There is something in many indie films that is missing in most commercial films– that secret ingredient that touches the soul and brings the viewer on an intense emotional journey. I guess it’s the honesty of indie films that makes them powerful. Iranian filmmaker Ramin Bahrani’s Goodbye Solo is one such indie movie. Goodbye Solo is Bahrani’s third outing. So if you are familiar with his earlier works, Man Push Cart (2005) and Chop Shop (2007), you know that he’s quite adept at looking at the very core of the human heart and painting what he sees in it on screen for us to see.
The first half of the movie is a joy ride, it is fun and you’d be all laughs, but when your reach the middle it begins to dig deep into you and leave its mark on your heart for days. Goodbye Solo is an in-depth study of characters, characters that you care about more and more as the film progresses and sucks you in. The story revolves around Solo (played by Souléymane Sy Savané), a talkative young Senegalese cab driver who is preparing to become a flight attendant, a profession that he thinks could give him and his family a better life. He meets William (played by Red West), a battered old soul whose life is going down the drain. The two characters have nothing in common; one is young and full of hope, the other is old, jaded, and sad.  But in spite of their differences, the two characters strike up a friendship, and their lives entertwine. Goodbye Solo is an exploration of the struggles and hopes of immigrants in America. I don’t know why films like this one, films that examine the frailty of the human soul and the innate strength that is within those who are in a struggle, can show such great power in a very subtle way.
The cinematography of this movie is as good as the direction. It brings out the beauty of what could otherwise be the plain streets of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The musical score also perfectly compliments the cinematography.
