Audience Member
Peculiar tale of an Afghani migrant to Iran who, in order to raise funds for his wife's emergency hospital stay, agrees to ride a bicycle in a small circle for seven days non-stop. Of course, this is a circus, especially when extreme bets are placed on the outcome and the opposing forces seek to influence the result - both have teams of doctors attempting to fill Nazim (or breeze, nee Ateh) with either vitamins or Valium. Director Mohsen Makhmalbaf creates a weird feeling of hyper-reality which might be the result of the woozy Arabic music, the occasionally bright colour scheme (many blues) and the strange and surreal proceedings. Standing back a bit, it seems that the film could be seen as an allegory for the exploitation of the desperate among us -- perhaps Afghanis in Iran, particularly, but humans more generally. What won't they do for money and what sort of sick game might it be for those who are rich and powerful to make sport out of or money as a result of suffering. Yet, the film never feels preachy or horrible, just strange and rather suspenseful - will Ateh complete the feat or not?
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/04/23
Full Review
Audience Member
[center][img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/coverv/66/233666.jpg[/img]
[left]An absolutely spell-binding persian film. It is surreal beyond David Lynches Hollywoodized idea of surrealism (yes, taking a shot at the weak Mullholland Dr.). The acting pierces the screen, with gritty realism as we watch one man literally cycling in circles non-stop for 7 days to keep his dying wife alive amid poverty in Iran while his son watches. Each character is developed perfectly, as the son falls in love with a young girl amid all the poverty and comes of age, while other characters deal with their own dilemmas.
Director Mohsen Makhmalbaf manages to play in the themes of greed and class warfare while focusing on the man's plight on the cycle.
The cinematography and lighting combine to create the surreal Iranian desert into an alien planet of corruption and suffering. This film can't be missed.
(6-15-06)
[/left]
[/center]
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
01/26/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Many features of cheap atomspher of newly egyptian movies , even though , I like it , many frames are very touchable , the music give the movie power many times , nasim is a must be loved person and forced you to sympathizing with'em ... !
but I can't ignore that the movie doesn't run that smoothly .. you'll always say ' it can be made better than this , it was to be better than this '
and I want to thank the man who do editting for disturbuing this movie ... !
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/02/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Mohsen Makhmalbaf is the director mentioned in Kiarostami's masterful "mockumentary" <i>Close-Up</i> (1990), and this film is mentioned as a key film of fundamental importance to the life of Sabzian.
This is Makhmalbaf's fourth film in his extensive filmography that consists approximately of 27 titles, and the versatility displayed in this rather short effort is remarkable. The film is about an Afghan refugee in the need of money to pay the medical expenses of his gravely ill wife, leading him to resort to desperate measures.
The most important thing to note is that the film had an enormous potential to rise a considerable amount of clichés and a spoiled melodrama to the surface, but this is just the cover-up for something much deeper behind. <i>The Cyclist</i> is a commentary against the consummerist tendencies of a neoliberal economy exploiting any event, place or person possible to milk profits out of it. Nevertheless, for these purposes to be successful, a society hungry for participating in the other side of this business is required. Both sides are willing participants in this exploitation. The plot follows the same tradition that Wilder's <i>Ace in the Hole</i> (1951), as a circus of spectators gathers around a martyr of entertainment to witness what most of them claim to be impossible, yet psychologically expect it to happen at the expense of the suffering of the host.
Technically, the film is interestingly accomplished and put together, frequently utilizing a wide-lens view to accentuate the suffering of the protagonist, the anxiety of the people closest to him, and the malicious intentions of several parties involved. The direction is intrepid and vivid, with the details of a fully developed circus being displayed at every single shot, and the score beautifully stinks to the 80s, giving a nightmarish tone to the disturbing aspects of this society. These technical qualities compensate the rather faulty editing throughout. However, they greatly correlate with the film's neutral tone and dark aura which provides a sense of unease given its unexpected outcome.
Without making the mistake of being clichéd or melodramatic, and with a courageous scope, <i>The Cyclist</i> is an strong, expressionistic punch to the stomach about animal inhumanity, the power of love, and the danger of embarking into the disgusting boat of financial interests.
84/100
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/22/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Beautiful and saddening film about a man who engages in a ridiculous contest to continually cycle for days in order to meet his wife's medical bills. A middle eastern classic.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
02/07/23
Full Review
Audience Member
In the aftermath of the Soviet invasion and civil war, hundreds of thousands of Afghans fled across the border with Iran. There they struggled to survive, offering themselves as day labourers at exploitive wages, harassed by officials and just ignored by the bulk of Iranian society. Mohsen Makhmalbaf's 1987 film BICYCLERAN ("The Cyclist") is an allegory for the Afghan refugee experience,
Nasim (Moharram Zaynalzadeh) must pay the hospital stay of his ailing wife and bring up his son Jomeh (Mohammad Reza Maleki), but even backbreaking labour as a well-digger doesn't pay the bills. When a local business learns that Nasim once rode a bicycle for three nonstop, he offers the desperate man the chance to save his family: ride a bicycle for a week in a makeshift circus ring.
Makhmalbaf communicates Nasim's lack of humanity by giving him very few lines. Most of the film consists of arguments among the gamblers and local politicians who stand to profit or lose from Nasim's act, as in the background he circles around and around and around. This film would already be heartrending if it were a straight-up tale, but Makhmalbaf makes it even more poignant with a light dusting of magic realism.
Though less elegant than some of his later films like NUN VA GULDOON (released internationally as "A Moment of Innocence"), this is a memorable film and it's easy to see how it established Makhmalbaf's reputation internationally. Iranian cinema holds many delights, and this is one of its triumphs.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/08/23
Full Review
Read all reviews
>
