Blackboards
Leisure Time Features | Release Date: December 6, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
1
Negative:
2

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Makhmalbaf continues her rise as Iran's most promising young female filmmaker, and Iranian cinema extends its reign as one of the world's most exciting cultural phenomena. Read full review
91
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
The stripped-down dramatic constructs, austere imagery and abstract characters are equal parts poetry and politics, obvious at times but evocative and heartfelt. Read full review
88
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Makhmalbaf finds room for moments of humor and humanity. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Like so much Iranian cinema, Blackboards is a work of lyrical propaganda. But its metaphors are opaque enough to avoid didacticism, and the film succeeds as an emotionally accessible, almost mystical work. Read full review
80
The New York TimesStephen Holden
An indelible and ultimately moving vision of humanity buffeted by the elements and by international political tides. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
A fascinating allegory of life in Iranian Kurdistan, a remote borderland still deeply scarred by years of war with Iraq. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Director Samira Makhmalbaf made this raw and effective parable with the recognizable help of her father, legendary director Mohsen Makhmalbaf. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleCarla Meyer
Slyly powerful. Read full review
70
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
Like many other Iranian films, Blackboards counters the generally broadcast ideas about this part of the world. It is a testament of quiet endurance, of common concern, of reconciled survival. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
We've got the trademark elements but not their magical bonding, and the result is a selection of scenes in search of a movie. Read full review
40
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Episodic and minimalist to a fault, Blackboards makes its ironic point about education, then makes it again a few times over for good measure, rarely expanding beyond its narrow seriocomic agenda. Read full review
20
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Blackboards is both shrill and soporific, and because everything is repeated five or six times, it can seem tiresomely simpleminded. Read full review
10
Film ThreatPhil Hall
About as much fun as a grouchy ayatollah in a cold mosque. Read full review
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