Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageDelbaran (2001)
Director: Abolfazl Jalili
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Kalim, 14, does odd-jobs at Khan's truckstop near the Afghan border. He shouldn't; he's a refugee, and there's a cop always on the lookout for the Afghans he suspects pass through into Iran with a little help from cunning old Khan. Kalim's got by so far, but there are few hiding places in the desert while he's helping out with the countless vehicles that break down. How long can he remain at liberty? Several contemporary Iranian films have centred on Afghans. But this has less in common with Kandahar than with Djomeh, and not only because it concerns refugees. It displays a lighter touch than that exercised by Makhmalbaf père. Jalili may specialise in tough stories about the perilous plight of children, but he eschews melodrama, message-mongering and maudlin simplification, and sometimes favours an elliptical, impressionistic, allusive narrative over a conventional linear structure. Not that Jalili's work is unduly obscure; allow a little time for the establishment of character, milieu and situation, and his finest films attain a poetic lucidity unique to themselves.Author: GA
Cast & crew
Director: Abolfazl Jalili
Producer: Abolfazl Jalili, Shozo Ichiyama
Cast: Kaeem Alizadeh, Rahmatoallah Ebrahami, Hosein Hashemian, Ahmad Mahdavi full cast
Duration: 97 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Martin Provost discusses 'Séraphine'
Trevor Johnston talks to the director of 'Séraphine' about bringing a little known French painter back to life
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now