"The Wind Carpet"

The difficulty of cross-cultural translation and navigation is the persistent theme of Kamal Tabrizi's 2003 film "The Wind Carpet" (Kaze no Juutan). Acbal and Makoto, two old college friends, find themselves enmeshed in a clash of cultures as Acbal and his cadre of family and friends try to complete the production of a persian rug designed by Makoto's wife shortly before her death. The making of the rug which was entrusted to Acbal, is initially left undone. Greatly complicating the matter is the looming deadline of the carpet's return to Japan for display in a major Japanese festival, and the enormous sentimental value of the rug to Sakura, Makoto's daughter who was particularly close to her mother and was present at her sudden death.

Acbal, worried for his friend's sanity and safety is reluctant to tell him that the carpet has not been completed as promised and assuages Makoto's growing suspicion with a constant brage of "daijoubu, daijoubu" (Everything's fine. No worries).But all is not "daijoubu" and forced by his wife to fess up Acbal proceeds to reassure Makoto that all will be "daijoubu"though he has no clue how he can rectify the problem.

It is the young love of a boy, Ruzbe, that sets in motion the process of getting the carpet completed. Ruzbe and Sakura make a meta-linguistic connection the moment they set eyes on one another, and for a time he is the only one who seems to provoke a positive response from this despondent young girl.

The overarching message of 'love can conquer all' seems to be the point of this film. It is engaging, funny, and sad though a bit over-the-top in terms of sentimentality. Humor is affected through the myriad of cultural misunderstandings that inevitably happen as Japan and Iran clash, but it is love that both bridges the gaps of understanding and saves the day in the end.