“Don’t you go letting life harden your heart … we can let the circumstances of our lives harden us so that we become increasingly resentful and afraid or we can let them soften us and make us kinder. We always have the choice.”

~ The Dalai Lama

Baran is a film by acclaimed Iranian director, Majid Majidi, who gave the world such masterpieces as the Children of Heaven and Color of Paradise. He has done it with Baran, a romantic story set in the aftermath of the Taliban occupation of Afghanistan. The film bears the usual signature of the director – an affecting story told simply yet conveying a profound message of what it means to be human under dire circumstances.

The film is set at the turn of the millennium, during the Taliban years when large numbers of Afghan refugees poured into Iran, working illegally for low wages. The story revolves around a 17-year old construction worker, Lateef and the titular character, Baran. When an Afghan worker, Najaf breaks his foot in an accident, his fragile son Ramat becomes his replacement. The foreman Memar makes Ramat responsible for feeding the worker, a task that was done by Lateef. Furious for the swap, Lateef took his anger on Ramat, intent on getting revenge. Then one day while looking through the door of the storage room where Rahmat prepares the dishes, he is totally shocked to discover that Rahmat is a girl and that her real name is Baran. Seeing Baran comb her long hair, he becomes smitten with her, and transforms from a self-centered person to one capable of showing unconditional love, giving his best efforts to protect her and her family, even donating his entire savings to her family and implicating himself to protect her from the hands of inspectors looking to arrest illegal immigrants. Incidentally, Baran does not speak a word throughout the film, using only her facial expression to disclose her innermost feelings for the sacrifice Lateef makes to prove the depth of his love.

Majidi’s films have always been subtle, and Baran is no exception. This is no Hollywood production. There is no background music, there are no sex scenes, and no special effects. But the compelling story, led by young actors who give subtle performances at the highest level, more than make up for it. This is cinema at its purest.