Dastane Natamam

Set at the borders of Iran (with Turkey??), this movie "on the road" explores in an original way the world of illegal immigration: the very real dangers of trying to illegally cross a border, the "people smugglers" who profit from this, the reasons which are driving people to abandon their lives and their country (generally against their deepest desires), and even the "journalistic" coverage of this migration, embodied by the two main characters (a director and his cameraman). In some way, the movie manages to be funny and ironic (even auto-ironic) despite the very serious theme, which makes it enjoyable and thoughtful at the same time.

Acting is good, and there is some peculiar camera work: in particular, a continuous switching between scenes taken "from the inside" (by the camera of the main characters) and scenes taken "from the outside" (by a camera which is "outside" the story, like in most movies). The barren mountain landscape makes an interesting, sometimes nice background.