Baran 2001

Bruce Newman, San Jose Mercury News: Majidi is an unconventional storyteller, capable of finding beauty in the most depressing places. Read more

Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times: Brings an irresistible blend of warmth and humor and a consistent embracing humanity in the face of life's harshness. Read more

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: A mix of gritty realism, crisp storytelling and radiant compassion that effortlessly draws you in. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: Plunges you into a reality that is, more often then not, difficult and sad, and then, without sentimentalizing it or denying its brutality, transforms that reality into a lyrical and celebratory vision. Read more

Jan Stuart, Newsday: Majidi's poetic love story is a ravishing consciousness-raiser, if a bit draggy at times. Read more

Ted Shen, Chicago Reader: The film is remarkable for the naturalistic acting of its cast, particularly the tender performances of the two leads, Hossein Abedini and Zahra Bahrami. Read more

Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle: The tale is simply but effectively told. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: The film is saved from aren't-kids-cute sentimentality by a warmth that isn't faked and a stately sense of composition. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Though the pathos of this fable-like love story feels overcalculated, Majidi succeeds in playing the classical Dickensian balance, with the sentimental hook justified by the social sweep of the narrative. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: Matches neorealism's impact by showing the humanity of a war-torn land filled with people who just want to live their lives. Read more

Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly: More timely than its director could ever have dreamed, this quietly lyrical tale probes the ambiguous welcome extended by Iran to the Afghani refugees who streamed across its borders, desperate for work and food. Read more

Peter Rainer, New York Magazine/Vulture: Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Baran is the latest in a flowering of good films from Iran, and gives voice to the moderates there. It shows people existing and growing in the cracks of their society's inflexible walls. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: It shows us a slice of life that's very different from our own and yet instantly recognizable. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: At the right time of day, in the right frame of mind, Baran can and should be appreciated as a work of delicate and unmistakable beauty. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: It's the saddest story of love in a long while, yet liberating in the way it instils a sense of oneness with all humanity. Read more

Mike Clark, USA Today: Majidi tells his simple story with dazzling vision. Read more

Michael Atkinson, Village Voice: Majidi's portrait of southwest Asian poverty is bloodless and fastidiously arranged, his regard for his thin characters negligible. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: Further solidifies [Majidi's] growing reputation as one of the cinema's most gifted humanist filmmakers. Read more