Kiarostami films the encounters and the landscapes with a patient, painterly tenderness, but his modest methods conceal vast political goals.

This is a deeply, patiently observational film, and the details Kiarostami emphasizes ... seem somehow profound in their banality, a mystery of ineffable beauty.

Kiarostami’s style owes more to Italian Neorealism than the French New Wave and one of the greatest pleasure of watching his films is the views they offer of ordinary people leaving ordinary lives in Iran, far away from the centers of power and commerce.

The best-known Iranian director has made another incomparable film.