Posted: Apr 28, 08 1:16pm

Have you ever wondered what happens when the immovable object contacts the unstoppable force? This is what happens in Mani Haghighi’s film titled, “Kargaran Mashghoole Karand”, the immovable object being a large phallic rock by the side of the road and the unstoppable force being man’s drive for power over nature, their women and their lives.

Filmed on a hairpin curve in the mountains of Iran, the scenes are photographed sometimes showing action happening on different levels of the mountain road, just as it is going on in different levels of each of the characters’ lives. The story centers around four average, middle class business men on holiday driving to Tehran and anxiously anticipating an upcoming game on television. On the surface, they are very typically male and very much the same. Their journey is interrupted by the introduction of a high standing rock which seduces the men into trying to topple it over the edge of the cliff. It is through this endeavor that each man’s uniqueness is revealed and we come to realize that it is, in fact, their differences that make the male bonds so strong.

My favorite review of this describes it this way:

"Director Mani Haghighi and co-writer Abbas Kiarostami have managed to shoot a very Iranian film that has the unmistakable look and feel of an hour long American beer commercial."

It does come across that way at first, but quickly redeems itself.

I’ll rate this one at a large bucket of popcorn. Another winner in my book.