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CRIMSON GOLD Rating:   (out of 5 stars)Director: Jafar Panahi Producer: Jafar Panahi Writer: Abbas Kiarostami Director of Photography: Hossain Jafarian Cast: Hussein Emadeddin, Kamyar Sheissi, Azita Rayeji, Shahram Vaziri Visit the IMDB page for full cast and crew |
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Working class alienation has always been a popular subject for socially conscious cinema, and Iranian director Jafar Panahi's Crimson Gold is another interesting examination of the topic. Unlike the thematically similar work of Mike Leigh or Ken Loach, Panahi, who directed 1995's irresistibly charming The White Balloon, takes a riskier approach in his presentation of this material by making his lead character, an oafish pizza delivery man named Hussein (Hussein Emadeddin), a stoic figure. Whereas the typical antagonist in a Loach film can be described as a flawed (or tortured) hero, there's nothing heroic about Hussein. He's a victim, but Panahi never glorifies his victimization. Any sympathy one works up for Hussein is not due to anything specific to the character, but instead what this character represents.
Crimson Gold's plot is a relatively simple one. Hussein and his friend Ali (Kamyar Sheissi) happen upon an extravagant wedding ring and a receipt from the store where it came from. Since Hussein is engaged to Ali's sister (Azita Rayeji), the two friends decide to visit the jewelry store, located in an upscale part of Tehran, in hopes of pricing a ring for the upcoming wedding. The owner of the jewelry store (Shahram Vaziri), put off by Hussein and Ali's working class appearance, shuns the men. Later, when the friends return to the store dressed in suits, and with Hussein's fiancée in tow, they are subjected to further humiliation. Hussein then lashes out violently.
The film has a circular narrative, beginning and ending with the same act of violent resolution. The opening scene is covered with only one static shot that last over four-minutes, as the action unfolds as much out of the frame as it does within it. And this technique is something of a false introduction to the camera work that comprises the majority of the film. Crimson Gold's most distinct characteristic is its LONG scenes. In many of the scenes, the camera instinctively tracks Hussein as he meanders about within a location. After a while, the slightly disenchanting effect this style has on the viewer is that you're merely just following the character around purposelessly, and one can feel drained as these scenes stretch on well past the point of comfort.
Two lengthy scenes in the film feel a bit tangential at first, but are indicative of the director's intention of commenting more on environment than character. In the first of these sequences, Hussein is forced to remain outside of an apartment complex by authorities who are staking out the building and arresting the guests of an unauthorized party taking place there. The second occurs when Hussein is invited to eat a pizza with a customer in a luxury apartment; a lonely, wealthy man (Pourang Nakhayi), who has just been jilted by a girlfriend. Apparently, the problems of Iranian society aren't exclusively inflicted on the lower economic classes.
But the central conflict in Crimson Gold does afflict a member of that class, so while there is no mistaking where Panahi's sympathies lie, there is a quest for an objective point of view. It's a bold move on the director's part, who's directing from a script by acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, not to attack us from such a traditional root-for-the-underdog perspective, although this approach, combined with an occasionally laborious method to the storytelling, might make this a tough sit for those short on patience.
Crimson Gold
is a bleak look at the widening gap between rich and poor in Iranian
society, which can be easily applied to any number of urban areas.
There is something of a cold formalism at the core of this movie,
but there's no denying that its message is adeptly delivered.
(A Wellspring Cinema release. Opens in Los Angeles on February
6, 2004; previously opened in New York. Expands to more cities
at later dates.)
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