OTB#72: Where Is The Friend’s House?

This is the final (of three) new Iranian films on the Top 100. And, I mean, Iran is a cultural powerhouse in the area, so that’s probably fair and all, but it’s also kinda amusing that people have (apparently) been trying to diversify from US/Europe/Japan, and all going “hey, Iran exists!”

This is not a particularly compelling movie. At least not so far.

This is a frustrating movie, but I guess that’s the point — illustrating the powerlessness of these kids.

So frustrating!!! You just want to give all the characters a good shake.

Hm… I thought the old codger said he didn’t have any children.

It’s a very tense movie — and the ending is such a relief. I mean, it’s something we see as low stakes, but that a child would totally see as being the most important thing ever, and the movie is totally on that child’s side. I just found it so frustrating that I wasn’t able to enjoy it.

And… it’s got other problems. The performances are really kinda bad all over. So:

Where Is The Friend’s House?. Abbas Kiarostami. 1987.

This blog post is part of the Officially The Best 2022 series.

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