Dir: Parviz Shahbazi. Iran. 2003. 86mins

The most acclaimed Iranian films of recent years have opened the world's eyes to the plight of women in a brutal patriarchal society. Deep Breath widens the debate by reflecting the experience of a defiantly apathetic younger generation who feel no investment in the system or respect for its values. Eschewing the meditative pacing and painterly images that have come to define Iranian cinema for Western viewers, Deep Breath, which screened in Directors' Fortnight at Cannes, feels much more European in its approach. Gritty and naturalistic, it joins a long list of films dealing with disaffected youth that stretches from Rebel Without A Cause downwards. Its freshness and distinctive approach should secure it attention on the festival circuit, where it will provide an interesting counterbalance to the work of a Kiarostami or a Mahkmalbaf. Progress beyond the festival circuit seems unlikely.

The film initially charts the friendship between Mansour (Shahbazi) and Kamran (Amini), two comrades in apathy with a complete lack of interest in anything the world may have to offer them. Kamran sees no point in registering for the new academic year whilst Mansour seems to waste his days in acts of thoughtless vandalism, from smashing car wing mirrors to stealing mobile phones. When Masour is evicted, the duo move into a cheap hotel. Kamran begins to refuse food and has so little motivation that he might as well die. Mansour is equally without purpose or hope until he meets Ayda (Palyzban) and finds a reason to live.

Initially not the most sympathetic of characters, both Mansour and Kamran eventually grow on the audience. Mansour in particular is transformed by his meeting with Ayda, cheerful where he was once surly, animated when he had merely seemed somnambulistic. She makes him smile and within the context of most Iranian cinema, that possibility of transformation is a bright and shining beacon of hope.

The third feature from award-winning writer-director Parviz Shahbazi, Deep Breath is a small film of sensible ambitions that does not overreach itself. Its appeal is enormously improved by the unaffected performances of its young cast. Maryam Palyzban brings a real effervescence and spirit to the character of Ayda, a cheerful chatterbox of a young woman whose independence of mind allows her to claim control of her own fate. Mansour Shahbazi is engaging as a young man who learns that he does have the capacity to care, while Amini lends a smouldering resentment to the doomed misfit Kamran.

Together, they allow Shahbazi to provide us with a very different perspective on the pressures that everyday Iranian life exerts on all young people, not just the women of the land.

Prod co/int'l sales: Behnegar
Prod: Amir Samavati
Scr/ed: Shahbazi
Cinematography: Ali Loghmani
Music: Mehrdad Palyzban
Main cast: Mansour Shahbazi, Maryam Palyzban, Saeed Amini