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      Where Is the Friend's Home?

      1987 1 hr. 27 min. Drama List
      100% 11 Reviews Tomatometer 91% 2,500+ Ratings Audience Score An Iranian schoolboy scours a neighboring village for a classmate's home to return an important notebook. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

      View All (83) audience reviews
      Yuvraj C Abbas Kiarostami's Where is the Friend's house? is simple and deceptive film. it tells simple story of Ahmed seeks the journey of returning friend's notebook which he mistakenly brought home. He is searching his friend Mohammed Reza's home to save him from expulsion as the earlier in the classroom teacher has warned Mohammed Reza for not doing homework in notebook. Abbas Kiarostami tells this simple story in poetic manner but he he deceptively shows the authoritarian nature of the Iranian society where young people must obey things said by an elderly people followed in certain manner. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/25/23 Full Review G' melos D No podemos creer que tenga una calificación tan alta... La historia es lenta y aburrida, desarrollandose a ese mismo paso, con personajes con diálogos eternos y que no aportan nada de nada, el protagonista puede llegar a ser muy fastidioso con el mismo dialoguito de siempre, y el final es lo más anticlimático y monótono que pueda haber. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 05/26/23 Full Review Audience Member No, this is not part of the DC Universe, it's probably the furthest you could possibly get from that world actually. Abbas Kiarostami's film is the first in the so called 'Koker Trilogy'; a coining that had no influence from Kiarostami himself. The friend of the title is a young boy, Mohamed, who in the opening scene is scolded by his schoolteacher for forgetting his homework book (he left it at his cousins house who is also in the class and returns it to him). However, Ahmed, who the story focuses on and who sits beside Mohamed, mixes up their homework books at the end of the day, only realising when he arrives home. Knowing that Mohamed is under threat of expulsion if he doesn't complete his homework in the book, Ahmed takes it upon himself to return the book, despite Mohamed living in a neighbouring village he isn't familiar with, being helped and hindered on the way by various locals. I was lucky enough to track down a recent blu-ray restoration of the trilogy, and the opening film is a sumptuous visual treat, offering a fascinating cultural insight into the the village life of the Iranian region. The storyline is as simple as it sounds, but that's not what what the viewer is here for. The beautiful Persian dialogue, so naturally delivered by the cast, makes for a gorgeously simple tale of morality, cultural authority, and innocence. I'm hugely excited to watch the remaining films in the trilogy. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member Beautiful use of music, minimal dialogues, simplicity at the best is what I can say about this film. Can see a master filmmaker in making with this first installment in Koker series. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review raphael g Honestly, I found it a tad too dull and couldn't finish it. Nice colors and textures, but I am perhaps coming to the realization that Kiarostami can be a bit too dull without creating atmosphere or enough interesting depth in his movies. I'll of course watch more of them, but this is the third, and so far only The wind will carry us has really had some moments. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review William L Kiarostami had a greater understanding of human nature than the vast majority of filmmakers could ever hope to. Where is My Friend's House? perfectly conveys the wonder, confusion, and idealism of childhood, as a simple task quickly becomes an epic adventure composed of moments that seem insignificant to all but Ahmedpour's Ahmed, the protagonist. The film uses elements that are distinctively Iranian (particularly the patriarchal, authoritarian nature of society and family) to comment on universal generational phenomena - the nostalgic, strict grandfather, the overbearing mother, the disinterested neighbors are characters that each viewer will recognize in some real-life counterpart. Simple, streamlined, and very much in line with past enorealism movements, Kiarostami's film may echo previous works that take advantage of the perspectives of young characters, but it remains a fantastic piece of film. (4.5/5) Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/04/21 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

      Cast & Crew

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      Critics Reviews

      View All (11) Critics Reviews
      Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com In comparison to his other films, House does indeed convey a much tighter focus, a surprisingly tense, anguished tale of two school boy friends. Rated: 4/5 Aug 11, 2020 Full Review James Kendrick Q Network Film Desk like the neorealist works from which it descends, deceptively simple and utterly profound Rated: 4/4 Oct 10, 2019 Full Review Mattie Lucas From the Front Row Its final image is one of such profound beauty that it rivals the iconic freeze-frame ending of Truffaut's The 400 Blows, perfectly capturing the sublime, gossamer belief in basic human kindness inherent in childhood. Rated: 4/4 Oct 5, 2019 Full Review Sean Axmaker Parallax View On one level Kiarostami paints a society rooted in authoritarian demands, but on another he reminds how us kids get lost in the grown-up world of business and responsibility. Feb 19, 2012 Full Review Fernando F. Croce CinePassion Or: How the whole world can fit into an Our Gang episode Sep 25, 2009 Full Review Jeffrey M. Anderson Combustible Celluloid I highly recommend all of Abbas Kiarostami's films, but to start with I'd suggest Where Is the Friend's Home, the simplest and most moving of his films. May 26, 2006 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis An Iranian schoolboy scours a neighboring village for a classmate's home to return an important notebook.
      Director
      Abbas Kiarostami
      Screenwriter
      Abbas Kiarostami
      Production Co
      Kanun parvaresh fekri, Farabi Cinema Foundation
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      Persian