Crimson Gold opens with a striking scene of a jewelry shop robbery that ends In failure. A robber kills the shop′s owner and then shoots himself In the head. This cruel scene that the camera captures in a single take in fact is fairly short but makes an unforgettable Impression. Based on a true story that screenwriter Abbas Kiarostami read in a newspaper, Jafar Panahi, who once was Kiarostami′s assistant director, directs Crimson Gold. In this film, Panahi attentively follows the larger social connection that surrounds the homicide. Hussein, a quiet pizza delivery guy, feels troubled by the contrast between his obscure life and opulent life of his customers. Tehran is a polarized city with haves and have-nots. Tracking Hussein′s life as a pizza delivery guy, Jafar Panahi, in a roundabout way, criticizes Tehran′s reality in which luxurious lifestyles and exhausting hardship are entangled. In Crimson Gold, Hussein riding the motorcycle serves to paradoxically symbolize the insurmountable barrier of Tehran′s social classes. By depicting Hussein′s repetitive and unchanging cycle, the film serenely deals with the deep-rooted problems of a despotic society where hope for a better Mure is taken away. Sadly enough, in the society that this film represents. anyone can be a criminal. (Kim Young-jin)