Abbas Kiarostami is Iran's best-known and most critically acclaimed filmmaker, so any film by him is worth seeing and discussing, and Ten is no exception. Still, Roger Ebert makes a valid point in his fair-minded dismissal of this film when he states that "anybody could make a film like this." Ebert is referring to the fact that Ten--shot with a small digital video camera attached to one car's dashboard--consists entirely of conversations between a young Iranian divorcée and several different passengers who ride with her over the course of several days as she navigates the crowded streets of Tehran. The camera is statically pointed at driver or passenger--you never see both in the same shot--and while the conversations (with the woman's bratty young son, her sister, a friend, an old woman, and a prostitute) serve to reveal many fascinating facets of Iranian society, there's nothing even remotely interesting about Kiarostami's visual approach to this "story." It's not a documentary (Kiarostami loosely guided his actors but was never actually present in the car, and culled this 90-minute film from 23 hours of material), but it's not a narrative film either, at least not in the conventional sense, and the viewer's tolerance will depend entirely on his or her interest in the conversations that unfold during seemingly endless scenes of driving, driving, and more driving. Yes, Ten offers insights into life in Iran--particularly about women in a male-dominant society--but beyond its ethnographic relevance, this one's only for Kiarostami's admirers. Optional. [Note: DVD extras include the documentary "10 on Ten," in which the filmmaker generously shares his views about his working methods and his function as an artist. Bottom line: a good supplement to a disappointing film.] (J. Shannon)
Ten
Zeitgeist, 90 min., in Farsi w/English subtitles, not rated, VHS or DVD: $29.99, Nov. 2 Volume 19, Issue 6
Ten
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