RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
RT's Blu-ray HQ
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Half Moon: A Musician's Last Journey
Half Moon: A Musician's Last Journey

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Visit Official Site External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Half Moon: A Musician's Last Journey (2007)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
100 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:23

Fresh:23

Rotten:0

Average Rating:7.4/10

Consensus: Bahman Ghobadi’s Half Moon is a beautiful and often humorous look into the lives of Kurdish wanderers.

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Theatrical Release:Dec 14, 2007 Limited

Synopsis: HALF MOON is the moving and beautiful new film from Kurdish director Ghobadi (A Time for Drunken Horses, Turtles Can Fly). Mamo, an iconic Kurdish musician in the twilight of his life and failing... HALF MOON is the moving and beautiful new film from Kurdish director Ghobadi (A Time for Drunken Horses, Turtles Can Fly). Mamo, an iconic Kurdish musician in the twilight of his life and failing health, must lead a dozen of his sons to Iraq for a concert - "a cry of freedom" - to celebrate the fall of Saddam Hussein and the end of his repression of Kurdish music. Their plan is to drive across the border between Iranian and Iraqi Kurdistan, but the road will be long and winding and the local wise man has predicted calamity. On their quest, the men will encounter the most sublime visions alongside the most horrendous brutality - primarily meted out by border guards. But first they must pick up Hesho, Mamo's exiled singer and muse. The "celestial voice" she represents takes on a divine, transformative power, and Mamo is left in a state of grace no one could ever have anticipated. -- © Official Site [More]

Starring: Ismail Ghaffari, Allah Morad Rashtiani, Hedye Tehrani, Hassan Poorshirazi

Starring: Ismail Ghaffari, Allah Morad Rashtiani, Hedye Tehrani, Hassan Poorshirazi, Golshifteh Farahani, Sadiq Behzadpoor

Director: Bahman Ghobadi

Director: Bahman Ghobadi
Screenwriter: Bahman Ghobadi
Producer: Bahman Ghobadi
Composer: Hossein Alizadeh
Studio: Strand Releasing

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
1 - 5 of 7

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

Mar 4, 2008

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Half Moon: A Musician's Last Journey

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

This is a road movie unlike any other...

Full Review Source: Wall Street Journal | comment Comment
01/04/08
Joe Morgenstern
Joe Morgenstern
Wall Street Journal
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The film, equipped with a sense of humour as well as a certain kind of Middle Eastern magic realism, has a central theme that emphasises the fate of a whole people without a country to call their own.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
01/04/08
Derek Malcolm
Derek Malcolm
This is London

Honours and elevates the unquenchable spirit of its subjects.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
01/04/08
Sukhdev Sandhu
Sukhdev Sandhu
Independent

I am a little unsure that the themes, images and ideas in all this come together as satisfactorily as they should, but it is a serious and worthwhile piece of work from a director with a real cinematic language.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
01/04/08
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]

The savage drama of the landscape, the indomitable optimism of the people and the passion of the ubiquitous music – almost every character is a musician – is universal in its appeal.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
01/04/08
Wendy Ide
Wendy Ide
Times [UK]

Stylish, but never quite substantial enough, Half Moon never lives up to its stunning opening sequence.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
01/04/08
Sam Jordison
Sam Jordison
Channel 4 Film

Part quirky road-movie, part mythic fantasia, part rhapsodic celebration – and wholly captivating.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
01/04/08
Philip Kemp
Philip Kemp
Total Film

Surprisingly gripping despite its whimsical subject matter and often very funny.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
01/04/08
Paul Arendt
Paul Arendt
BBC

Illuminating, surreal, tear-jerking and funny, Half Moon is an unforgettable voyage into a land little seen.

Full Review Source: Sky Movies | comment Comment
01/04/08
Rob Daniel
Rob Daniel
Sky Movies

There’s something Styxian about the road travelled here that’s reinforced with imagery of death that elevates Ghobadi’s tale above the everyday.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/04/08
Dave Calhoun
Dave Calhoun
Time Out

An unflinching and affecting depiction of the region’s tragic lunacies.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/04/08
David Parkinson
David Parkinson
Empire Magazine
N/R

[Director Bahman Ghobadi] sparks a deeply humanist alchemy in unsentimental tales peopled by nonprofessional actors.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
01/03/08
Sheri Linden
Sheri Linden
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Opens our hearts and minds to the special place musicians play in the Kurdish culture and the ways in which they celebrate the human spirit.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
12/25/07
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Death may come with the half moon, but there remains a promise of rebirth%u2014the full moon, which illuminates even the desperate landscape of Kurdistan.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
12/19/07
Maria Garcia
Maria Garcia
Film Journal International

a fascinating portrait of an underrepresented people, rich in humor, pathos and possible permutations

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
12/14/07
Jay Antani
Jay Antani
Boxoffice Magazine

For his poetic fourth feature, Half Moon, Bahman Ghobadi returns to the desolation of the Kurdish borderlands and the enduring optimism of his people.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
12/14/07
Jeannette Catsoulis
Jeannette Catsoulis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Writer-director Bahman Ghobadi's picturesque road trip is less about preserving a musical heritage than accepting one's fate, a mythic trek that's both heartrending and boisterous -- often as hauntingly absurdist as a Kusturica carnival.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
12/11/07
Aaron Hillis
Aaron Hillis
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Balancing earthy humor and scarring tragedy, Bahman Ghobadi's portraits of Kurdish wanderers are particularly expressive of Iranian cinema's sense of hope within instability.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
12/11/07
Fernando F. Croce
Fernando F. Croce
Slant Magazine

The Kurds may not yet have a country, but as long as Bahman Ghobadi keeps making movies they have a national cinema.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
08/31/07
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

...a moving road movie that culminates in a dramatic, music-saturated finale.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
08/24/07
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
all

Latest News for Half Moon: A Musician's Last Journey

December 13, 2007: Critical Consensus: I Am Legend All Over the Map, Chipmunks Hits Sour Note
This week at the movies, we've got the last man on earth (I Am Legend, starring Will Smith), Alvin, Simon, and Theodore (Alvin and the Chipmunks, starring Jason Lee), and mommy... More...

See All

More DVDs

Close
Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
15% 15% The Ugly Truth
98% 98% Up
36% 36% G.I. Joe: The Rise of …
52% 52% The Taking of Pelham 1…
45% 45% Ice Age: Dawn of the D…

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
36% 36% Angels & Demons
68% 68% Funny People
25% 25% Four Christmases
45% 45% Shorts

More New Releases…

See All

RT On Current TV

The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current TV

DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...

Learn how you can be part of the show

More...

What’s Hot On RT

Total Recall

Total Recall

John Travolta's top reviewed movies

Disney Countdown

Disney Countdown

Look back on Disney's best animated movies!

RT's Gift Guide

RT's Gift Guide

Give the best movies, gear, and more!

What's Coming Out

What's Coming Out

Find movies for the holiday weekend!

Other News

Close
  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Weekly Ketchup: Zombieland 2 in 3D?
0
  • First Look (Sort Of) at New Nightmare's Freddy Source: ShockTillYouDrop.com
24
  • First Look at Shrek Forever After Source: USA Today
48
  • Woody Harrelson Will Battle Zombies in 3-D Source: Moviehole
26
  • Natalie Portman Says Kat Denning Is in Thor Source: MTV
34
  • Disney Restructuring Has Broad Implications Source: Los Angeles Times
10
  • Joel Silver Talks Ninja Assassin, Sgt. Rock, Lobo, and More Source: Collider.com
1
  • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
124
  • Idris Elba Joins Thor Source: Hollywood Reporter
112
  • Jackass 3D Coming in 2010? Source: Collider.com
32
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: New Moon Shatters Records
179
  • Total Recall: John Travolta's Best Movies
87
  • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
62
  • 5 Facts About The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
58
  • Ban Them All! 10 Infamously Controversial Movies
54
  • Critics Consensus: Flee From Ninja Assassin
43
  • WB offers DVD to Blu-ray Trade-In Program
32
  • Friday Harvest: The Road, Avatar, and more!
25
  • RT's Blu-ray Picks from WB
21
  • Five Favorite Films With Zombieland Director Ruben Fleischer
21
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
15
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
10
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
20
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
7
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
20
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
8
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
28
  • Duncan Jones talks Moon, Sam Rockwell, and Mute
14
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Half Moon: A Musician's Last Journey at Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh Links

Featured
Wes Anderson on Fox
Wes Anderson on Fox External Link

The director talks about puppetry perfection and his film, Fantastic Mr. Fox

Animated Oscar?
Animated Oscar? External Link

Hollywood.com ponders whether or not an animated film could win Best Picture.

TIME's Holiday Movie Preview
TIME's Holiday Movie Preview External Link

Richard Corliss previews the season's best offerings and hottest tickets.

Scenic Routes
Scenic Routes External Link

The AV Club's Mike D'Angelo airs his beefs with Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men.

Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Follow RT on Twitter External Link

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.