The film starts by introducing Karim (Reza Naji) works at an ostrich farm outside of Tehran, Iran. One day, while distracted by others, one of the ostrich escapes, very comically, into the desert. Despite his best efforts at dressing up as an ostrich and searching the vast mountains, he returns empty handed, and is fired by his boss.
Soon after, he travels to the city in order to repair his elder daughter’s hearing aid but finds himself mistaken for a motorcycle taxi driver. Thus begins his new profession: ferrying people and goods through heavy traffic. But the people and material goods that he deals with daily starts to transform Karim’s generous and honest nature, much to the distress of his wife and daughters.
Its a particularly metaphorically filled film, taking quite a bit to digest. The main story is about Karim, but a secondary plot about his son and the village kids is just as powerful. The film is filled with comical and sad moments, as we see the lead transform from a simple man to one filled with material desires. It shows a man despite being poor, shares all that he has, giving his neighbors food and help without asking for anything in return. After donning a new shirt given by a rich man in the city, it shows him as a man, after earning more than he needs, with a courtyard filled with collected junks that he wont even give away. He becomes obsessed with his possessions, with a particular strong scene shows him carrying an old door, which he angrily retrieves after his wife gave it to someone else, tru a neglected patch of land, alone.
Credits must be given to the village kids actors, that despite being young, they certainly depict the characters really well. They play a very important role in the film, that perhaps by being young and untainted, their perspective of life and possessions differ very much from Karim's.Their motivation of cleaning the water storage to rear fish to sell, is naive, but straightforward. Unfathomable by Karim, he constantly scolds and beats them, trying to get them to be "realistic" and stop dreaming of becoming "millionaires". After trying to destroy the water storage tank , he found that the it had been repaired and cleaned, and is even visited by migrating birds.
The kids earn meager salaries by delivering potted flowers to shops in the cities, and on one trip they managed to buy a big bucket of fishes after saving up for months, which they transport in the truck, under a pallet of potted plants. Upon discovering a leak in the bucket, they tried to get to the bucket, and trashed all the potted plants in the process. When carrying the bucket to get more water, in the haste, they tripped and spilled their hopes and dreams onto the dry city floor.
Unable to collect the fishes in the now broken bucket, the boys tearfully push the dying fishes into the nearby drain, as if to tell that life is not defined by possessions, but by one's action.
All in all, its a simple but thought-provoking film. Its also particularly well shot with strong and interesting camera angles, which bring a whole lot of new perspective. It tells a story about human behavior, being disconnected to one's human nature, after being influenced by the power of capitalism and materialistic possessions. It shows Karim's struggle with giving in to more money or maintaining one's integrity. Its sad that with such advancement, its almost as if for every step forward, we're also going back one. Its said that some of the happiest people in life are "poor", or are they just full of a different kind of wealth?
Note: This show is highly recommended to watch, also I just checked and it got a 97% score for rotten tomatoes!
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