It's Winter details
| Format: | 12 DVD |
|---|---|
| Starring: | Ali Nicksaulat, Said Orkani, Mitra Hajjar, Zahra Jafari, Hashem Abdi |
| Director: | Rafi Pitts |
| Genres: | Drama - General, World Cinema - Swedish |
| Studio: | FUSION MEDIA |
| Name | Discs | |
|---|---|---|
It's Winter |
12 Feature |
DVD Information
| Run time: | 1 hour 26 minutes |
|---|---|
| Rental release: | 23 Apr 2007 |
| Main languages: | Farsi |
| Subtitles: | English |
Write your own review
Most helpful review
A rambling review on a moving film.
By lewisjenkins01@warmmail.com from london , 12 Feb 2007[Highly rated reviewer]
I was initially nonplussed by these brooding scenes and spartan scenery. I left the cinema feeling barely satisfied.
But a couple of months later I am still thinking about it, and, stupidly wondering how the characters are doing, testament to the skill of the actors involved. The key is the simple realism with which the story is told, the frippery of American cinema (flashy cinematography, elaborate camerawork, dazzling locations....money) are whittled away and in their place is a thoughtful social realism that is worthy of Steinbeck.
The taciturn woman at the centre of the film is painfully oppressed and hypnotic and her would be suitor tries to win her with the skilfully rendered shame of a man who materially has nothing to offer her.
I started to wonder why he kept wearing the same (artless) sweater each time he visited her... And then I realised it’s because he only had one, though his hair was always nicely combed and his appearance smart. I wanted to lend him my shirt.
The plot of this film is simple, but its characters are complex. The scenery is stark and the people poor but their emotional interplay seems to colour the black and whites of their poverty ....like the protagonist's tacky red-flecked jumper as he walks in the snow.
If you saw ‘Jerry’ and liked it perhaps you’ll like this. Its pacing is also redolent of Michael Haneke’s earlier films (without the bourgeois prattling). (Way to reference one obscure film with others.)
Though enjoyably escapist, for me mainstream cinema is visually Technicolor but emotionally black and white. This simple film reverses that trait and like 9/11 it reminds you that while the West is baked to numbness in its eternal summer, in the rest of the world‘Its Winter.’ ....And(but) people feel it.- Was this review helpful to you?
- (40) Yes |
- No (1)
All reviews
(14)Cold Drama
By buffyrules (335 reviews) from southend on sea , 10 Oct 2012Compelling drama that told the story in a simple but beautiful way. The minimal approach helped create the tension as the film progressed helped by solid performances throughout.- Was this review helpful to you?
- (0) Yes |
- No (0)
Engaging neo-realism from Iran
By Cheggers81 (24 reviews) from Chichester , 18 Jul 2011I found this to be an engaging and thought-provoking film, with plenty of deliberate ambiguity which helps to keep it lingering in the mind some time after watching it.
I thought it was more successful and cohesive than Rafi Pitts' follow up film, The Hunter, and I could relate to many of the themes explored here, in particular the main character's unwillingness to submit to the drudgeries of work (and be grateful for it to boot) if it leaves him lacking the time and/or money to actually experience life - as he puts it, 'to have a good time'.
All the characters (mostly played by non-professional actors) have a degree of verisimilitude to them, rather than being simply good/bad, hero/villain etc. This, and many other aspects of the film, are discussed at length in the 40-minute interview with director Rafi Pitts which is well worth watching.- Was this review helpful to you?
- (0) Yes |
- No (0)
slice of life in Iran
By itstinks (681 reviews) from North of Reading , 07 Feb 2010A chance to see the way the average case of men leaving to find work but in a muslim society. The summary implies it is more from the womens point of view but it is more from the new man in town who takes a shine to her. Well made but not a classic.- Was this review helpful to you?
- (0) Yes |
- No (0)
haunting
By a customer from Charlton , 01 Feb 2009A slow-paced drama from Iran - it looks good and satisfies. Recommended for anyone who likes Iranian cinema, or the work of Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan.- Was this review helpful to you?
- (2) Yes |
- No (0)
stark and beautiful
By a customer from Isle of Lewis , 11 Aug 2008This film does what so many Iranian films do so beautifully: not a lot. It moves in slow circles, a few simple things happen, and somehow these peope, these lives and this time are all just there in perfect clarity. Spare storytelling, balance, honesty, nothing superfluous. Why just 4 stars then - well, there's not a lot to it. Raving would be inappropriate.- Was this review helpful to you?
- (3) Yes |
- No (0)
