Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Load of rubbish!!

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

An engaging, charming and well made film. I felt that as an ignorant foreigner it allowed me a momentary intimate window on to the landscape, characters and feel of the Turkmen and Iranian cultures. The director captures a wealth of images and humour in this alien landscape. Wonderful and enjoyable.

There is a debate raging in various august film organs at the moment about the merits/demerits of "slow cinema". Whatever your standpoint on the matter is, you should know that this is an example of the cycle. For myself, I watch Bergman and often hope that he will hold shots longer! Blues is the right word for what we've got here, but the men of the cast (the characters are almost entirely men) aren't utterly high and dry, and there's a goodly amount of drollery to be had. It's very important to recognise that each of the characters the films follows has someone that loves them (even if it's not the love they think they want), despite their reservoirs of ennui.There is prettiness to be had on the northern frontiers of Iran, the quality of light on the steppes, the Caspian sea. But these characters aren't there on holiday, and they are pretty much stuck in the Doldrums. In particular I think you keenly feel the lack of female presence in the movie, all the women seem to have had the sense to absent themselves from the congenital exile. Hassan is the funniest character, he has pebble glasses and a slack jaw, his hobby is collecting car number plates from different regions in Iran, and he claims to own several eucalyptus plantations. He pines for the mother he has only ever known from a photo, a beautiful lady who ran away to Paris when he was young. His sentimental connection with her is a tape of Françoise Hardy's "Tous les garçons et les filles"; which reminded me of my schooldays, when my French teacher for a year, a real Titania who kept us all behaving through the spell of her fey grace alone, used to play us her songs under some doubtlessly invented educational pretext.The stories aren't intersecting, and what we see is more a slice of life than traditional narrative. The director is careful to be as honest in his depictions as possible, and warns of the falsity of the Neorealist approach via a story of an ethnographic photographer from Tehran.A funny and deeply humanistic movie, as an oblique coda, I suggest that you bring a long a sachet of dried apricots to make an experience of it if this plays near you.

I recently saw this film at the Edinburgh Film Festival. What a brilliant first feature!The story follows the lives of different men living in a small town in northern Iran. The stories are simple and beautiful, about love and lose, men desperately trying to make a connection and to find meaning in their monotonous everyday existence. I really loved the pacing of the film. It takes its time. It achieves humor and pathos without trying. It is the kind of film that only comes around once in a while, the kind of film that is getting harder and harder to make or released. I recommend this gem to anyone who loves the cinema of Kaurismäki or Kiarostami. Babak Jalali is certainly a great new director to watch!

In remote Gorgan (Iran's northern border with Turkmenistan), the film tells us the story of 4 men, of whom, 3 have dreams of girls/women/marriage/reunion. It portrays a society where women fled frequently from their families for richer men, and where men feel they are the authority of their families and they are responsible for the younger ones, e.g. letting the donkey go. Here, men cling on to their dreams - keeping the donkey as a pet; ringing other people up randomly to speak to girls; choosing only one size / design per piece of clothing for his shop; learning English so as to relocate to a place with better living standards; not wishing to speak or play his musical instrument but when stirred up, vents his frustration profusely. Here, weddings and funerals seldom occur: it is uneventful. Yet, outsiders want to capture images not of how the place is really like, but of what they perceive of this place - nomadic, pastoral, rustic, etc. But they will never be able to seize that most natural and authentic side of these people.