Ten

Carrying on from here, Abbas Kiarostami returns with a close look at the life (and resulting complications) of a modern day Iranian woman. The entire movie is a compilation of (10) conversations held in a moving car by the leading lady (who delivers an outstanding performance) - which provides an insight into the issues swirling in her head. Her partners in these conversations are a variety of people - son / sister / fellow worshiper at a mosque / a prostitute / an old stranger lady / a friend who has been dumped by her lover; discussing a range of topics from religion, motherhood, to the role of a woman in a man's life etc. Its not so much about the moral / existential discussions, but all about the emotions / thoughts of this specific person i.e. the leading lady character.

Apart from the very life-like nature of the dialogues and performances by the various non-actors as one would expect from an Abbas K film, the background visuals also provides the viewer with a good feel of what the city of Tehran looks like. Just as 'Taste of Cherry', 'Ten' is yet another fantastic exhibition of film-making that focuses squarely on realism, that I appreciate big time.

Rating: * * *