134. Gholam; movie review

GHOLAM
Cert 15
95 mins
BBFC advice: Contains very strong language, strong violence

Mrs W and I go to London often to see friends or watch movies and each time we question how the great tide of immigrants can afford to live there on paltry wages.
Mitra Tabrizan's Gholam gives the clear impression that they are just about eking an existence.
Such a person is the title character, a quiet London cab driver who is living alone in a tiny bedsit and eats at his uncle's restaurant.
Shahab Hosseini stars as Gholam who is trying to escape from a past but is finding it harder and harder to do so.
Indeed, he has little trust for anyone, including his own family, but does show empathy for an elderly woman (Corinne Skinner-Carter) who he perceives as being in need.
Tabrizan's film takes a long time before it really ignites. In the meantime, its pace is so slow it tempts the audience to become distracted.
Put simply, taxi journeys, restaurant meals and tea-drinking may create an atmosphere but don't enthral.
However, I empathised with Hosseini's central character to such a degree that I was shouting at screen for people to leave him alone.
They don't. Indeed, from those trying to dodge fairs to pub hooligans, violence faces him almost every day.
What those who threaten him don't know is that his past means he can certainly handle himself.
Gholam shows a side of London that neither its tourist chiefs nor the UK government want people to see.
This is a world of 'nobody gives a damn' but one where escaping from the past is harder than anyone might think.

Reasons to watch: Offers a new perspective of UK immigrants
Reasons to avoid: Too slow for the first hour

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 6.5/10 

Director quote - Mitra Tabrizian: "The film is loosely inspired by a photographic project I did a few years ago on ‘Iranians in exile’. In particular, an enigmatic and charismatic Iranian cab driver, named Gholam, who despite volunteering to participate, and liking the idea, was reluctant to tell his story."

The big question - how many immigrants really think living in London is worthwhile?

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