DELBARAN

Iran, 2001, 96 minutes, Colour.
Kaim Alizadeh, Rhamatollah Ebrahimi.
Directed by Abolfazl Jalili.

The film opens with striking scenery, deserts and mountains. The title refers to a crossing out in the desert, a pass between Afghanistan and Iran.

A young boy is travelling from Afghanistan into Iran, in search of work. He is escaping the war. (Interestingly, the film was released in 2001, the year of the American invasion).

The film shows various details of the boy’s life, the driver demanding money from him, his getting patronage from an old man in the village, working in the cafe, befriended by one of the women in the town, police inspectors arriving to question Afghan refugees, drug deals, robberies out on the road, the continual traffic on the highway.

The film immerses the audience in the place as well as in the life of the boy and the difficulties of growing up in such a remote location.

1. An Iranian perspective? Iran and Afghanistan border before the 2001 invasion?

2. The location, the rugged mountains, the desert, the border, the small town, the open plains? The buildings in the town? The roads? The musical score? The Delbaran crossing?

3. The opening, Kaim and his travelling, the truck, the driver, the difficulties, the argument about the payment? His landing at the crossing, getting a job in the cafe, Khan as his sponsor, the illegal immigrants? The police and the checks?

4. The boy, his age, eager to work, in the cafe, with the drivers, the mechanics, the need for repairs, his running to summon the mechanic, the arguments? His determination? The old lady, her support? The doctor, his ear infection? The police, his being taken, interrogated, allowed to run? This life as a substitute for his childhood?

5. Khan, his age, sponsoring the refugees? His relationship with the boy? His work, in the town, putting off the Inspector and his questioning about refugees? The other people in the town, the cantankerous mechanic and his complaints, his work? The visiting doctor and his kindness? The old lady defending the boy?

6. The traffic on the road, the trucks, accidents, trucks overturning, the need to pull them out? The bandits and the robberies? The drugs?

7. The visual impact of the film, the framing of characters and scenes, the vignettes and the cumulative effect as drama?