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Under the Skin of the City

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 13 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 3 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Foreign
Written by:
Rakhshan Bani Etemad
Farid Mostafavi
Directed by: Rakhshan Bani Etemad
Release Date:
Theatrical: March 14, 2003
DVD: March 16, 2004
Running Time: 92 minutes, Color
Origin: Iran
Language(s): Farsi (with English subtitles)
Summary
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.
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database
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...
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 >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
More a bleak docu-melodrama than an esoteric morality play.
Read Full Review >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 >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 >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 >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 >Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
Solidly made and sometimes quite moving chronicle of a working-class family in Tehran.
Read Full Review >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 >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 >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 >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 >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 >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
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.
