Cash for Gold

A special short film. First for precision. Second - for realistic portrait of contemporary America. The clash between a woman and an Iranian man. And the nuances of the life of each, exposed in delicate, beautiful manner. A film like a sort of seed , because after its final credits, it grows up in your thought. Because it is subtle portrait of vulnerabilities. Nothing special. But so profound and bitter. A film about generosity and pressures and crisis situation. Simple. But admirable scene by scene. Not the last, moving film about fathers.

A woman visits a pawn shop to try to get money in a hurry, and the man behind the counter finds reason to connect with her situation.

Delivered in a very short time, this film throws us into the scene, asks us to go with a connection made in an instant, and believe the outcome. It is a tough ask without a lot of work behind it for the viewer, but it just about works and makes for a nicely affecting film. The writing doesn't totally do this though; there are weaker lines and I'm not sure that the film puts the material there to justify it. It does give that information to the cast though, because Negahban and Puette both sell their characters, even if some of the dialogue could have been better. As a two-hander it works well, and the camera stays close to them both, selling it further as a very immediate and intimate connection that you may not have seen from a few steps away.