[A]stonishes with me its simplicity, its uncomplicated wisdom, its visual salience...
The Song of Sparrows (2009)
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Reviews Counted:37
Fresh:36
Rotten:1
Average Rating:7.5/10
Consensus: A heartfelt, affecting parable, The Song of Sparrows is another gem from Iranian director Majid Majidi.
Theatrical Release:Apr 3, 2009 Limited
Synopsis: Karim works at an ostrich farm outside of Tehran, Iran. He leads a simple and contented life with his family in his small house, until one day when one of the ostriches runs away. Karim is blamed... Karim works at an ostrich farm outside of Tehran, Iran. He leads a simple and contented life with his family in his small house, until one day when one of the ostriches runs away. Karim is blamed for the loss and is fired from the farm. Soon after, he travels to the city in order to repair his elder daughter’s hearing aid but finds himself mistaken for a motorcycle taxi driver. Thus begins his new profession: ferrying people and goods through heavy traffic. But the people and material goods that he deals with daily starts to transform Karim’s generous and honest nature, much to the distress of his wife and daughters. It is up to those closest to him to restore the values that he had once cherished…--© Official Site [More]
Starring: Reza Naji, Maryam Akbari, Kamran Dehgan, Hamed Aghazi
Starring: Reza Naji, Maryam Akbari, Kamran Dehgan, Hamed Aghazi, Shabnam Akhlaghi, Neshat Nazari, Hassan Rezaee
Director: Majid Majidi
Director: Majid Majidi
Screenwriter: Majid Majidi, Mehran Kashani
Producer: Majid Majidi
Composer: Hossein Alizadeh
Studio: Regent Releasing
Reviews for The Song of Sparrows
The lessons are unsubtle and the pace drags near the end, but Naji is wonderfully expressive, the production design is top-notch and the Iranian countryside is gorgeous.
A touching tearjerker that's also a celebration of traditional values against the dehumanizing tendencies of modern urban life...with even the most obvious moments saved by an underlying sweetness and poignancy.
Achingly poetic in a way that recalls the Italian neo-realism of The Bicycle Thief.
At times funny, sad, poignant and suspenseful, Sparrows is a showcase for Majidi's masterful storytelling -- and Naji's superb acting.
At times tedious but ultimately beguiling, Song of Sparrows morphs from a sly dramedy about running a household into a fable about two ways of life (urban and rural) that can't coexist.
The images in The Song of Sparrows have a poetic grace that's to be desired in storytelling.
The goldfish flopping in the sun is an image typical of Majid Majidi's films, fable-like and seemingly simple even as it is also complex.
takes place a half a world away in a land of ostrich farms and refrigerators delivered...on the back of a motorbike, but Karim's foibles, his worries and joys, will be recognizable to anyone...
The Song of Sparrows is a sweet and uplifting humanistic fable that celebrates the joys of community and pastoral life over a harried and materialistic urban existence.
This is the fourth collaboration for Naji and Majidi, and the actor and director feed off each other creatively, pushing the boundaries of the characters each time.
From a cross-cultural perspective "The Song of Sparrows" gives essential voice to the impoverished peasants of rural Iran.
The story is so well told that the symbolism supports rather than sustains the plot.
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