Dow Rahehal Baraye yek Massaleh (1975) User Reviews

Simple and good

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 22 April 2016]

"Dow Rahehal Baraye yek Massaleh" or "Two Solutions for One Problem" is an Iranian movie from over 40 years ago and an early career effort by Abbas Kiarostami. At slightly over 4 minutes, this may be his shortest work. Unlike his other early short films, this one is in color. It is about two friends. One boy has the book from the other and gives it back damaged. In the first scenario, things get heated and material as well as physical damage is caused. In the second scenario, a solution is offered quickly and the two stay friends. This is truly a simple story, but it is still an effective one. You can make parallels to so many other things, for example countries fighting each other instead of going for a quick solution. And a lot more actually. This was a good watch for young and not so young audiences. I recommend checking it out.

I think this is a comedy

[vierevee · 9/10 · 17 June 2002]

Perhaps I am the only person to have seen this film, but seek it out you must. It's a Kiarostami slapstick (I think), which involves two schoolkids breaking each other's stuff and getting in a fight because they didn't cooperate (the second solution is much less entertaining because they both learn to get along). I'm not sure if it's meant to be funny, though Kiarostami is, I guess, pretty amusing as arthouse directors go, but it's the ritualised aspect of Iranian society that comes out, unconsciously perhaps, in this film and it's what gives it a comic turn as one kid tears up the other's exercise book and the other stares on impassively and breaks the other's ruler in half. But it's all in the expressions, man! The deadpan voiceover is pretty cool, too. Overall, as Jonathan Rosenbaum might say, 'dude, this rocks!'.