Where Is the Friend's Home?

In comparison to his other films, House does indeed convey a much tighter focus, a surprisingly tense, anguished tale of two school boy friends.

like the neorealist works from which it descends, deceptively simple and utterly profound

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.

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.

Or: How the whole world can fit into an Our Gang episode

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.

The closest thing I've ever seen to an Iranian action film.

It's only because so many directors have done more with a similar set-up that Where is the Friend's Home? feels somewhat lacking.

Even though very little takes place, the eighty-three minutes seem to fly by in real time.