Closed Curtain

Name: Closed Curtain
Released: July 9, 2014
Duration: 106 min
Rating: 81

2014

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Universal acclaim based on 16 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 7 Ratings

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5.1	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 7 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Variance Films | Release Date: July 9, 2014 | Not Rated

Summary: In a secluded house by the sea with the curtains shut, a screenwriter hides from the world with only his dog as company. The tranquility is abruptly broken one night by the arrival of a young woman fleeing from the authorities. Refusing to leave, she takes refuge in the house. But come dawn, another unexpected presence will changeIn a secluded house by the sea with the curtains shut, a screenwriter hides from the world with only his dog as company. The tranquility is abruptly broken one night by the arrival of a young woman fleeing from the authorities. Refusing to leave, she takes refuge in the house. But come dawn, another unexpected presence will change everything. [Variance Films]… Expand

Director: Jafar Panahi and Kambuzia Partovi

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 106 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Keith Uhlich

Jul 7, 2014

The journey is often challenging, but the rewards—heady, emotional, provocative and invigorating—are endless. Read full review

IndieWire Eric Kohn

Jul 8, 2014

In the struggle to tell a story, Panahi reveals the redemptive power of art. No longer issuing desperate pleas, he has turned to cinema for the sake of survival. Read full review

Peter Keough

Aug 14, 2014

The opening and closing scenes of this film evoke those in “Crimson Gold.” They are long shots of the outside as seen through a security gate. In “Crimson Gold,” the view is of a chaotic street in Tehran. Here, it is the empty sea. This difference demonstrates what Panahi has been deprived of, and what the world has lost because of it. Read full review

Elizabeth Weitzman

Jul 10, 2014

Pahani’s films have become increasingly indistinguishable from his complex life, making them a challenging but often thrilling experience. Read full review

Stephanie Merry

Jul 24, 2014

Closed Curtain is at times slow and constantly puzzling. It doesn’t carry the impact of some of Panahi’s more conventional films. It’s not his best movie, but the fact that he’s making a movie at all is remarkable. Read full review

Jay Weissberg

Jul 9, 2014

Less satisfying than his previous pic, yet still a bold, melancholy statement. Read full review

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky

Jul 9, 2014

Closed Curtain is a spotty meta movie that might leave a viewer wishing Panahi could go back to making films that aren’t about himself—which seems to be the point. Read full review

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User Reviews

ibbste

Jul 12, 2014

Part of what's so incredible about Jafar Panahi as a filmmaker is that it seems like he's only getting increasingly audacious with each new challenge. I have no interest in trying to articulate in words the strange, wonderful, challenging directions the film takes in its journey, but it's anPart of what's so incredible about Jafar Panahi as a filmmaker is that it seems like he's only getting increasingly audacious with each new challenge. I have no interest in trying to articulate in words the strange, wonderful, challenging directions the film takes in its journey, but it's an important one. The walls of the home he's imprisoned in seem to, mostly figuratively, come crashing down; the ideas imprisoned in his mind from his ban on filmmaking are freed to flourish. The blurred line where fiction ends and truth starts has been a preoccupation in Iranian literary tradition for centuries, and continued by directors like Panahi for years, but now the harsh limitations set on his ability to express himself more inventively in narrative and experimentally in aesthetic — having the unintended consequence of advancing the form further. The film would have been forgiven for seeming more heavy-handed than usual as it did in its first half, seeing as how the urgency of his situation might have even necessitated more bluntness, but by the end Jafar Panahi has utterly annihilated any semblance of conventionality, simple-mindedness or easiness. And, even setting his particular circumstances aside (though partly as a result of it), the final product is a staggering achievement.… Expand

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