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.
You come away from his film overwhelmed, hopeful and, perhaps paradoxically, illuminated.
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Lovely, heart-stirring film.
80
VarietyScott Foundas
VarietyScott Foundas
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.
70
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
The emphasis in this surprisingly cheerful film is on the resilience of the living.
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
It's a surprisingly uplifting experience, and in the end, unmistakably a Kiarostami film.
70
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
The film is only superficially superficial, and it grows in meaning and resonance as it progresses.
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
This documentary fails to grasp AIDS as a theme.
50
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
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.
50
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
This slight but insinuating documentary by Abbas Kiarostami...will do nothing to advance or detract from the reputation of the acclaimed Iranian filmmaker.