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'The other Iranian gem was IT’S WINTER... a gentle, oblique riddler... The overall mood
is poetic'.
- Jonathan Romney, SIGHT AND SOUND
'A delicate cinematic poem... visual beauty and sensitive portrayal of an out-of-work drifter... a
classic approach to Iranian realism…painstakingly beautiful photography...'
- Deborah Young, VARIETY
'Visually superb... both stirring and unforgettable'
- EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
- Tom Dawson, TOTAL FILM
'A somber contemplation of desolation'
- James Cameron Wilson, FILM REVIEW
'One of those films that forces you to rethink your preconceptions about Iranian cinema'.
- SCREEN INTERNATIONAL
'An excellent Neo-realist adaptation... Indeed, Marhab replete with swagger and cool haircut, is
not your average Iranian protagonist... IT’S WINTER is ironically rather hot'.
- Kaleem Aftab, HOTDOG
'IT’S WINTER is stuck in time but yet moving aimlessly. That’s what makes it interesting.
Its realism is saddening but is all too believable…It’s worth watching...Rafi Pitts, the director,
succeeds in portraying the nakedness of life and work without forcing the story. He probably
does it so well by using non-actors who really bring out the bottom line in IT’S WINTER'.
- Liv Lewistschnik, SOCIALIST REVIEW
'We are not given the excuse to believe they are really ok because they can enjoy the odd cup
of soup. Such a false projection of happiness would let us off the hook too easily. The reality for
such people in modern day Iran is all too realistically portrayed.'
'Set against this austere and unwelcoming environment is a haunting and exotic song whose
words mirror both the opening scenes and the sense of isolation. As well as providing a themic
beauty that rises above all we see, the song maybe lends a useful insight for Westerners.'
'Although non-political, this frosty window into a country that has become almost closed to
Western eyes, easily conveys the futility of winning hearts and minds through rhetoric. In purely
cinematic terms, it has a quiet, stark beauty and a fragility of construction as one character
unknowingly supplants another only to repeat a cycle that has as its end in unthinkable personal
despair. It is a style that is not easy to relate to but one that is as fresh and crisp as anything that
has come out of a land that cinema has sometimes almost forgotten.'
- EYE FOR AN EYE WEBSITE
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