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73 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
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  1. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Keith Phipps
    90
    Beyond giving a human face to Uganda's crises, Kiarostami attempts to capture the actual place, a swirl of contradictions as vibrant and beautiful as it is troubled.
  2. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Dana Stevens
    90
    You come away from his film overwhelmed, hopeful and, perhaps paradoxically, illuminated.
  3. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    88
    Lovely, heart-stirring film.
  4. Variety
    Reviewed by: Scott Foundas
    80
    Kiarostami shoots Africa with an uncanny verisimilitude, coming close here to his idea of a "poetic cinema" indebted more to poetry and music than the theatrical novelistic storytelling tradition.
  5. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Ann Hornaday
    80
    A gorgeous and surprisingly profound meditation on a place and its people.
  6. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    70
    It's a surprisingly uplifting experience, and in the end, unmistakably a Kiarostami film.
  7. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: J. Hoberman
    70
    The emphasis in this surprisingly cheerful film is on the resilience of the living.
  8. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    70
    The film is only superficially superficial, and it grows in meaning and resonance as it progresses.
  9. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    50
    It's not enough for the film to show us a child's corpse wrapped in cardboard; we've got to step back to see Kiarostami himself shooting the sad sight, so that it becomes a Godardian ironic statement.
  10. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: William Arnold
    50
    This documentary fails to grasp AIDS as a theme.
  11. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Michael O'Sullivan
    50
    This slight but insinuating documentary by Abbas Kiarostami...will do nothing to advance or detract from the reputation of the acclaimed Iranian filmmaker.
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User Reviews

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User Score
6.0 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 4 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 1 out of 3
  1. JasonP.
    9
    Much more complex than it appears. A poetic meditation on what it means to see suffering. Modest, humble, self-effacing and beautiful and utterly tragic in its commitment to realism.… Full Review »
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