One man's breaking point comes off as a stifled cry of collective revolt.

| Jun 28, 2021

The movie, an acute study of Iran's class structure and mores, will reveal it all to you in a series of episodes where Hussein often ends up eating the pie. A must-see.

| Jun 5, 2021

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 30, 2006

An incisive portrait of one man's quiet rage at, and heartbreakingly violent response to, social inequality.

| Original Score: A- | May 3, 2005

I'm glad I saw Crimson Gold. Watching it is like getting a peek behind the curtain.

Full Review | Aug 7, 2004

Panahi's movie, unsurprisingly, has been outlawed in Iran. Nobody likes a prophet.

Full Review | Aug 1, 2004

The movie can feel slow and tedious, but the supper it makes us work for is nourishing.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jun 25, 2004

It's every bit as outwardly unruffled as its hero, but inwardly it seethes with the very same gradually accumulated rage. A devastating and beautiful film.

| Original Score: 5/5 | May 28, 2004

A film both shocking and humane, as if Taxi Driver were somehow rewritten by Chekhov.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 28, 2004

It's the singular presence of Hussein Emadeddin -- a nonprofessional like all the other actors Panahi has used in his films -- that gives the film much of its soul and mystery.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Apr 23, 2004

The success of Crimson Gold depends to an intriguing degree on the performance of its leading actor.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 16, 2004

A stark, minimalist near-masterpiece.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Apr 15, 2004

The leisurely pace and fatalism become riveting, and the film takes on an unnerving, unblinking intimacy, even as the characters remain distant.

| Original Score: A- | Apr 8, 2004

An eloquent look at a man made less human by the world around him.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 2, 2004

An engrossing tale of class differences that reveals tiny details of one man's descent into hell.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Mar 26, 2004

The year's first great movie.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Mar 26, 2004

A remarkable work, as much for its uncompromising view of a claustrophobic urban landscape as for its always-muted compassion.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Mar 25, 2004

A mesmerizing, and devastating, story.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Mar 21, 2004

Emadeddin's performance, due either to the actor's medicated state or perhaps to the symptoms of the disease itself, is a marvel of everyman affectlessness.

| Feb 6, 2004

A fascinating whydunit.

Full Review | Feb 6, 2004