Man in a car, or in this case, men in a car, four men, banter with great spirit. They're headed towards the stadium. They have soccer fever. Just like any road trip, somebody has to pee. The man with the full bladder encounters an odd rock formation. That's when "Kargaran mashghoole karand" begins, and ends. Depending on who you are, this singular film from Iran will either remind you of Beckett's "Waiting for Godot", or an episode of "Seinfeld". Yada yada yada. You get it. "Kargaran mashghoole karand" is absurdist. In one episode from the popular Larry David situation comedy, George forgot where he left the car in the parking structure; suddenly, implausibly, labyrinth-like. Jerry and his friends never made it to the theater. Likewise, this quartet of middle-aged men never reach their destination either. They're obsessed with pushing the rock over the mountainside. This is theater of the absurd. This is pure Beckett.
In "Waiting for Godot", time is marked by a few leaves that suddenly appear on the skeletal tree that the pair of old men sit under, waiting in vain for their friend who never shows. A possible reference to the Beckett play is made when a lady friend of the engineer suggests that they chop down a tree so the stump could be used as a lever. Debatable. Also debatable, the rock formation itself suggests the black rectangular monolith in "2001: A Space Odyessy". It was immaculate. The cavemen backed away. The rock formation is far from immaculate. It's like the special-ed of rocks. Flawed and utterly defenseless, of course, mankind has to dominate that rock. Men have to kill everything, even a friggin' rock. In response to this mindless male aggression, the filmmaker kills the narration. We have time to contemplate the imbecility of man. So actually, "Kargaran mashghoole karand" isn't a film about nothing.
In "Waiting for Godot", time is marked by a few leaves that suddenly appear on the skeletal tree that the pair of old men sit under, waiting in vain for their friend who never shows. A possible reference to the Beckett play is made when a lady friend of the engineer suggests that they chop down a tree so the stump could be used as a lever. Debatable. Also debatable, the rock formation itself suggests the black rectangular monolith in "2001: A Space Odyessy". It was immaculate. The cavemen backed away. The rock formation is far from immaculate. It's like the special-ed of rocks. Flawed and utterly defenseless, of course, mankind has to dominate that rock. Men have to kill everything, even a friggin' rock. In response to this mindless male aggression, the filmmaker kills the narration. We have time to contemplate the imbecility of man. So actually, "Kargaran mashghoole karand" isn't a film about nothing.