The Runner

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The Runner

Released Jun 21, 1991

1h 34m

Drama

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100%

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20 Reviews

87%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Amiro, an illiterate 11-year-old orphan living alone in an abandoned tanker in the Iranian port city of Abadan, survives by shining shoes, selling water, and diving for deposit bottles, while being bullied by both adults and competing older kids. But he finds solace by dreaming about departing cargo ships and airplanes and by running... seemingly to nowhere.

Derek Smith

Slant Magazine

To borrow the title of a film by Amir Naderi’s contemporary, Abbas Kiarostami, The Runner is a portrait of life and nothing more.

Apr 1, 2024

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Kathleen Sachs

Chicago Reader

His gleeful entreaty is open for interpretation: is he merely seeking attention from the enviable explorers within, or do they represent a yearning for a sort of liberation?

Feb 11, 2023

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Christy Lemire

FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)

It is just joyous. Tactile, gritty and vivid, but it is also so much fun. The joy and vibrancy of filmmaking just leaps off the screen.

Dec 20, 2022

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Joshua Ryan

FandomWire

The Runner plays out with an unflinching realism. It doesn’t spend its time on exposition or massive set pieces. The events of the films are relatively minor from a cinematic standpoint, but their impact and importance to Amiro are immeasurable.

Rated: 10/10

Oct 1, 2024

Full Review

George Elkind

Metro Times (Detroit, MI)

Without veering into romanticism or glossing over struggle, Naderi shoots his film in a way that accounts carefully for the medium’s formal interplay of performance, pacing, and light.

Mar 23, 2023

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Michael J. Casey

Boulder Weekly

The film is rich with symbolism, but none of it feels forced or academic. Rare are movies this effortless.

Rated: 4.5/5

Mar 16, 2023

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Audience Member

Love This Very Much.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/28/08

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Audience Member

Poetry. Profound, beautiful, non-verbal, gets you in the gut. Most astonishing ending of any movie ever.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/24/08

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Amir Naderi

Director

Majid Niroumand

Amiro

Abbas Nazeri

Actor

Musa Torkizadeh

Actor

Amir Naderi

Screenwriter

Behrouz Gharibpour

Screenwriter

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Synopsis

Amiro, an illiterate 11-year-old orphan living alone in an abandoned tanker in the Iranian port city of Abadan, survives by shining shoes, selling water, and diving for deposit bottles, while being bullied by both adults and competing older kids. But he finds solace by dreaming about departing cargo ships and airplanes and by running... seemingly to nowhere.

Director: Amir Naderi
Producer: Ali Reza Zarrin
Screenwriter: Amir Naderi, Behrouz Gharibpour
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Persian
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 21, 1991, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Oct 28, 2022
Runtime: 1h 34m