This movie showed Iran has cinema and good movies are there

Director Mehrjui offers a fundamentally visual portrait of an Iranian village. Each of the primary villagers are full-fledged human beings in all their complexities. Paradoxically, their flaws only seem to make them more compelling, while the camera creates both a sense of community and tension with frequent cuts between villagers. Mehrjui's camera spares no one, each villager a part of the tragedy that unfolds with increasing severity as the film draws to a close.

Poetic naturalism is present in every moment - some more generous than others. Excellent use of light and darkness.

The genuine cast and contrast of the empathetic villagers touch the heart as the trials of the neighboring characters lead us from lies and concern to disgust and tragedy. The stirring score and depressed mood are both mystically effective, and the stand out scene of Hassan running in the night still weighs heavily on my shoulders :(

The average lifespan of a cow is less than that of a dog. People die. Animals die. The world keeps on spinning.

A man lose his cow and turn, what some would call, "loco". Mehrjui is never afraid of working with melodramatic tools, and the ardent, unyielding humanism behind the images is only strengthened by the "compassionate" music and periodically "worked up" cinematography and editing. The director seems interested in the social life in the little village our miserable hero lives in, but it's the eager depiction of this one person's tragedy that really sticks.

This film by Dariush Mehrjui, a graduate of UCLA in cinema and philosophy, broke down the doors for Iranian New Wave Cinema. A simple movie, softly touching, almost sophisticated in its unsophistication, uncommonly frank in its depiction of rural life (think Pather Panchali). The cinematography and music, though likewise simple, are very beautiful.