Incredible. Director Jafar Panahi pours you into the psyche of Hussein, an impoverished Iranian pizza deliveryman with dreams of a wealthy life. It dawned on me that I had seen strains of his character before, in the great American story of Bigger Thomas in Richard Wright's NATIVE SON. TAXI DRIVER, of course, is comparable, but far less subtle. Hussein's character is multi-layered, and you can easily miss Panahi's whispered clues to his past. Hussein was once a "saintly" war veteran and probably smart student who had health problems requiring cortisone treatments. The results were obesity and depression. He desires to be married to his best friend's sister, another marvelously understated character. Hussein's quest to give her lovely and expensive things becomes his driving want, and his final experience with a Westernized rich kid tips the balance. This film is nothing without Hossain Emadeddin, the actor playing Hussein. His pudgy-faced character stoically endures the spite of arrogant merchants and bullying cops. You can feel an eruption coming. If you recall Jackie Gleason's "The Poor Soul," you will see remnants of the silent, trudging character all over Emadeddin's role. Further out---you may think I'm crazy---but the character has Notorious B.I.G.'s JUICY all over it in physicality and motivation. Back to earth, Panahi's technical skills soared since that fateful moment in THE MIRROR when he decided to keep the camera rolling when the little girl actor essentially quit the set. CRIMSON GOLD's opening has a masterful long-take of a robbery, using a darkened doorway as a frame-within-frame that opens us to street onlookers mirroring our anxiety. An ingenious device to sandwich action between two sets of viewers. The film may seem plodding, but every frame is a gem. A favorite.
Review of Crimson Gold
