Represented by my all-favorite director and producer Martin Scorsese who actually doesn't need any introduction, comes Iranian film debut - Rhino Season by Kurish-Iranian director Bahmad Ghobadi. Ghobadi left Iran in 2010 and never returned. Starring Monica Bellucci, Turkish living legend Yilmaz Erdogan and Behrouz Vossoughi's first film after 20 year of absence in the big screen, this movie is what I call pure Masterpiece! I know most of the people won't agree with me, but this film has this Nuri Bilge Ceylan's style which I admire so strongly. It's slow paced drama that covers Iranian revolution and a love story that faces hardships and tragedy as a result of this revolution.Shot entirely in Turkey, the movie follows the ordeals of Sahel, a Kurdish-Iranian Poet, whose poems were misconstrued by the post- revolution regime of Iran as political, and landed him in jail for 30 Years. After he is released from jail, he travels to Turkey in search of his wife (played by Monica Bellucci) who is now remarried. Movie also stars some of the well-known young actors like Beren Saat and popular singer in Europe – Arash Labaf. The acting in this movie is phenomenal, especially by Belucci who speaks decent Farsi and demonstrates the ideal Iranian lady. The film shows the consequences of 30 years' absence of a husband who was thought to be dead and a story of a woman who was trapped from the beginning. The ending of the movie is left entirely up to the viewer. What amazes me the most that Rhino Season was independent production on low budget and none of the actors including Monica Bellucci were paid for their work. Nonetheless, the movie turned out to be remarkable! It is a pity that this movie has not been exposed to a wider audience. Note: If to compare, this movie doesn't come close to other Iranian master-crafts like "A Separation" which was directed by Ashgar Farhadi and won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film category back in 2012. Nevertheless, this movie has a message to the audience who will understand it. Note: Bahman Ghabodi's another known film "Nobody Knows About Persian Cats" was shown in Cannes Film Festival in 2009 which is also worth watching. In one word: for someone who enjoys political dramas like "Argo" or "Munich", this movie will catch your attention easily.

The movie is about a poet who was imprisoned for political reasons and when he was released, he tries to find his wife, Mina, in Instabul. The story itself is a very powerful story and the few lines that are used are supporting that atmosphere beautifully. Maybe it's because there are not much to say about it those things, and the persons keep their silence as a way to protect themselves from what had happened to them. The scenes and the shots are very realistic, and with the reading of the poem added over them, it gives a more poetic view on the cruel reality of the heroes. The unrealistic scenes, like the ones with the rhino, are nice, but some of them I couldn't see the meaning behind them. And there is a lot of symbolism in the film, so you have to keep watching and don't miss anything. To be honest, I didn't get the ending and some of the scenes, as they were back and forth and the ones at the ending too quick, like they were rushing the story to end. So 6 out of 10.

I am coming across many people, who are the so-called "critics" and speak lengthily about the hidden beauty of a film, or what the audience should feel or understand. I am an ordinary person and for me that film was stupid. Maybe the story would have been nice, maybe the camera man is good, but as a whole I went out of the cinema regretting those hour and a half. The only good thing about it was Monica Bellucci. Someone tried to make it more poetic, more artistic, but I only saw a man who out of no-where slept with his almost daughter, then a horse, then also this man ran over, yes-ran over a rhino, a rain of turtles...The characters did not act realistically in some cases and it was awful slow. It's like Rothko's paintings but in movies-too expensive, too much praises, but a person sometimes dares to wonder is that really art!

Presented by Martin Scorsese, 'Rhino Season' is the 6th full-length film by Bahman Ghobadi. Following his success with 'No One Knows About the Persian Cats' which earned him international recognition, Ghobadi's first non-Iranian production features an international cast. Old-timer Iranian Superstar, Behrouz Vosoughi returns to the screen after more than 20 years off the grid. He is joined by Italian Femme Fetale Monica Belucci, and a number of Prominent Turkish Actors and Actresses, namely Yilmaz Erdogan.Shot entirely in Turkey, the movie follows the ordeals of Sahel, a Kurdish-Iranian Poet, whose poems were misconstrued by the post-revolution regime of Iran as political, and landed him in Jail for 30 Years. After he is released from Jail, he travels to Turkey in search of his wife (played by Monicca Belucci) who is now remarried. It's loosely based on a true story, and the movie paints a realistic picture of a post-revolution Iran, in the hands of the vengeful servants of the Shah regime. Even Sahel's jail sentence is revealed to have had little to do with his poetry.The movie's primary language is Farsi, but there is little dialog going on altogether. Monica Belucci speaks a few lines of Farsi quite decently, but Yilmaz Erdogan doesn't do a great job. Obviously the reason behind his wasn't his Farsi-Speaking skills, but the fact that no Iranian actor hoping to keep his permission to act inside Iran, would ever consider doing a movie that depicts a half-naked Belucci. Behrouz Vosoughi's role has even less dialog, and mostly consists of smoking a cigarette in various gorgeous scenery.The locations were chosen brilliantly, and the camera work is exceptional. Several scenes in the movie are shot solely for the purpose of accompanying an off-camera poetry recital, and are perhaps of great appeal to poetry lovers.Other than that, the story unravels with a slow pace, and leaves the ending entirely up to the viewer. The acting is decent minus the Farsi accents, and the Soundtrack, while minimal, creates an appropriate atmosphere. If you enjoyed most of Ghobadi's work, you will enjoy this one too, but most people can agree that it's not his best. Nothing is particularly wrong with this movie, but nothing is particularly right either.