Although
Low Heights (aka Low
Altitude and Ertefae Past
in Farsi), directed by Ebrahim Hatamikia, is about the hijacking
of an airplane, the drama enables filmviewers to assess conditions
in contemporary Iran. Based on a true story, Ghaseem (played
by Hamid Farokhnejad) has given up hope of ever finding happiness
in his native Iran. Although he has funds to migrate to another
country, he evidently lacks government approval. Accordingly,
he buys airplane tickets for his entire family with the intention
of hijacking the plane, but without any clear destination.
When the family boards a propeller from Ahvaz to Bandar Abbas,
Ghaseem has told them that they have jobs already lined up
with Total Oil Corporation. Once midair, Ghaseem pulls out
a gun to hijack the flight; the small airport where he boarded
did not have a security-screening machine, and no pat-down
search was conducted. Emotional outbursts, one after the other,
constitute most of the dialog at this point. Presumably, we
could be laughing at all the nonsense spoken, but the tragedy
is real. The pilot, pressed for a non-Iranian destination,
suggests a landing in Dubai; but just as the plane lands there,
control of the gun passes to the airplane's security guard,
so the plane takes off again. With insufficient fuel to land
at any airport in Iran near the Persian Gulf, the plane crash
lands somewhere in a mountain desert region. The film ends
before disclosing the fate of the crew and passengers, who
survive the landing, including Ghaseem's second son, who is
born on the flight. Why did Ghaseem take such extraordinary
measures to fly his family out of Iran? Clearly, he is unemployed
and desperate for steady work to provide security to his family.
Despite the wealth accruing from Iran's oil revenues, the
film discloses that not all oil workers have job security
or medical benefits. His son suffers from a malady, presumably
autism, which could have been prevented by a single injection
at birth. One member of his family was whipped thirty times
for indulging in alcohol, thus hinting that the Iranian regime's
punishments far exceed the crimes. Ghaseem might, of course,
have applied for an immigrant visa, but he evidently was not
aware how to undertake a legal method of migrating from Iran.
Thus, while the story focuses on a pathetic melodrama, and
the discourse is frantic with occasional humor, the message
is that the Iranian government is not responsive to the needs
of some of its most humble and loyal citizens. MH
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