Frontier Blues (2010)

Frontier Blues is a portrait of an Iranian border Steppes region by the Caspian Sea that has been fought over for centuries and depicted through the eyes of four village characters, each of a differing tribe - a Persian, a Kazak, a Turkman and an Armenian. Added to which is a Tehran photographer trying to capture it all on film, taxi drivers, cafe owner, factory manager etc. All have aimless lives with no real prospects. Mundane existences in a wide barren landscape littered with relics of the past. The dark humour, stoicism and pathos is abundant and the whole cinematic experience is a true joy to watch. Frontier Blues can be equally likened to other slow paced world cinema gems such as Lake Tahoe, Vodka Lemon, The Return, Historias Minimas, The Banishment, Las Acacias and the wonderful Once Upon A Time in Anatolia. So much different from standard mainstream cinema carp of today. To me they all provide to a western outsider an education and greater understanding of these peoples and places.

I recently saw this film at the Edinburgh Film Festival. What a brilliant first feature!The story follows the lives of different men living in a small town in northern Iran. The stories are simple and beautiful, about love and lose, men desperately trying to make a connection and to find meaning in their monotonous everyday existence. I really loved the pacing of the film. It takes its time. It achieves humor and pathos without trying. It is the kind of film that only comes around once in a while, the kind of film that is getting harder and harder to make or released. I recommend this gem to anyone who loves the cinema of Kaurismäki or Kiarostami. Babak Jalali is certainly a great new director to watch!

I saw this film at two different festivals and each time I left thinking that Iranian cinema is in safe hands! Although perhaps I shouldn't even limit this film in to a sub category such as Iranian cinema because this film does not resemble much of what I've seen of Iranian cinema. But I still feel that after a disappointing few years, directors like Babak Jalali could well be about to give films from that region a much needed lift. Frontier Blues takes place in a remote part of Northern Iran where Turkmen and Persians live side by side. This film is about the lives lived on that region by a group of men waiting to go places. It's a very atmospheric and confident piece of work and does not rely on any cinematic conventions to tell it's tales. Highly recommended and I hope to be able to see it again.

In remote Gorgan (Iran's northern border with Turkmenistan), the film tells us the story of 4 men, of whom, 3 have dreams of girls/women/marriage/reunion. It portrays a society where women fled frequently from their families for richer men, and where men feel they are the authority of their families and they are responsible for the younger ones, e.g. letting the donkey go. Here, men cling on to their dreams - keeping the donkey as a pet; ringing other people up randomly to speak to girls; choosing only one size / design per piece of clothing for his shop; learning English so as to relocate to a place with better living standards; not wishing to speak or play his musical instrument but when stirred up, vents his frustration profusely. Here, weddings and funerals seldom occur: it is uneventful. Yet, outsiders want to capture images not of how the place is really like, but of what they perceive of this place - nomadic, pastoral, rustic, etc. But they will never be able to seize that most natural and authentic side of these people.