A gripping study of desperation and what sometimes provokes men to undertake violent acts, 'Crimson Gold' focuses on Iranian Hussein (Hossain Emadeddin), an obese, unambitious pizza delivery man. A veteran of the Iran-Iraq war, Hussein feels that he hasn't been rewarded for serving his country on the field of battle. Seeing the freshly emerging middle classes as thieves of the soul of his country, Hussein begins to drift into a life of crime with his best friend and future brother-in-law, Pourang (Pourang Nakhael). The early minutes of the film depicts a heist which has gone horribly askew and the film, which is told mostly in flashback, tells how Hussein has found himself in such an extreme and unlikely situation.
A big winner at Cannes this year, comparisons have already been bandied about with 'Taxi Driver' and the influence of early Scorsese is evident, especially in the neat opening sequence. Thankfully, Panahi finds his own voice rather quickly, and it soon becomes clear that the director is primarily interested in making a comment on oppressive Iranian society and the injustices which men like Hussein endure before they finally give in to rage, and sometimes, insanity. The director's deliberately languid, sometimes obscure, style, may not be to everyone's liking - the narrative unfolds in fractured chunks - but this is an intelligent piece of filmmaking.