Bacheh-haye naft (2001)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Ebrahim Forouzesh

Writer:

Ebrahim Forouzesh (writer)

Release Date:

30 April 2003 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Milad Rezai
Azar Khosravi
Nasrin Boustan
Hamide Bakhtiari
Parinaz Khoshe
Milad Shadi

Also Known As:

Children of Petroleum (International: English title)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

Iran

Language:

Persian

Color:

Color

Certification:

France:U

Company:

The Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children & Young Adults

Well done Iranian movie, with a view of the southern society.

11 year old boy in Masjed Soleyman, the southern Iranian oil center, is trying to earn a living with his mother and two sisters. Eight months after they last heard from his father who left for Kuwait as a temporary worker, they still owe money to a local man who holds their mule as collateral on his fathers loan. The interest is mounting and the man wants the 12 year old sister as his wife in exchange. The son tries a variety of ways to make money, including offloading concrete bags, taking back the mule to carry skimmed oil, and stealing flowers to sell on mourning day. Desperate to make enough to pay off the whole debt, the son bets with the local oil workers kids, that he can walk across a ravine on a high oil pipeline without falling.

This has a clear dramatic narrative, more like the films of Majid Majidi (Color of Paradise, Children of Heaven) than those of Abbas Kiarostami (The Wind Will Carry Us, Where is the Friend's Home?)