Nader T Homayoun/France-Iran 2009/95 min/15
Showing @ Filmhouse Thu 17 Feb 18:00
Iran is usually associated by the British as being rich, ruthless and with an aggressive approach to nuclear development, mostly due to its headstrong and controversial president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. So it comes as a welcome change to explore the rarely-seen side of Iran in writer/director’s Nader T Homayoun’s award-winning Tehroun.
Protagonist Ibrahim (Ali Ebdali) is a poor man who has left his village and pregnant wife to work in his country’s capital, Tehran. Having ended up begging on the streets, he hires a baby from a local gang lord, only to have it stolen by an equally hard-up prostitute. Owing the gang lord millions, unable to find the baby and with his own due any day, Ibrahim is forced to become entangled in the ruthless world of crime to pay off his enormous debts.
What really makes this film stand up so well is its natural but energetic script – these truly feel like real people experiencing real difficulties. Co-written by Jean-Philippe Gaud, the characters are well-formed and each is easy to empathise with, from Ibrahim’s eccentric friend who leaves during his own wedding vows to answer his mobile, to the thieving prostitute who desperately tries to sell on the stolen baby. The plot has a real mix of great themes rolled into it, including black comedy, crime thriller and social drama, which keep the film’s pace and vivacity intriguing and moving throughout.
Homayoun’s directing is incredibly audience-inclusive, with the heat and fatigue of a busy Middle Eastern city being transposed onto the viewer, as well as the exhaustion and frustration of relentless searching. It’s also a subtly beautiful film; full of light, colour, warm faces and the delicate Persian language which, behind the mask of tough politics and vast oil reserves, reveals a human yet tragic world.
Comments