Something Cult, Foreign-Language or Indie #242: Delbaran (2001).

 

14-year-old Kaim (Kaim Alizadeh) lives alone in Afghanistan, an orphan with no friends or siblings. Having therefore nothing to live for there and with the constant threat of extremist violence, he chooses to flee. Kaim goes to Delbaran, a small town just across the border in Iran, where he lands a job at a roadside cafe. At work his brashness generates both admiration and anger among the residents of this mostly rule-free isolated outpost which is rife with drug smuggling and trafficking. While Khan (Rahmatollah Ebrahimi), his employer, tries to shield him from immigration officials, Kaim also finds himself struggling with life here as a refugee.

This Iranian effort from 2001 is very underrated. Working from a story by Reza Saberi, writer-director Abolfazl Jalili here spins a bildungsroman that also very insightfully studies modern Middle Eastern and Islamic culture and even subtly taps into what, for better or worse, was about to unfold there from that very year. Now, you might find the movie hard to separate from your awareness of that, as I admittedly did, but even so, I'd argue associating it with that is what makes its narrative so universal, because just as the search for safety and belonging are everywhere, sadly conflict is, too.

The non-professional Alizadeh comes into his own on-screen and emerges as a relatably vulnerable yet stoic young hero, and guiding him to that result, Jalili paces and visualises this film in such a patient, assured manner, additionally capturing the striking natural locations hauntingly. Very wisely, he also keeps the action mostly off-screen for increased subtlety and objectivity; don't expect any gruesome torture scenes. Subsequently, it becomes an informative and resonant snapshot of a culture so removed (in some respects) from our own and a country on the cusp of historic (albeit negative) change, through the eyes of a young man fighting to make sense of it. Delbaran is outstanding. 9/10.