Making only his second film outside of his native Iran, Kiarostami undercuts the rigid protocols of polite Japanese society with intimations of violence.
Overview
An old man and a young woman meet in Tokyo. She knows nothing about him, he thinks he knows her. He welcomes her into his home, she offers him her body. But the web that is woven between them in the space of twenty four hours bears no relation to the circumstances of their encounter.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
Kiarostami's apparent simplicity masks serious complexity.
Kiarostami is masterful in his layering of space, using glass walls, mirrors, and, in one instance, the aligned side windows of parked cars to suggest a world of divisions, both between people and within them.
Maybe it all serves a purpose, but a movie about empty people doesn't necessarily have to feel empty itself.
A Rorschach test of our own responses to the intimate drama unfolding before us.
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