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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

67
$9.99
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91
Hurt Locker, The
89
Goodbye Solo
88
Tulpan
87
Gomorrah
86
Seraphine
84
Summer Hours
83
U2 3D
83
Revanche
83
Tyson
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
82
Sugar
82
Hunger
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
81
Il Divo
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
80
Food, Inc.
80
Tokyo Sonata
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
78
O'Horten
77
Every Little Step
77
Sin Nombre
75
24 City
74
Treeless Mountain
74
Afghan Star
74
Two Lovers
74
Song of Sparrows, The
74
Lemon Tree
71
Pressure Cooker
71
Jerichow
70
Shall We Kiss?
70
Tony Manero
70
End of the Line, The
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
69
Unmistaken Child
67
$9.99
67
Rudo y Cursi
67
Girlfriend Experience, The
66
Adoration
66
Moon
65
Sex Positive
65
Departures
64
Outrage
64
Examined Life
64
Throw Down Your Heart
64
Lymelife
63
Tokyo!
63
Cheri
63
Dead Snow
63
Tetro
63
Great Buck Howard, The
62
Cherry Blossoms
62
Big Man Japan
62
Not Forgotten
61
Sunshine Cleaning
60
Under Our Skin
59
Sleep Dealer
58
Julia
58
Easy Virtue
57
Away We Go
57
Merry Gentleman, The
57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
56
Girl from Monaco, The
56
American Violet
55
Brothers Bloom, The
54
Is Anybody There?
54
Pontypool
54
Stoning of Soraya M., The
52
Quiet Chaos
50
Management
48
Alien Trespass
45
Whatever Works
42
Little Ashes
42
Tennessee
40
Limits of Control, The
40
Paris 36
38
Gigantic
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
35
New York
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
28
Surveillance
22
What Goes Up
18
Downloading Nancy
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
xx
Call of the Wild
xx
Home
xx
Offshore
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Blackboards
Kimstim Films
MPAA RATING: Not Rated
Starring
Said Mohamadi,
Behnaz Jafari,
Bahman Ghobadi,
Mohamad Karim Rahmati,
Rafat Moradi,
Mayas Rostami,
Saman Akbari,
and
Ahmad Bahrami
A group of male teachers crosses the mountainous paths of the remote Iranian Kurdistan region. Carrying large blackboards on their backs,
they wander from village to village in search of students. (Kimstim Films)
| GENRE(S): |
Foreign
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Samira Makhmalbaf
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Samira Makhmalbaf
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD:
Video: February 17, 2004
Theatrical: December 6, 2002
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
85 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
Iran / Italy / Japan |
| LANGUAGE(S): |
Kurdish (with English subtitles) |
Original title in Iran "Takhté siah"; Jury Prize (tie), 2000 Cannes Film Festival; Grand Jury Prize, 2000 AFI Fest; Special Mention, 2001 Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
Makhmalbaf continues her rise as Iran's most promising young female filmmaker, and Iranian cinema extends its reign as one of the world's most exciting cultural phenomena.

91
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sean Axmaker
The stripped-down dramatic constructs, austere imagery and abstract characters are equal parts poetry and politics, obvious at times but evocative and heartfelt.

88
New York Post
V.A. Musetto
Makhmalbaf finds room for moments of humor and humanity.

88
Boston Globe
Wesley Morris
Like so much Iranian cinema, Blackboards is a work of lyrical propaganda. But its metaphors are opaque enough to avoid didacticism, and the film succeeds as an emotionally accessible, almost mystical work.

80
The New York Times
Stephen Holden
An indelible and ultimately moving vision of humanity buffeted by the elements and by international political tides.

80
TV Guide
Ken Fox
A fascinating allegory of life in Iranian Kurdistan, a remote borderland still deeply scarred by years of war with Iraq.

75
New York Daily News
Jami Bernard
Director Samira Makhmalbaf made this raw and effective parable with the recognizable help of her father, legendary director Mohsen Makhmalbaf.

75
San Francisco Chronicle
Carla Meyer
Slyly powerful.

70
The New Republic
Stanley Kauffmann
Like many other Iranian films, Blackboards counters the generally broadcast ideas about this part of the world. It is a testament of quiet endurance, of common concern, of reconciled survival.

63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Rick Groen
We've got the trademark elements but not their magical bonding, and the result is a selection of scenes in search of a movie.

40
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Scott Tobias
Episodic and minimalist to a fault, Blackboards makes its ironic point about education, then makes it again a few times over for good measure, rarely expanding beyond its narrow seriocomic agenda.

20
Village Voice
J. Hoberman
Blackboards is both shrill and soporific, and because everything is repeated five or six times, it can seem tiresomely simpleminded.

10
Film Threat
Phil Hall
About as much fun as a grouchy ayatollah in a cold mosque.


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