GOING BY, a film by first-time director, Iraj Karimi, is a movie that does not connect or effectively engage the viewer, but maybe the motion picture is simply lost in translation. Not only were the subtitles hard to read, but many were very badly translated into English. Although the film was shot at numerous beautiful and interesting locations which have not been featured in many films, several scenes were grainy, muddy, or poorly lit. Nearly every shot in the film takes place on a long and winding two-lane highway which visits many different kinds of terrain. The film featured four different cars which represent four different story-lines, and they all travel the same route north out of Tehran to the Caspian Sea. A rather lame and heavy handed attempt is made to interlink their stories, but, MAGNOLIA it ain't.
