Jahreszeit des Nashorn

It is obvious why Monica Bellucci was hired to play a prominent role in Bahman Ghobadi's latest flick. Local (middle-east) stars won't dare to show their skin in front of the camera, it may end in controversy like Lebanese skier caused controversy over topless photo during the Sochi winter Olympics. Though adding the major Italian star who is known very well to the world made the movie to strike stronger.

I don't know I felt I knew this story well from somewhere. At least it looked very similar to other movies I had seen beside divergent characters. Like the movie 'Oldboy' this movie depicts an old man who was away for a long time who enters the familiar but changed society in search of his lost family.

They say it was loosely based on the story of a real person, but I feel it is fiction because real people won't behave like the character from this movie. Anything might be possible, but this movie was lacking in either character or story development. The cinematography was awesome, it had a pleasant frame tone with greenish-gray.

The director thought to bring more artistic effect by adding inappropriate scenes to the story. There are many scenes where viewers may respond in questions to those parts. In one of the scenes turtle rains and in another a wild rhino hit by a car. It goes on like that, like illusions during illustrate a person.

It tells the story of a man who is affected by the 1979 Iranian revolution. Yeah, the same revolution that showed the movie 'Argo' but in a different perspective and character. Overall, it was not a movie that I was expecting from Bahman Ghobadi, but still it can be enjoyed by his fans.

This is easily Ghobadi's best film--the metaphors and imagery pull together his other films into what is his masterwork. Very haunting, somewhat surreal-as the former prisoner tries to find his wife the events of his life are accompanied by metaphors from his poems brought to life. Bellucci is incredible. I never expected such a subdued and dignified performance from her. Perhaps one of the best scenes is when the young poet is tied up and tortured and a rain of turtles falls from the sky. Caner Cindoruk is also quite good as the young poet--and his rival and tormentor Yilmaz Erdogan is convincing as the man obsessed with his wife--despite his evil (he is the source for the poet's family's suffering), he manages to be both loathsome and sympathetic at the same time.

While no one doubts the magnificent cinematography, there is much more about this brilliant masterpiece comparable to the works of great masters such as Angelopoulos. Although the movie events happen in Iran, they are all about universal themes such as love, jealousy, destruction and the desperate search to discover the meaning of the Being.

The Iranian revolution and its destructive impact upon the society, the pandemic injustice that the revolution promised to end but did not and yet exacerbated, the hostile environment and its impact upon the afflicted families, are all depicted with rigor and with poetic images, rather than with cliché dialog and rhetoric. The movie manages to keep an appropriate pace letting the scenes find their desired depth and yet avoiding boredom, and the performances are brilliant. What more would you expect from a movie anyway than to show you innovative images and to share a new kind of experience with you, which you would have had to pay a great price to experience it first hand? A master piece 10/10.

This is a masterpiece, much is written before me by a friend from UK. It now falls in the coveted list that i possess of , ashes and snow, the fountain, book 1, tree of life, outside Satan, and much much much more for that if you have reached till here and found me and are hungry for true art then ping me on abhinavsaxena31@gmail.com . This movie is perfect do you understand cinematography coupled with aesthetics and a gloom of lost love, waiting and patience.This has it all. I am no fan of poetry but this piece it is visual poetry. I am in love with this work unfortunately there is not much cinema from this geography in India and i only get it from net. I want to watch more work like this and i guess even the director will agree what he made is heavenly. Watch it again when you feel like. The poetry is the soul. Its a sublime fabric of mystic understanding of creative life. there is a horse which enters a car window, there are turtles there is some sex which will leave you ever smitten because it is m.b the goddess herself. all in all there is no message of god here but pure art... Cheers to creative flame of life

"Fasle Kargadan" strides gracefully into my 7/10 rating, and I must say, I liked it. The acting in this Iranian drama is both moving and authentic, painting a vivid portrait of familial bonds and human resilience. The film editing carefully weaves together parallel narratives, revealing the strength and weaknesses of its characters as they confront life's harsh realities. Its strength lies in its portrayal of the enduring spirit of a family amidst adversity, offering a message of hope in the face of despair. The music underscores the emotional depth of the story, and the cinematography captures the stark beauty of Iran's countryside. "Fasle Kargadan" is a heartfelt exploration of love and sacrifice, a reminder that even in the most trying of circumstances, the human spirit can soar, and my liking for it is as enduring as the film's touching tale.