‘For Rana’: Busan Review

Dir. Iman Yazdi. Iran. 2024. 87mins

Aref (Hamed Behdad), a stunt motorcyclist in an Iranian circus, and his wife (Pantea Panahiha), who works in an industrial laundry, are not wealthy. But they have enough to get by and to create a loving home for their seven-year-old daughter Rana (Tasnif Hosseni). Then the little girl’s heart disease suddenly deteriorates, and the parents are told that she needs a transplant as a matter of urgency – and the unscrupulous relatives of a potential donor prey on their desperation. The feature debut from Iman Yazdi, For Rana is a bluntly-plotted melodrama that clearly telegraphs its tragic climax within the opening 10 minutes. It is elevated, however, by the quality of the performances, and the evocatively down-at-heel circus backdrop.

Bluntly-plotted melodrama

Yazdi cut his teeth as a short film director – his previous work includes Homeless (2014), First Exit (2012), and After The Game (2011) – and he also directed the Persian language TV series Soda in 2022. For Rana is a polished production, with Roozbeh Rayga’s layered cinematography a particular stand out. The picture could generate interest on the festival circuit, where audiences may recognise Panahiha and Behdad from, respectively, the Cannes break-out Hit The Road and the Rotterdam prize-winner The Old Bachelor. However, the slightly heavy-handed storytelling may limit the film’s potential appeal.

The director’s strong visual sense is evident from the outset, with an opening that introduces us to Aref at his place of work: a reinforced metal sphere in the middle of a circus ring. While the audience ecstatically chants his name, Araf pulls on his helmet and straddles his neon-lit motorbike, riding it in a dizzying display of looping and circling inside the structure. It looks terrific, but it also serves as a neat visual metaphor for the cage of debt in which so many of the characters find themselves. No matter how hard or fast Aref rides, he can never quite escape.

Aref’s financial situation is not great, but his problems pale into insignificance next to those of his friend and work colleague Soroush (Amin Asadi), whose father is in prison for debts. Soroush’s desperation is such that his judgement and advice are clouded by self-interest when he urges Aref to take a sponsorship deal brokered by the circus’s corrupt owner (he stands to make a cut of the profits). At first, Aref roundly rejects the deal but, once the seriousness of his daughter’s illness becomes clear, he finds that he is no longer in a position to take a moral stance.

The medical professionals are sympathetic to the family’s plight but stress that Rana is not at the top of the transplant list. Consequently, the onus of responsibility to locate and negotiate a suitable donor falls on Aref and his wife. But the only candidate is an elderly man in a coma, whose new wife and adult son are competing to wring as much cash as possible from the man’s estate before the life support is turned off.

The ticking clock of Rana’s medical emergency is mirrored in the countdown to Aref’s next motorcycle stunt – he is planning an attempt at a risky record-breaking jump. Meanwhile, a very pointed scene shows a pair of insurance agents agreeing to offer one-off cover for the event. “Let’s hope you never have to use it,” comments Soroush once the insurance policy has been finalised, pretty much sealing the fates of all involved in the story.