nothing extraordinary
Review: The plot of BARAN is so simple that I dare not give more than a few specifics for fear of condemnation by the plot-spoiler police. It's apparently set in Teheran, though I can't be positive because I've never been there and the film's end credits, at least in the limited-release version I saw, are in a script that's indecipherable to me, insular American that I am. Lucky for me, the dialog, which is spoken in several of the region's languages, is subtitled. Most of the "action" takes place on a building construction site where a young man, Lateef, has a cushy job making tea for the other workers. Early on, the site foreman, Memar, transfers Lateef into harder, manual labor after replacing him in the kitchen with Rahmat, the always-silent son of another man, an Afghan refugee, severely injured on the job. (Rahmat sure knows how to brew a killer glass of tea and redecorate a kitchen!) Understandably, Lateef is not a happy camper about this precipitous decline in his fortune, and the storyline evolves from there. There are themes to BARAN underlying the obvious coming-of-age thread. One of the director's intents, accomplished very well, was to portray the plight of the Afghan refugees that flooded Iran when the Soviets invaded their homeland in 1979, and then 10 years later when the Red Army withdrew and the country decomposed into civil war. In BARAN, these unfortunates are tolerated in Iranian society, but only barely. A cultural facet of the region, probably taken for granted by the film's producers but which stands out for western viewers, is the segregation of the sexes in everyday public life. This last bit is a key plot element. The actors in BARAN do a credible job, especially those playing the roles of Memar (Mohammad Reza Naji) and Lateef (Hossein Abedini). Director Majid Majidi performed magic squeezing all he could out of an otherwise unprepossessing set - the bleak, urban construction site. And the film contains scenes of poignancy, humor, and sweetness. There's also symbolism, perhaps more than I realize, as when Lateef replaces a lost shoe on Rahmat's foot. Possibly more credit will be given to BARAN than is due because it comes to us from a rather unlikely spot - or at least unlikely to western audiences. I suspect BARAN might be considered a provocative cinematic achievement in Iran. If so, I would wonder what all the fuss was about. From the vantage point of my cultural background, nothing extraordinary happened. Incidentally, "baran" means "rain".
Rating:
Summary: Persian Delight
Review: This delightfully simple picture examines the tragic lives of the Afghan people as refugees in Iran. The film is especially poignant at a time when the issue of Afghan refugees is such a hotly debated topic. This film speaks volumes of the struggle that these people have endured and while offering no soultion to the problem, gives us an insight into the human spirit that shines irrespective of tragedy. Baran illustrates how Afghan refugees in Iran have limited rights and are forced to work in dangerous conditions to make money for their families back in war ravaged Afghanistan. The story is set in a construction site where the two lead characters take the viewer on their journey of poverty and hardship, while developing their affection for each other. With very little sentimnetality Hossein Abedini portrays the connection the two charachters make and how each benefits from their relationship. This picture is beautifully shot and is gorgeously acted. It is filled with great humour and human dignity. Iranian cinema is proving itself the most effective form of communication the restricted artistic community of Iran has to share their life with us.
Rating:
Summary: one of the best films i have seen
Review: this film is a great watch! something in this would apply to everyone.
the movie is full of subtleties that you almost have to watch it carefully several times, to pick up on all the great moments and appreciate them. the girl in the film who is one of the main characters does a great job of showing the suffering and efforts of refugees, women in a society dominated by men, and children living in poor conditions. she doesnt speak once throughout the entire film, yet her story is clear, and you feel she has told you her entire life history.
the movie highlights the forgotton, or ignored plight of afghans living as refugees. this particular film shows the situation as it took place in iran, where many afghans fled following the soviet invasion.
i recommend this to all. the film is in farsi with subtitles, but this doesnt make it a film that only applies to a foreign audience who understands the original dialect, this will touch you.
Rating:
Summary: Majidi's Best
Review: This is my favorite of Majidi's movies. It combines the sweetness and gentleness of his Children of Heaven (1987)with an objective look at lower and lower middle class Iranian society, and the impact of the infusion of immigrant Afghani workers into that mix. It also shows, and this is probably going to be lost on the most Western viewers (it certainly was for me until I visited Majidi's website), some of the underlying tensions between Iranians of different backgrounds. Among the groups represented are Kurds, Azeris, and Lurs.
One of the things that makes this film so touching is how the main character, Lateef, is transformed from a shirking, irresponsible and selfish young boy into a man through his love and sympathy for a young Afghani refugee, Baran. Although it may sound unusual that this love affair develops with perhaps no more than five or six words spoken between Baran and Lateef, what happens on screen seems completely understandable and convincing.
There is one extremely powerful and startling image that Majidi uses towards the end of the movie that represents the untranscendable social division between the two. That is the snapping of Baran's burkha over her head as she and Lateef part for the last time. Never has that particular symbol seemed so intrusive and unfair in a film to me before. This time it was not for any political or religious reasons. Rather it was especially cruel because it divided Baran from Lateef permanently.
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