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Under the Skin of the City
Magnolia Pictures

Under the Skin of the City reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 77 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
9.0 out of 10
based on 13 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 3 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Golab Adineh, Mohammad Reza Forutan, Baran Kosari, Ebrahin Sheibani, Mohsen Ghazi Moradi, and Homeira Riazi

An Iranian woman takes dramatic measures to save her home and family.


GENRE(S): Foreign  
WRITTEN BY: Rakhshan Bani Etemad
Farid Mostafavi
 
DIRECTED BY: Rakhshan Bani Etemad  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: March 16, 2004 
Video: March 16, 2004 
Theatrical: March 14, 2003 
RUNNING TIME: 92 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: Iran 
LANGUAGE(S): Farsi (with English subtitles) 

Original title "Zir-e Poost-e Shahr"

What The Critics Said

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...

90
Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
This splendid film is no mere polemic, for Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, often called the first lady of Iranian cinema, is above all an accomplished storyteller and dramatist who understands the evocative power of sound and image.
Read Full Review
88
Boston Globe Wesley Morris
More a bleak docu-melodrama than an esoteric morality play.
Read Full Review
83
Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan
With understated skill and absolute authenticity, the film builds with enough layers that by its powerful ending, you'll feel as if you have been kicked in the stomach.
Read Full Review
80
Village Voice Michael Atkinson
Bani-Etemad's generational melodrama observes a blue-collar dynastic collapse worthy of Lillian Hellman, but stays steadfastly fixed on the quotidian of Tehran life.
Read Full Review
80
The New York Times Dana Stevens
The real protagonist is the family itself -- a fragile, complex organism undermined by internal conflict and menaced by the cruelty and indifference of the society around them.
Read Full Review
80
LA Weekly Ella Taylor
Under the Skin is distinguished, like so much contemporary Iranian cinema, by the way its striking visuals and strategic use of sound tell the underlying story.
Read Full Review
80
Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
Solidly made and sometimes quite moving chronicle of a working-class family in Tehran.
Read Full Review
75
Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
This gritty drama doesn't rank with the greatest Iranian films, but its urban characters offer an interesting change from the nation's best-known productions, which generally center on rural subjects.
Read Full Review
75
New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
Watching Tuba's proud girls disappear into anonymous clouds of chadors says more than any political diatribe could, and Bani-Etemad is wise enough to know it.
Read Full Review
75
New York Post V.A. Musetto
The plot has all the ingredients of a soap opera, but Bani-Etemad, who has been making movies since the '80s, is able to make it much more.
Read Full Review
70
The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps
At times, Bani Etemad succeeds only too well at capturing the confusing rush of Adineh's family life--the film presents more subplots than it can follow thoroughly, until its final act snaps all that's come before into sharp focus.
Read Full Review
70
TV Guide Ken Fox
While far from her best work, this accessible, emotionally involving domestic drama nevertheless serves as a welcome introduction.
Read Full Review
60
Film Threat Tim Merrill
Fast-paced, at times even a bit frantic, Under the Skin of the City is above all a mother-and-son story.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

ALI REZA G. gave it a 10:
It's great. don't miss it.

Discuss this movie in our forums

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