The darling of Iranian cinema. Being not only the country’s highest earner at the box office but also the first-ever to win a Golden Globe, an Academy Award, and the Golden Bear at the 61st Berlinale. The colossal success of this drama made Asghar Farhadi a household name both domestically and overseas, granting him a seat in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. ‘A Separation’ is another fine example of Farhadi’s expertise in crafting stories that examine family conflict and turmoil.
on Amazon
Legal documents fill out the opening shot, bringing with it an air of apathy, foreshadowing the combustible relationship between Nader (Payman Maadi) and his wife Simin (Leila Hatami). The camera then pans to a Pov of a magistrate in the crossfire of a verbal spat between the couple, each person one-upping the other in a tense he-says-she-says over their impending divorce.
on Amazon
Legal documents fill out the opening shot, bringing with it an air of apathy, foreshadowing the combustible relationship between Nader (Payman Maadi) and his wife Simin (Leila Hatami). The camera then pans to a Pov of a magistrate in the crossfire of a verbal spat between the couple, each person one-upping the other in a tense he-says-she-says over their impending divorce.
- 6/27/2022
- by Leon Overee
- AsianMoviePulse
While international critics and cinephiles alike were celebrating features such “Close-Up” and “The Taste of Cherry”, making a movie in his home country became increasingly difficult for director Abbas Kiarostami. Luckily, he would find financial backing in countries such as France, which was also the case for his 1999 feature “The Wind Will Carry Us”, whose title refers to a poem by Iranian author Farough Forrochzad, an artist Kiarostami cherished a lot, considering one of the main characters in the movie recites the poet’s work on various occasions. “The Wind Will Carry Us” manifested its director’s reputation internationally, winning the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, the Fipresci Prize and various other awards, with many people calling it one of Kiarostami’s best works.
In order to document a rare burial ceremony, four men from Tehran travel all the way to the remote village of Siah Dareh,...
In order to document a rare burial ceremony, four men from Tehran travel all the way to the remote village of Siah Dareh,...
- 8/3/2021
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Amongst Abbas Kiarostami’s most critically acclaimed works is his end-of-the-millennium release “The Wind Will Carry Us”. A contemplative piece on existence, it garnered significant festival coverage and awards, including triple glory at Venice, with the Grand Special Jury Prize, the Fipresci Prize and the CinemAvvenire Award.
Four journalists, Keyvan, Ali, Jahan, and Behzad, reach a Kurdish village in Iran. They are not letting their real profession out though, as they pose as production engineers. The real reason of their visit is to record a unique ceremony and report it back to their office at Tehran. Their focus in upon the locals’ mourning rituals that anticipate the death of old people, in this specific case, that of an extremely old woman, probably a centurion and then some. As she refuses to eat food and cannot manage to speak to anyone, the four journalists live idly, awaiting her death.
Four journalists, Keyvan, Ali, Jahan, and Behzad, reach a Kurdish village in Iran. They are not letting their real profession out though, as they pose as production engineers. The real reason of their visit is to record a unique ceremony and report it back to their office at Tehran. Their focus in upon the locals’ mourning rituals that anticipate the death of old people, in this specific case, that of an extremely old woman, probably a centurion and then some. As she refuses to eat food and cannot manage to speak to anyone, the four journalists live idly, awaiting her death.
- 12/18/2020
- by Raktim Nandi
- AsianMoviePulse
Since any New York City cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.
Film Society of Lincoln Center
The 56th New York Film Festival has begun, and with it comes the latest in their typically excellent “Revivals” and “Retrospective” series.
Metrograph
Icarus Films’ retrospective and the Dario Argento series both continue.
As two Godard classics have 35mm showings, Perfect Blue keeps its run and the Cuban epic Lucía begins screening.
Film Society of Lincoln Center
The 56th New York Film Festival has begun, and with it comes the latest in their typically excellent “Revivals” and “Retrospective” series.
Metrograph
Icarus Films’ retrospective and the Dario Argento series both continue.
As two Godard classics have 35mm showings, Perfect Blue keeps its run and the Cuban epic Lucía begins screening.
- 9/28/2018
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Since any New York City cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.
Film Society of Lincoln Center
As the restoration of Andrei Rublev continues, “Banned Films from the Czechoslovak New Wave” begins.
Metrograph
Icarus Films’ retrospective continues while a Dario Argento series commences.
A print of Joel and Ethan Coen’s The Man Who Wasn’t There screens on Saturday.
Quad Cinema
A series on anthology films,...
Film Society of Lincoln Center
As the restoration of Andrei Rublev continues, “Banned Films from the Czechoslovak New Wave” begins.
Metrograph
Icarus Films’ retrospective continues while a Dario Argento series commences.
A print of Joel and Ethan Coen’s The Man Who Wasn’t There screens on Saturday.
Quad Cinema
A series on anthology films,...
- 9/21/2018
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
The 21st Busan International Film Festival (Biff) wrapped on Saturday with its New Currents Award going to two Chinese debut features - Wang Xuebo’s The Knife In The Clear Water and Zang Qiwu’s The Donor.
Running Oct 6-15 in the aftermath of a typhoon and dealing with a partial industry boycott and smaller operating budget, the festival saw a subdued atmosphere with total attendance down 27% from last year to 165,149 this year.
Accredited attendees were down 40% to 5,759 this year, including 1,381 market badge holders and excluding press.
Malian director Souleymane Cisse headed the New Currents jury, joined by Indian producer Guneet Monga, International Film Festival Rotterdam festival director Bero Beyer, Korean-Chinese director Zhang Lu and Iranian director Mahmoud Kalari.
They described The Knife In The Clear Water as “a poetic parable on grief and freedom” and praised The Donor for its “serene maturity” as an “excellently scripted film” that “plays as much on the images as on the...
Running Oct 6-15 in the aftermath of a typhoon and dealing with a partial industry boycott and smaller operating budget, the festival saw a subdued atmosphere with total attendance down 27% from last year to 165,149 this year.
Accredited attendees were down 40% to 5,759 this year, including 1,381 market badge holders and excluding press.
Malian director Souleymane Cisse headed the New Currents jury, joined by Indian producer Guneet Monga, International Film Festival Rotterdam festival director Bero Beyer, Korean-Chinese director Zhang Lu and Iranian director Mahmoud Kalari.
They described The Knife In The Clear Water as “a poetic parable on grief and freedom” and praised The Donor for its “serene maturity” as an “excellently scripted film” that “plays as much on the images as on the...
- 10/15/2016
- by hjnoh2007@gmail.com (Jean Noh)
- ScreenDaily
Festival will open with the world premiere of Zhang Lu’s Korean film A Quiet Dream.
Busan International Film Festival (Biff) on Tuesday unveiled its line-up, set to open with the world premiere of Zhang Lu’s Korean film A Quiet Dream.
Running October 6-15, the 21st Biff will screen a total of 301 films from 69 countries with 96 world premieres and 27 international premieres. The festival will close with the international premiere of Iraq-Germany-Qatar co-production The Dark Wind, directed by Hussein Hassan (Narcissus Blossom).
Festival director Kang Soo-youn said of A Quiet Dream: “It’s a film that people who like films and people who make films can’t help but like.”
The latest from Korean-Chinese director Zhang Lu (Dooman River, Grain In Ear), A Quiet Dream stars Han Ye-ri (Haemoo) as a young woman caring for her comatose father while running a bar and being wooed by three men.
Young Korean indie directors Yang Ikjune, Yoon Jong-bin...
Busan International Film Festival (Biff) on Tuesday unveiled its line-up, set to open with the world premiere of Zhang Lu’s Korean film A Quiet Dream.
Running October 6-15, the 21st Biff will screen a total of 301 films from 69 countries with 96 world premieres and 27 international premieres. The festival will close with the international premiere of Iraq-Germany-Qatar co-production The Dark Wind, directed by Hussein Hassan (Narcissus Blossom).
Festival director Kang Soo-youn said of A Quiet Dream: “It’s a film that people who like films and people who make films can’t help but like.”
The latest from Korean-Chinese director Zhang Lu (Dooman River, Grain In Ear), A Quiet Dream stars Han Ye-ri (Haemoo) as a young woman caring for her comatose father while running a bar and being wooed by three men.
Young Korean indie directors Yang Ikjune, Yoon Jong-bin...
- 9/6/2016
- by hjnoh2007@gmail.com (Jean Noh)
- ScreenDaily
Festival will open with the world premiere of Zhang Lu’s Korean film A Quiet Dream.
Busan International Film Festival (Biff) on Tuesday unveiled its line-up, set to open with the world premiere of Zhang Lu’s Korean film A Quiet Dream.
Running Oct 6-15, the 21st Biff will screen a total of 301 films from 69 countries with 96 world premieres and 27 international premieres. The festival will close with the international premiere of Iraq-Germany-Qatar co-production The Dark Wind, directed by Hussein Hassan (Narcissus Blossom).
Festival director Kang Soo-youn said of A Quiet Dream: “It’s a film that people who like films and people who make films can’t help but like.”
The latest from Korean-Chinese director Zhang Lu (Dooman River, Grain In Ear), A Quiet Dream stars Han Ye-ri (Haemoo) as a young woman caring for her comatose father while running a bar and being wooed by three men. Young Korean indie directors Yang Ikjune, Yoon Jong-bin...
Busan International Film Festival (Biff) on Tuesday unveiled its line-up, set to open with the world premiere of Zhang Lu’s Korean film A Quiet Dream.
Running Oct 6-15, the 21st Biff will screen a total of 301 films from 69 countries with 96 world premieres and 27 international premieres. The festival will close with the international premiere of Iraq-Germany-Qatar co-production The Dark Wind, directed by Hussein Hassan (Narcissus Blossom).
Festival director Kang Soo-youn said of A Quiet Dream: “It’s a film that people who like films and people who make films can’t help but like.”
The latest from Korean-Chinese director Zhang Lu (Dooman River, Grain In Ear), A Quiet Dream stars Han Ye-ri (Haemoo) as a young woman caring for her comatose father while running a bar and being wooed by three men. Young Korean indie directors Yang Ikjune, Yoon Jong-bin...
- 9/6/2016
- by hjnoh2007@gmail.com (Jean Noh)
- ScreenDaily
Amir here, to welcome you back to Team Top Ten, our monthly poll by all of the website’s contributors. For our first episode in 2014, we are looking at The Greatest Working Cinematographers in the (international) film industry. As long time readers of The Film Experience are surely aware, the visual language of cinema is something Nathaniel and the rest of us are very fond of discussing. Films and filmmakers that have a dash of style and understand cinema as a visual medium always get bonus points around these parts. We celebrate great works in cinematography on a weekly basis in Hit Me With Your Best Shot, but it was time to give the people behind the camera their due.
More than 50 cinematographers from all across the world received votes. If the final, somewhat American-centric, list doesn’t quite reflect that, chalk it up to the natural process of consensus voting.
More than 50 cinematographers from all across the world received votes. If the final, somewhat American-centric, list doesn’t quite reflect that, chalk it up to the natural process of consensus voting.
- 4/5/2014
- by Amir S.
- FilmExperience
Ahmad (Ali Mosaffa) has made the trip from Iran to Paris for the first time in four years to finally sign divorce papers, officially ending his marriage to Marie (Berenice Bejo) at her request. Upon his arrival at the airport, Marie sees him through a thick pane of glass. She smiles, he shrugs. The airline has lost his bag and will have to send it to him the following day. They communicate by mouthing words and using hand gestures. One understands the other, but the metaphor is quite clear. At this moment in the film we know nothing about these two people. They could be happily married and he returning home from a business trip and she simply picking him up, but writer/director Asghar Farhadi and cinematographer Mahmoud Kalari's visual representation of the invisible barrier between the two weighs heavy on the rest of the film. Farhadi's The...
- 12/20/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Ahmad (Ali Mosaffa) has made the trip from Iran to Paris for the first time in four years to finally sign divorce papers, officially ending his marriage to Marie (Berenice Bejo) at her request. Upon his arrival at the airport, Marie sees him through a thick pane of glass. She smiles, he shrugs. The airline has lost his bag and will have to send it to him the following day. They communicate by mouthing words and using hand gestures. One understands the other, but the metaphor is quite clear. At this moment in the film we know nothing about these two people. They could be happily married and he returning home from a business trip and she simply picking him up, but writer/director Asghar Farhadi and cinematographer Mahmoud Kalari's visual representation of the invisible barrier between the two weighs heavy on the rest of the film. Farhadi's The...
- 5/17/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Heavy, Heavy Hangs: Farhadi’s Latest a (mostly) Worthwhile Endeavor
For his first film made outside his native country, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi unveils his latest exercise in domestic unrest with the French language The Past. Following hot on the heels of his critically acclaimed 2011 film, A Separation, anticipation has been high, and Farhadi nearly succeeds in equaling the compelling portrait of miscommunication and misunderstanding he has so brilliantly wrought in his previous film. Once again beginning with a couple on the verge of severing ties (though this time the separation has calcified into divorce), intertwining character arcs unveil an overly complicated scenario that unfortunately brings us to a finale that seems a bit little too late.
Ahmad (Ali Mosaffa) has returned to Paris from Tehran seemingly to grant his ex-wife Marie’s (Berenice Bejo) request to divorce. While his presence wasn’t necessarily required, it seems they intend on finally ending on good terms,...
For his first film made outside his native country, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi unveils his latest exercise in domestic unrest with the French language The Past. Following hot on the heels of his critically acclaimed 2011 film, A Separation, anticipation has been high, and Farhadi nearly succeeds in equaling the compelling portrait of miscommunication and misunderstanding he has so brilliantly wrought in his previous film. Once again beginning with a couple on the verge of severing ties (though this time the separation has calcified into divorce), intertwining character arcs unveil an overly complicated scenario that unfortunately brings us to a finale that seems a bit little too late.
Ahmad (Ali Mosaffa) has returned to Paris from Tehran seemingly to grant his ex-wife Marie’s (Berenice Bejo) request to divorce. While his presence wasn’t necessarily required, it seems they intend on finally ending on good terms,...
- 5/17/2013
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Writer and director Asghar Farhadi had a couple award winning films to his name prior to 2011, but nothing of the notoriety that came with the release of his critically lauded examination of marital disintegration, A Separation. With his newest, he managed to rake in top prizes worldwide, from the Berlin Golden Bear to the Best Foreign Picture prize at this year’s Oscars. What makes the film so widely regarded is within this seemingly simple Iranian drama something like a facile murder mystery begins to unfold, and a surprisingly expansive moral complexity is slowly unveiled. Like a cinematic illusion, the key to Farhadi’s finely composed puzzle is in what he holds back from the audience, but to his credit, he doesn’t just rely on the payoff for narrative satisfaction.
Beginning with a confrontational office divorce, Simin (Leila Hatami) wants to leave the country on a soon to expire visa,...
Beginning with a confrontational office divorce, Simin (Leila Hatami) wants to leave the country on a soon to expire visa,...
- 8/29/2012
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
One of the best films of 2011, currently playing in New York and Los Angeles, begins rolling out across the Us over next two months. Check the site for cities and dates.
"A Separation literally makes the viewer judge its protagonists," notes Vadim Rizov at GreenCine Daily: "in the opening scene, wife Simin (Leila Hatami) pleads for a divorce from husband Nader (Peyman Maadi). The Pov is the judge's, who skeptically asks why an Iranian woman would possibly want her daughter to grow up anywhere else. The offscreen interrogator/filmmaker is a familiar figure in Iranian cinema, with Abbas Kiarostami and Jafar Panahi often breaking the fourth walls in their films, often directly appearing (and/or heard off-camera) asking their characters questions. Kiarostami's seemingly given up on making films in Iran at all, while Panahi's imprisoned; for many, Iranian cinema's currently more associated right now with its absentees than actual films.
"A Separation literally makes the viewer judge its protagonists," notes Vadim Rizov at GreenCine Daily: "in the opening scene, wife Simin (Leila Hatami) pleads for a divorce from husband Nader (Peyman Maadi). The Pov is the judge's, who skeptically asks why an Iranian woman would possibly want her daughter to grow up anywhere else. The offscreen interrogator/filmmaker is a familiar figure in Iranian cinema, with Abbas Kiarostami and Jafar Panahi often breaking the fourth walls in their films, often directly appearing (and/or heard off-camera) asking their characters questions. Kiarostami's seemingly given up on making films in Iran at all, while Panahi's imprisoned; for many, Iranian cinema's currently more associated right now with its absentees than actual films.
- 1/2/2012
- MUBI
Though not as well known outside Iran as Abbas Kiarostami or Jafar Panahi, writer-director Asghar Farhadi has been steadily building an impressive cinematic resume since graduating from Tehran University in 1998 with a degree in dramatic arts. After a stint developing stage plays and TV series for Iran’s national broadcasting corporation, Farhadi co-scripted Ebrahim Hatamikia’s post-9/11 political farce Low Heights, about a desperate man who hijacks a plane carrying his wife and handicapped son. He then moved into the director’s chair with Dancing in the Dust and Beautiful City, a social-issue film concerning the archaic custom of “blood money” (under sharia, the relatives of a murdered Muslim can accept payment for legal vengeance in lieu of capital punishment for the perpetrator) that screened at Film Forum in 2006. Three years later, Farhadi won numerous awards, including the Silver Bear at the Berlinale, for About Elly, a tense, character-driven drama...
- 12/28/2011
- by Damon Smith
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
"'It's a screenwriter's film,' said a friend of Asghar Farhadi's A Separation, a designation that is at once accurate and dismissive, on the nose and besides the point," begins Adam Nayman in Reverse Shot. "Yes, the film, which won the Golden Bear in Berlin and received excellent reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival before its [screening] at Nyff, is extremely well-written, but the idea that its writerly qualities should preclude its recognition as vital cinema strikes me as pretty reductive. The film is superbly written, but it's also smartly directed, insofar as there's a continuity between its writer-director's ideas and the visual language he uses to express them. Take, for example, Farhadi's staging of the first scene…"
Segue to Michael J Anderson: "Opening with a pre-credit passage in which separating eponymous leads Nader (Peyman Moaadi) and Simin (Leila Hatami) address an off-camera magistrate in a tight, frontal two-shot,...
Segue to Michael J Anderson: "Opening with a pre-credit passage in which separating eponymous leads Nader (Peyman Moaadi) and Simin (Leila Hatami) address an off-camera magistrate in a tight, frontal two-shot,...
- 10/2/2011
- MUBI
Typecast Films
NEW YORK -- The third part of Tunisian director Nacer Khemir's so-called Desert Trilogy, this highly stylized and poetic film is unlikely to register as anything more than an exotic curiosity for anyone not fascinated by the intricacies of Sufi mysticism.
What Bab' Aziz lacks in narrative clarity it makes up for in visual and musical splendor, and the fact that its co-screenwriter is Tonino Guerra ("Red Desert") makes it of more than passing interest to film buffs.
The film's framing device revolves around the blind elderly dervish Bab' Azis (Parviz Shahinkhou) and his young granddaughter (Maryam Hamid) traveling through the desert in search of a legendary conference of dervishes that takes place every 30 years. To pass the time and distract her from the obstacles in their path, the dervish relates the legendary tale of a long-ago prince who lost his kingdom but gained insight to his soul by his endless staring at his own reflection in a small pool of water in the desert.
Other mystical tales are presented via the introduction of figures they encounter on their journey, including a man seeking revenge on the dervish who murdered his brother and a poet who has fallen in love with a dervish who abandoned him.
The story culminates with a depiction of the conference, filled with vibrant Sufi music and dance.
Gorgeously photographed (though the magnificently barren landscapes on display could hardly come across any other way) by Mahmoud Kalari, "Bab' Aziz" fairly demands to be experienced on the big screen.
NEW YORK -- The third part of Tunisian director Nacer Khemir's so-called Desert Trilogy, this highly stylized and poetic film is unlikely to register as anything more than an exotic curiosity for anyone not fascinated by the intricacies of Sufi mysticism.
What Bab' Aziz lacks in narrative clarity it makes up for in visual and musical splendor, and the fact that its co-screenwriter is Tonino Guerra ("Red Desert") makes it of more than passing interest to film buffs.
The film's framing device revolves around the blind elderly dervish Bab' Azis (Parviz Shahinkhou) and his young granddaughter (Maryam Hamid) traveling through the desert in search of a legendary conference of dervishes that takes place every 30 years. To pass the time and distract her from the obstacles in their path, the dervish relates the legendary tale of a long-ago prince who lost his kingdom but gained insight to his soul by his endless staring at his own reflection in a small pool of water in the desert.
Other mystical tales are presented via the introduction of figures they encounter on their journey, including a man seeking revenge on the dervish who murdered his brother and a poet who has fallen in love with a dervish who abandoned him.
The story culminates with a depiction of the conference, filled with vibrant Sufi music and dance.
Gorgeously photographed (though the magnificently barren landscapes on display could hardly come across any other way) by Mahmoud Kalari, "Bab' Aziz" fairly demands to be experienced on the big screen.
- 3/10/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
BERLIN -- Train rides can run the gamut, from the anxiety of catching a train to the excitement of a journey and tedium of long waits and nettlesome fellow passengers. Thus, Tickets -- a directorial triptych in which Italy's Ermanno Olmi, Iran's Abbas Kiarostami and Britain's Ken Loach combine to stage three different stories all set on the same intercity train from Central Europe to Rome -- is all of these things. Sometimes engrossing and at other times tiresome, the movie is a real mixed bag.
Each of the three short stories -- which feature overlapping characters and actions jointly directed -- contains arresting moments. Collectively though, the movie fails to live up to its pedigree. Tickets is a natural for festivals and special distribution, but boxoffice will be tepid.
The order of the directors' billing indicates the sequence of their work. Remarkably, there are no abrupt stylistic changes despite separate cinematographers, editors and writers. (Paul Laverty wrote the Loach episode while the other directors wrote their own).
Olmi's opening act makes good use of the format by going for a single emotional effect in a cinematic fragment. A professor Carlo Delle Piane), forced to take the train when his plans called for air travel, reflects back on his day and his life.
He thinks of the gracious and attractive Austrian PR lady Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), who smoothed his way to the train, flirted with him at the station, then vanished from his life. Such thoughts mingle with childhood memories that underscore the transitory nature of life.
Kiarostami's episode sees a bullying and overweight woman Silvana De Santis) climb aboard with a beleaguered young man (Filippo Trojano), assigned to help her as part of his National Service. She sits in first-class seats reserved for others and finds creative ways to annoy everyone, including her servant.
Escaping from her for a moment, the lad engages in a flirtatious conversation with a young girl (Carolina Benvenga) who comes from the same town and knows him better than he realizes. When the woman again starts to harass him, he simply disappears and she cannot find him.
Loach's piece has three young and boisterous Scottish soccer fans (Martin Compston, William Ruane and Gary Maitland) travel on an impulsive journey to see their favorite club play in Rome. They encounter an Albanian boy (Klajdi Qorraj) wearing a Manchester United shirt and generously give him and his family some food. When one fan realizes his train ticket is missing, the three suspect that the boy stole it. When their suspicions are confirmed, his older sister (Blerta Cahani) tearfully explains the family's perilous predicament.
This is the most fully realized of the three tales as it demonstrates the richest sense of character, suspense and action. In the other two, the annoying woman is all too annoying and the professor's reveries are rather thin.
Shooting aboard a moving train, the filmmaking collective certainly capture the spirit of a chaotic train trip while introducing a few memorably characters.
TICKETS
A Fandango and Sixteen Films production
Credits:
Directors: Ermanno Olmi, Abbas Kiarostami, Ken Loach
Writers: Ermanno Olmi, Abbas Kiarostami, Paul Laverty
Producers: Carlo Cresto-Dina, Babak Karimi, Domenico Procacci, Rebecca O'Brien
Directors of photography: Fabio Olmi, Mahmoud Kalari, Chris Menges
Production designer: Alessandro Vannucci
Music: George Fenton
Costumes: Maurizio Basile
Editors: Giovanni Ziberna, Babak Karimi, Jonathan Morris. Cast:
Professor: Carlo Delle Piane
PR Lady: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi
Woman: Silvana De Santis, Fillipo: Filippo Trojano, Jamesy: Martin Compston, Frank: William Ruane, Spaceman: Gary Maitland, Girl: Blerta Cahani, Boy: Klajdi Qorraj
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 110 minutes...
Each of the three short stories -- which feature overlapping characters and actions jointly directed -- contains arresting moments. Collectively though, the movie fails to live up to its pedigree. Tickets is a natural for festivals and special distribution, but boxoffice will be tepid.
The order of the directors' billing indicates the sequence of their work. Remarkably, there are no abrupt stylistic changes despite separate cinematographers, editors and writers. (Paul Laverty wrote the Loach episode while the other directors wrote their own).
Olmi's opening act makes good use of the format by going for a single emotional effect in a cinematic fragment. A professor Carlo Delle Piane), forced to take the train when his plans called for air travel, reflects back on his day and his life.
He thinks of the gracious and attractive Austrian PR lady Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), who smoothed his way to the train, flirted with him at the station, then vanished from his life. Such thoughts mingle with childhood memories that underscore the transitory nature of life.
Kiarostami's episode sees a bullying and overweight woman Silvana De Santis) climb aboard with a beleaguered young man (Filippo Trojano), assigned to help her as part of his National Service. She sits in first-class seats reserved for others and finds creative ways to annoy everyone, including her servant.
Escaping from her for a moment, the lad engages in a flirtatious conversation with a young girl (Carolina Benvenga) who comes from the same town and knows him better than he realizes. When the woman again starts to harass him, he simply disappears and she cannot find him.
Loach's piece has three young and boisterous Scottish soccer fans (Martin Compston, William Ruane and Gary Maitland) travel on an impulsive journey to see their favorite club play in Rome. They encounter an Albanian boy (Klajdi Qorraj) wearing a Manchester United shirt and generously give him and his family some food. When one fan realizes his train ticket is missing, the three suspect that the boy stole it. When their suspicions are confirmed, his older sister (Blerta Cahani) tearfully explains the family's perilous predicament.
This is the most fully realized of the three tales as it demonstrates the richest sense of character, suspense and action. In the other two, the annoying woman is all too annoying and the professor's reveries are rather thin.
Shooting aboard a moving train, the filmmaking collective certainly capture the spirit of a chaotic train trip while introducing a few memorably characters.
TICKETS
A Fandango and Sixteen Films production
Credits:
Directors: Ermanno Olmi, Abbas Kiarostami, Ken Loach
Writers: Ermanno Olmi, Abbas Kiarostami, Paul Laverty
Producers: Carlo Cresto-Dina, Babak Karimi, Domenico Procacci, Rebecca O'Brien
Directors of photography: Fabio Olmi, Mahmoud Kalari, Chris Menges
Production designer: Alessandro Vannucci
Music: George Fenton
Costumes: Maurizio Basile
Editors: Giovanni Ziberna, Babak Karimi, Jonathan Morris. Cast:
Professor: Carlo Delle Piane
PR Lady: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi
Woman: Silvana De Santis, Fillipo: Filippo Trojano, Jamesy: Martin Compston, Frank: William Ruane, Spaceman: Gary Maitland, Girl: Blerta Cahani, Boy: Klajdi Qorraj
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 110 minutes...
- 2/15/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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