The three journalists huddled closely around a desk inside a nameless office building, recording devices rolling, as Bahrani began to speak. It was evident that at age 34, with three feature films under his belt, the softspoken Bahrani has achieved a level of success and critical acclaim that gives added weight to his words.
A quiet man, Bahrani expressed a deep sense of gratitude for the positive reviews Goodbye Solo has received from film critics and audiences since its world premiere at last year’s Venice Film Festival. Solo received the FIPRESCI International Film Critics prize at Venice. And the American reception of the film, which was shot in Winston-Salem in 2007, has surpassed Bahrani’s expectations.
“I’m grateful people are responding to the film and what the film’s about which is about a friendship, a selfless friendship. For people in this time period to respond to that is great,” Bahrani said. “I think it’s really a reflection of how this society has changed so much in the last year having exited the last eight years of politics and entered into a different time. People are coming together in a different way and I’m grateful for that, too.” Solo, like Bahrani’s previous features Man Push Cart and Chop Shop, tells a story other filmmakers seem to totally ignore. The story of an unexpected friendship between a Senegalese taxi driver and an elderly Southern man, Solo continues the Bahrani tradition of exploring the mysteries of human connections. Soulmayne or “Solo,” played by newcomer Soulmayne Sy Savan, and William, played by Hollywood veteran actor Red West, forge a bond after William hires Solo to drive him from Winston-Salem to Blowing Rock at a future date. After Solo realizes William plans on committing suicide by leaping off the mountain, he sets about to change his friend’s mind. A chance meeting between Bahrani and a Senegalese taxi driver in Winston-Salem provided the genesis for Solo. Bahrani said he spent six months taking cab rides with the immigrant cabbie, and during that time, he would regularly pass by an assisted living facility.
Ramin Bahrani, a Winston-Salem native, received the 2009 Emerging Master Award during the 11th annual RiverRun International Film Festival after a screening of his latest film Goodbye Solo on April 25. Solo won the prestigious FIPRESCI International Film Critics award at the Venice Film Festival last year. (photo by Keith T. Barber)
“There was an
elderly man standing by the side of the road. I began honking and
waving at him and he began to smile and wave back, which at first made
me quite happy and then it saddened me thinking about his role in
society — someone of that age,” Bahrani said. Those experiences laid
the foundation for Goodbye Solo, a film that also evolved out of discussions between Bahrani and longtime collaborator Michael Simmons.
“I
wanted a film I could respect and my collaborator could respect, that
people who love movies could respect — a film my mom would enjoy or
that my brother and his girlfriend here in Winston would enjoy,”
Bahrani said. “It appears it’s happening.”
Respect and appreciation in the form of critical acclaim has been highlighted by positive reviews from New York Times film critic AO Scott and Roger Ebert among others. Bahrani said the attention Solo is
receiving is “flattering,” but his goal as a filmmaker is not to
achieve fame or critical success. Succes for Bahrani is merely a means
to continue telling the stories he wants to tell. “I can’t make movies
that resemble most of the films we see out there about white, yuppie,
beautiful looking people who don’t have a care in the world,” he said.
“I find that those films are a rejection of me. Why should I clarify or
qualify myself based on a Hollywood film? I wonder why Hollywood is
making films against me. I think it’s a big problem.”
Bahrani,
the son of Iranian parents, clearly stated that his stories about his
films, which include characters living on the margins of society, do
not represent a repudiation of Hollywood. They are simply the stories
he’s most interested in telling.
“It’s very hard to make a
film — this is no mystery,” he said. “It’s incredibly hard to make a
film so if you’re not interested in it, it’s going to be hard to finish
it. Believe me, it’s very easy to quit in the middle of a film.”
Bahrani said he developed his directing style by studying the techniques of filmmakers he admires. Solo represents
the first time Bahrani has hired a professional actor — Red West — for
one of the parts in his movie. Bahrani also likes to give his actors
only the pages of the script that include their part to get a more
organic performance. The young director also eschews trying to
communicate a moral message to his audience. Chop Shop featured
a 12-year-old Latino street orphan as the main character, who made
choices audiences might have found appalling. It is those
non-traditional choices Bahrani makes in his storytelling that have set
him apart from many of his fellow directors.
Bahrani said the 12-year-old protagonist of Chop Shop simply
does what he believes is necessary to survive. “[He’s] prepared to do
anything to be with his sister who he loves more than anything in the
world. By the end of the film, he’s telling his sister to go sell
herself for money, to prostitute herself. You’re going to judge him.
‘That’s a morally wrong action, that’s not right.’ I challenge you to
watch the film and tell me you don’t understand why he’s done it and
you don’t love him more than anything in the world,” Bahrani said.
Ultimately, the themes of Bahrani’s three films transcend morality, he
said. “I’m interested in actions of one human being to another — this
is of paramount importance to me and to all my films,” he said. “How
does one human being treat another human being. How does one human
being understand himself in this world, and how does a human being
behave in this world, which we cannot comprehend. This is important to
me, but the moralities of it, I leave that up to someone else.” Moments
after Bahrani’s remarks, he returned to the sold-out theater for a
moderated discussion with screenwriter Angus MacLachlan before
receiving the 2009 Emerging Master Award. The presentation marked the
culmination of a triumphant return home for the enormously talented
director who’s making an indelible mark on the independent film scene.
