8 years ago
All posts by Amir Soltani
Summer of ’96: On “Gabbeh” and “A Moment of Innocence”
Amir Soltani compares and contrasts the two films Mohsen Makhmalbaf made in 1996: "Gabbeh" and "A Moment of Innocence."
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Abbas Kiarostami: In Memoriam
Amir Soltani writes a brief remembrance of Abbas Kiarostami, the iconic Iranian filmmaker who passed away on July 4.
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The Child Heroes of Abbas Kiarostami’s Films
Amir Soltani looks at the early films of Abbas Kiarostami, and their child protagonists.
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“Arabian Nights, Vol. 3” Caps A Work of Grand Ambition
The first two volumes of Miguel Gomes’s latest film, Arabian Nights, explore the crippling effects of economic mismanagement in Portugal, ostensibly through the magical lens of Princess Scheherazade, who narrates the tales to her husband, King Shahryar. The th...
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“Arabian Nights, Vol. 2” Is Comparatively Straightforward
The first volume of Miguel Gomes’s sprawling epic, Arabian Nights, has the unenviable task of bringing the audience on board with the filmmaker’s wild vision and convince them to remain on board for another four hours. Establishing his perspective alongside Pr...
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“Arabian Nights, Vol. 1” is Gloriously Messy
The Restless One, the first of three volumes that comprise Miguel Gomes’ ambitious six-hour long omnibus Arabian Nights, begins at a shipyard in Viana do Castelo, Portugal. The decaying infrastructure of the port and the frank, solemn tenor of the narrators’ v...
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“Mustang” Is Joyous, Beautiful, and Heartbreaking
It is not every day that phrases such as Islamic extremism and light-hearted fun can be used in the same sentence. Looking at the misogynistic, archaic thinking of religious communities through the lens of comedy is a tricky balance, and even more so for a deb...
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The Panahi Conundrum
Take a cursory look at reviews for Jafar Panahi’s latest film, Taxi, and you’ll notice it ranks among the year’s most beloved titles. Between its premiere at the Berlinale earlier this year, where it was greeted with the festival’s highest prize, to its theatr...
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Elisabeth Moss Is Why “Queen of Earth” Is So Earth-Shattering
Elisabeth Moss’s most famous performance to date, on television as Peggy Olson in Mad Men, is a work of layered complexity and a superb example of gradual character evolution, with Moss growing into the role as Peggy did into her male-dominated world, handling...
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“The Suicide Theory”
What does one do when life has become so miserable that the only option is to say goodbye to the world? What if even that ability, to take one’s own life, is taken away? That’s the answer director Dru Brown is trying to find in his second feature film, The Sui...
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