Scanialara
You won't be disappointed!
Dirtylogy
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
Tobias Burrows
It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
Phillipa
Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.
Isura Silva
A true masterpiece. When I watched it in 2015, 28 years after the movie was made, I am ashamed of my time wasted watching Hollywood movies, which had no substance. I watched movies when it was box office hits. This movie showed me what life is, what movie making is all about, how to tell a story. I felt human life to my bare bones. I feel I'm human again. The slow moving pace of the movie , is amazingly engaging, as I was absorbed in the child's journey as if it my own. I wish more parents, teachers and elders would watch it. In this age, we lack empathy, hence we lost touch with our human values. This movie is a masterpiece.
robbreslin
This is a very enjoyable, slow-paced, yet uniquely enthralling movie. The plot is simple; a young boy must return a school notebook, taken by accident, to his classmate so he can do his homework for the next day. If his friend doesn't get it done he may be expelled. Immediately you are drawn into this simple task, seeing this child's often futile efforts to be acknowledged by the adults around him, empathizing with his difficulties. A strange sense of foreboding begins to prevail as you await the outcome of his efforts. Will he complete his task and get home before dusk? Why is it so hard to get a straight answer from any of these adults?The music is often enchanting and contributes much to the atmosphere. Personally I love the old blacksmith he runs into in the neighboring village. An old friendly man with a deep passion for making windows and doors. The life of the village and its history could be seen through the eyes of this old gent, but truly, the boy, has simply got to return this notebook!If you want to chill out and watch a wonderful tale unfold over just 80 short minutes then go watch this movie. You won't be disappointed.
vivard
This was my first Kiarostami's movie. There could not be a better one. Some trademarks of his movies are minimal dialogs, slow pace, purposeful and realistic acting. Many conversations happen during the ride on a car moving at gentle speed. A stark contrast of what we are used to. Yet, his movies touch you right in the heart. You get very involved with the characters. His movies never get overtly sentimental. He remarked in an interview that he doesn't like to cheat with the audiences."Where is the Friend's Home?" offers an insight into the simplistic and innocent world of childhood. Adults do not really see and appreciate that world. Watching this movie is a completely different experience. And writing a lot about this movie does not make a lot of sense. You can hardly wait to watch "And Life Goes on". A must watch if you are into the art of beautiful cinema.
Andres Salama
I believe that the recent movies of Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami have been hugely overrated (in the rarefied world of art movie criticism), but this 1987 movie is a genuine gem. A transition between his early didactic shorts and his later full blown (and somewhat pretentious) art movies, this was one of the first Iranian movies to receive some notice in the west, at least in the film festival circuit. It tells a deceptively simple story: a boy has mistakenly taken home another schoolboy's notebook. Fearing the other child will be severely punished at school the following day if he doesn't bring to class the home assignment completed, he decides to go to his house to return the item. The problem is he doesn't known where he exactly lives, so a small odyssey to finds him starts. The boys live in a fascinating mountain village, with very narrow streets, and stone houses. That village was destroyed by an earthquake a few years later, and reportedly the young actors playing the two main characters were killed in it. Kiarostami tells a fictionalized story of a film director searching for the young actors after the earthquake in his 1992's And Life Goes On. Knowing their sad fate makes this film even more moving. And as in many Kiarostami movies, the final scene is a knock out.