This Is Not a Film (2012)
Average Rating: 8.9/10
Reviews Counted: 83
Fresh: 82 | Rotten: 1
Through simple means and filming, This is Not a Film presents a vital political statement and a snapshot of life in Iran as enemy of the state.
Average Rating: 8.9/10
Critic Reviews: 29
Fresh: 28 | Rotten: 1
Through simple means and filming, This is Not a Film presents a vital political statement and a snapshot of life in Iran as enemy of the state.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 7,245
My Rating
Movie Info
This clandestine documentary, shot partially on an iPhone and smuggled into France in a cake for a last-minute submission to Cannes, depicts the day-to-day life of acclaimed director Jafar Panahi (Offside, The Circle) during his house arrest in his Tehran apartment. While appealing his sentence - six years in prison and a 20 year ban from filmmaking - Panahi is seen talking to his family and lawyer on the phone, discussing his plight with Mirtahmasb and reflecting on the meaning of the art of
Cast
-
Jafar Panahi
Jafar Panahi -
Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
ADVERTISEMENT
All Critics (83) | Top Critics (29) | Fresh (82) | Rotten (1)
Not a conventional film, certainly, but a powerful and important statement.
Top CriticThere is courage and cheekiness here. What there is not is a story, or much insight or even anger; anyone expecting an indictment of Iran will be sorely disappointed.
Truly and defiantly extraordinary in its own quiet way.
This may not be a film, but it's a moving statement of defiance and despair.
It's a cry from the heart of an artist compelled to create, tell stories and respond to hostile, confounding realities.
In short, "This Is Not a Film" is the world within an apartment, and it is quietly devastating.
There's a tremendous power under the simple-looking surface.
No matter the constrictions on its existence, This is Not a Film is, in fact, a great one.
One mourns the tragic circumstances that caused it to be made, but the result is a sleight of hand to rank alongside Orson Welles's F for Fake.
See it any way you possibly can. It will change your life forever.
This Is Not a Film is a practical joke as much as it is a movie, and while it possesses a deadly serious undercurrent, what's most surprising is how witty the finished product is.
The complex, brilliant, heartbreaking diary of Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi under house arrest in Tehran, and prohibited from making movies.
I find myself returning again and again to Jafar Panahi's apartment in Tehran, the defining location for the year in cinema, one of the defining locations in all of cinema.
"This Is Not a Film", but it manages to be a bloody great one, anyway.
The truth of what is and isn't lies deep between the lines of this brilliantly elusive meta-commentary, arguably the greatest Iranian film since Abbas Kiarostami's masterpiece Close-Up.
Predictably, not much happens in "This Is Not a Film"; dude is under house arrest, after all. But it's absorbing and clever.
What constitutes imprisonment and what constitutes a film?
[A] courageous act of artistic provocation...
Panahi creates a very personal film that reveals the inner man. His pet iguana, Igi, is pretty cool, too.
...never settles down - it's as restless as its house arrested protagonist and a compelling and often humorous look at a day in the life of an auteur with his wings clipped.
Audience Reviews for This Is Not a Film
Super Reviewer
I was excited when I first heard about this "film," and I love the basic idea for the project. Jafar Panahi, the Iranian filmmaker who has been put under house arrest and prohibited from making films, records the various goings-on in his Teheran apartment using his iPhone. It sounded to me like a great testament to human creativity.
You can steal a filmmaker's camera and lock him up, but he will find a way to create! I also love how 21st-century technology undercuts fascist governments at every turn.
I couldn't wait to see what Panahi would have to say from the confines of his house arrest. What a shock to learn that he has almost nothing to say. If you're going to work so hard to create clandestine footage and smuggle it out of Iran, at least have something to say!
All we see is Panahi puttering about the house, feeding his pet iguana, and answering the phone! We also watch him help the building's superintendent take out the trash. All the while we hear the sound of fireworks going off in the background, as it's some kind of holiday in the country. Initially it sounded like gunfire. But no, just fireworks.
After an hour, it's over. This is hardly a testament to human creativity. It's an attempt to milk cash out of the cinephiles around the world who have championed Panahi's cause. This will probably top my Worst of 2012 List.
Super Reviewer
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| Editorial Integrity versus Political Agenda (Kyle Smith negative review) | 2 months ago | 0 |
Latest News on This Is Not a Film
March 1, 2012:
Critics Consensus: The Lorax is Good, But Not Tree-mendousNow that Oscar season is officially behind us, it might be a good time to take in some less...
What's Hot On RT
Movies Directed by Tyler Perry
Blockbuster news and reviews
Ellen Page in an intriguing new thriller
A gallery of classic books on film
Featured on RT
- Total Recall: Movies Directed by Tyler Perry 40
- Parental Guidance: The Great Gatsby, Jack Reacher, and Safe Haven 5
- Video Interview: Aftershock Producer Eli Roth 3
- Ray Harryhausen: 1920-2013 32
- Digital Multiplex: Cloud Atlas, Pulp Fiction and more 4
- RT on DVD and Blu-Ray: Jack Reacher, Mama, and Upstream Color 34
- Box Office Guru Wrapup: Iron Man 3 Soars Above the Rest 64
Top Headlines
-
Baz Luhrmann Wants DiCaprio for Hamlet
1
-
Bryan Singer Shooting X-Men: Days of Future Past in 3D and Simul-Cam
0
-
Avatar Sequels Shooting in 2014
2
-
Shane Black Confirmed for Doc Savage
0
-
Warner Bros. Plans New Dungeons & Dragons Movie
4
-
Adam Scott in Talks for Hot Tub Time Machine 2
0
-
Summit Already Thinking About Divergent Sequel
1
Fresh Links
Featured
10 Best Movie Trilogies
Pretty self-explanatory here; HitFix offers up their favorite trilogies of all time.
10 Jilted Movie Grooms
Feeling a little sappy? Here are 10 movie grooms who were left at the altar.
Weirdest Movie Siblings
From Twins to The Royal Tenenbaums, Moviefone explores cinema's oddest siblings.
50 Youth-Gone-Wild Movies
TimeOut lists the best movies about youth and rebellion.
30 Greatest Rock & Roll Movie Moments
Rolling Stone boldly proclaims the rockin'-est moments in cinema.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter!
Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
Foreign Titles
- This is not a film (DE)
- This is Not a Film (In Film Nist) (UK)
