Popular reviews

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  Review by karsten ★★★★★ 18

  Happy birthday Kiarostami!

  I have a huge soft spot for films that understand the purpose of children in society. Because so often it feels like they are looked at as mirrors of who we once were that we have the ability to mold rather than a part of humanity we could learn from. A few films that immediately come to mind are Truffaut's The 400 Blows and Pialat's L'Enfance nue. While sure, Where Is My Friend's House fits in the same category as those films in a sense that it also features a bunch of shots of a little boy running around in a world full of mystery. But rather than feeling hard to ignore, its as though this boy…

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  Review by Rod Sedgwick ★★★★★ 10

  Grandfather's Friend:''What I mean to say is, suppose the kid did nothing wrong. What would you do? What then?''
  Grandfather:''I'd find an excuse and give him a beating every other week. So he wouldn't forget.''

  Often it's the smallest and simplest observations on life that are the most emotionally resonant and impactful, as is the case with Abbas Kiarostami's 1987 film Where Is the Friend's Home?, where we see immense compassion and loyalty from a child who navigates a world of adults who do not listen to him or consider that he even has feelings as he tries to return his friends schoolbook to help avoid him getting expelled. This is Kiarostami at his most narratively conventional, but he still…

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  Review by Diogo Serafim ★★★★½ 3

  one of the most diligent films ever made, a painstaking coming of age odyssey with an incredibly expansive symbology: everything here is absolutely essential, a boy whose back hurts because he needs to help his father by carrying milk, some brownish red pants, a gust of wind in the backyard, the windows' reflex on the walls... it's all very potent, these signs aren't there for mere narrative development, they address a much bigger spectrum where politics, economics and metaphysics collide. the biggest question here is also the biggest question on liberalism: how am i supposed to do my work when i am preventing my neighbour of doing his? an extremely meticulous work, which ends with the most utterly beautiful signs of them all: a small flower on a notebook.

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  Review by Neil Bahadur ★★★★★ 3

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  That feeling when you're so desperate to not see your friend get in trouble, that you're willing to do their homework......5 stars

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  Review by Sean Baker 9

  Lucky enough to see the restored Koker Trilogy on the big screen thanks to the Kiarostami retrospective (And Life Goes On: The Films of Abbas Kiarostami) at The Cinematheque in Vancouver.

  (Kiarostami never referred to Where Is the Friend's Home? (1987), And Life Goes On (a.k.a. Life and Nothing More, 1992) and Through the Olive Trees (1994) a trilogy - this was dubbed by critics and film scholars)

  Indiewire covered the Janus Films traveling series:
  www.indiewire.com/2019/07/abbas-kiarostami-a-retrospective-trailer-janus-films-restoration-1202160458/

  Watched at The Cinematheque in Vancouver.

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  Review by Edgar Cochran ★★★★★ 3

  Iranian culture normally puts a lot of emphasis on children and the education they must receive in order to "be good contributors to society". The methods used are, of course, inappropriate and destructive, but that's life's vicious cycle: unless a generation breaks the moral patterns established, they will keep on getting transmitted through heritage. This beautiful slice of everyday life makes us go deep into the mind of a child, a child that we once were. The film is so explicit in its emotions that we understand everything going on in his mind, the motives behind his actions and *bam*! Suddenly, we are focusing on adults for segments of around 6 minutes for contrast effects. Adulthood hypocrisy is a strong issue to deal with, but it is very satisfactory to see a talented filmmaker to put Iran on the map, question certain aspects of education and growth and focus on the little, audiovisual and sensory elements of life.

  96/100

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  Review by Violet ★★★★½

  At times a more stressful and tense film than Uncut Gems

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  Review by Lara Pop ★★★★★ 40

  #Kiarostami Rewatch

  where are you
  i brought your notebook
  i went where the road took me
  and it handed me a flower
  to be remembered by.

  Let's talk about that flower, shall we?

  One of my favorite scenes is where the young boy and the old man walk the streets of Poshteh in the darkness. The film's greatest asset is undoubtedly repetition, which manifests in the central conflict between the child and the adult world. The adults don't pay attention to what the little boy says and only repeat their petty, self-righteous lines without listening to what the child has to say. The only adult who truly listens to him is an old blacksmith living in solitude. He is in…

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  Review by Sally Jane Black 4

  Kiarostami just has an eye for interesting locations.

  This film reminds me a little of Little Fugitive, in that it features a young man as its central role who goes on an adventure in a nearby place but none-the-less seems somewhat lost. It has an innocent air to it, but still resonates and shows the depths of human kindness. The basic humanity and compassion that pervades Kiarostami's work is a sharp contrast to so many other filmmakers, from Bela Tarr's bleak cynicism to Godard's scathing critiques. It's warm and inviting and beautiful, and while I appreciate the dolor of Tarr, ultimately, it's this sense of compassion I get from Kiarostami that makes him my favorite director.

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  Review by allain ★★★★½ 4

  The real definition of poetic cinema. Where Is My Friend’s House is a drama film that tells the story of a schoolboy’s journey in giving back his friend’s notebook to prevent his potential expulsion. The extensive usage of its screenplay, matched with its impressionistic and repetitious dialogue, that mirrors the traits of the poem the title was derived from, challenges the lengths of how cinema can be expressed. The simplistic nature of the film’s storyline is paired perfectly with its divine cinematography and authentic character portrayal that every scene lingers in your mind and provokes some sort of emotion in you. Its unhurried pacing connects its audience in seeing empathy and innocence in its purest form, through a child’s perspective.…

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  Review by cookie ★★★★★

  children should be seen and heard

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  Review by 💋✨Andi ✨💋 ★★★★ 4

  Simple, beautiful, and captivating.

  Ahmed has my heart. I am a sucker for childhood-centric films and this was able to capture the charm that only a few can manage. Kiarostami gives us human kindness, friendship, and magic through our lead, Ahmed. I am reminded of how everyday heroics, no matter how seemingly small, will always stand out in this world of chaos. The 83 minutes fly by beautifully.

  My first Kiarostami film, recommended by Denise!! 💛
  Sinegang weekly pick #10
  
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