Sometimes the context of a movie is more interesting than the movie itself. Watching this well-made Jarmusch pastiche I kept asking myself about the Afghan diaspora and its immediate impact on the titular central California city. Quite a few obviously migrated there before and during the American stage of the war in their country, but the movie sits squarely on the case of Donya (Anaita Wali Zada), a former U.S. Army translator who, while sometimes thinking of comrades and family she left behind, is mainly occupied with the more quotidian aspects of her new life in the U.S. She often rubs up against fellow countrymen who have their own problems of adjusting, but the director, Babak Jalali (who was born in Iran), doesn’t seem as interested in them as he is in Donya’s very American fixation on her lack of a romantic relationship, a plot point that isn’t appararent until about halfway through this short black-and-white movie. Until then, Donya’s lack of expressiveness just comes across as a required indie cinema affectation. 

Which isn’t to say Fremont is precious or pretentious. It’s well written and funny, but it seems to avoid matters that would make it more insightful or edifying. When Donya’s self-regarding therapist (Gregg Turkington) tries to get more out of her about her background she gives up the intelligence that “I just wanted to get out of there,” without betraying much in the way of desperation—all she wants from the doctor is a sleeping pill prescription—and when a compatriot mentions that his daughter, “a traitor,” is still back in Afghanistan you wait fruitlessly for more. Donya works at a fortune cookie factory in the Bay Area for a Chinese-American family whose voluble patriarch (Eddie Tang) is always mentioning how important their work is in imparting philosophical tidbits. When Donya herself is promoted to the job of writing the fortunes, she thinks first of herself and uses the fortune cookies to troll for dates. Eventually, she gets a nibble, but from someone who lives far away and thus has to borrow a friend’s car to get there. On the way, the car breaks down and she meets a mechanic, Daniel (Jeremy Allen White, probably before his breakout role in The Bear), who is every bit as disaffected as she is. Though not love at first sight, there’s enough curiosity there to justify a return trip to the garage.

Serendipity is often the main motivator in Amerindie cinema, and it can indicate laziness on the part of the filmmakers. That’s not the case with Fremont, but the narrative caution and laid-back vibe translate as attitude that’s all too familiar. This is Jalali’s fourth feature and his second set in the U.S. I’ll definitely check out his other work. It would be interesting to see what he does with something that’s more dramatically ambitious. 

In English, Dari and Cantonese. Opens June 27 in Tokyo at Cinema Qualite Shinjuku (03-3352-5645), Human Trust Cinema Yurakucho (03-6259-8608), White Cine Quinto Shibuya (03-6712-7225). 

Fremont home page in Japanese

photo (c) 2023 Fremont The Movie LLC