The third feature by the American director Ramin Bahrani, whom Roger Ebert called ‘the new great American director', is a deeply layered, emotionally rich, and powerful realistic drama.

Goodbye Solo is the story of Solo, a charming young taxi driver from Senegal, who has the dream of becoming a flight attendant, and William, a lonely old white man from the South, who seems to have reached the end. William hardly ever smiles, but behind his tough face is a soft heart. Lord of Karma puts them together in the story. William gets into Solo's cab. Solo tries to start a conversation with the old man, asking hundreds of questions: Where he is going? What is he up to? Does he like black women? But there is no answer from William. William offers Solo $1,000 for a cab ride with no return in ten days' time to the top of a local mountain, famous for its powerful winds. Locals say it the only place on earth that the snow falls up. This makes Solo even more curious about his passenger. Is he going to kill himself? Solo decides to help the stranger, but William does not want anyone getting close to him. A similar thing happens to the audience. We get to know William only through the little bits and pieces that Solo finds out about him. The closest we can get to William is when Solo finds William's notebook in which he briefly writes about the daily events. That's how Solo finds out, despite the fact that William likes to deny it, that William really cares about him.

This is the first feature-film leading role for both actors. Red West (William) has been in close to ninety films, but he has never really been acknowledged as a leading man. He was with Elvis Presley almost all his short life, which is a story for another film in itself. Souleymane Sy Savane (Solo), the other discovery of Bahrani, is from the Ivory Coast and had acted in short films before working with Bahrani.

The film is shot in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where Bahrani was born and raised. The suburban look and the empty streets of the town make the audience feel the isolation of people living there. Solo, from a different culture, migrated to America, trying to fit in and possibly make some changes. Bahrani, whose parents were immigrants from Iran, has been through a similar experience himself when he was growing up. He says ‘there were blacks, whites, and my brother and me'. Goodbye Solo is a continuation of his previous films focusing on the stories of immigrants in the United States, who he refers to as ‘people who are at the margin of the American society'.

Apart from the last couple of scenes, which are shot with a poetic beauty, there is no sign of amazing camerawork. It's Bahrani's way of making films that sucks the audience into the world of the story. He is a fan of minimal cinema and lets life portray itself in front of the camera. He lets the audience forget that they are watching a movie. His work is highly influenced by Italian neo-realism and Iranian cinema. The story of Goodbye Solo reminds me of Taste of Cherry, the Palme d'Or winner by Abbas Kiarostami. However, here the protagonist is not entirely isolated. He has Solo, who forces him to interact and offers him his unconditional love and help. This is what Bahrani believes that today's society needs to survive.

Goodbye Solo won the FIPRESCI prize (the International Federation of Film Critics) when it premièred at Venice Film Festival in 2008.

By Armin Miladi