Bani-Etemad uses practical characters and somber camerawork to tell an inspirational tale and reveal the levels of sexism in Iran.
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03/21/03
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Under the Skin of the City (2003)
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Reviews Counted:31
Fresh:27
Rotten:4
Average Rating:7/10
Theatrical Release:Mar 14, 2003 Limited
Synopsis: UNDER THE SKIN OF THE CITY marks the first U.S. release of a film by Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, one of Iran's most acclaimed filmmakers, and widely regarded as the First Lady of Iranian Cinema.... [More]
Starring: Golab Adineh, Mohammed Reza Forutan, Baran Kosari, Ebrahin Sheibani
Director: Rakhshan Bani-Etemad
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Reviews for Under the Skin of the City
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12/06/05
Somehow the calamities that befall Tuba and her children take on the purgative and redeeming force of tragedy.
03/13/03
Top CriticClick to read the article
03/28/03
Top CriticHonored by Iranian film critics as the best film of 2001, and one can understand why without finding the film itself entirely satisfying in its voluble bleakness and expressionist despair.
03/20/03
Top CriticFine performances in a family melodrama that doesn't quite stand out as particularly special.
06/06/03
Ms. Bani-Etemad seems to have a firm hand on the social pulse on her nation, particularly the slowly changing roles of women in a place where change is eyed with both desire and suspicion.
06/05/03
Top CriticA lyrical, mesmerizing look at the struggles one average Iranian family faces in their daily lives.
05/21/03
Distinguished, like so much contemporary Iranian cinema, by the way its striking visuals and strategic use of sound tell the underlying story.
04/03/03
No review available.
08/12/05
Strikes a melodramatic, soap operatic tone...doesn't penetrate deep enough to touch a raw emotional nerve.
06/07/03
Under the Skin of the City focuses on a hard-working and strong-willed mother in contemporary Teheran who demonstrates big-hearted courage in her difficult and self-giving life.
03/14/03
Under the Skin of the City focuses on a hard-working, strong-willed mother in Iran who demonstrates big-hearted courage in her life, perhaps more so than a soldier in battle.
03/14/03
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02/09/06
A reasonably compelling family drama gains heft by its attack on Iran's social system.
03/10/03
Rakhshan Bani-Etemad's social melodrama has a grim, eye-opening fascination in its details of inner-city Iran, but tends to beat us over the head with a sense of mission.
03/14/03
Top CriticSometimes fuzzy in structure, the movie is also uncompromisingly realistic, taking us into Tehran offices and factories and onto construction sites.
07/11/03
The film's finest moment comes right at the end...
01/07/02
Like many of Bani-Etemad's previous films, particularly her early documentaries, this polished, surprisingly slick drama exposes the human cost of Iran's rapid urbanization and capitalist expansion.
03/13/03
This splendid film is no mere polemic, for Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, often called the first lady of Iranian cinema, is above all an accomplished storyteller and dramatist who understands the evocative power of sound and image.
04/03/03
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