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Ten (2002)
Directed by: Abbas Kiarostami
Date of birth: 22 June 1940, Teheran, Iran
Writing credits: Abbas Kiarostami
Country: France / Iran
Language: Farsi
Color: Color
Runtime: 94 minutes
Released: 2002
Genre: Drama

Synopsis

In TEN, celebrated Iranian writer-director Abbas Kiarostami (Taste of Cherry, Through the Olive Trees) once again casts his masterful cinematic gaze upon the modern sociopolitical landscape of his homeland -- this time as seen through the eyes of one woman as she drives through the streets of Tehran over a period of several days. Her journey is comprised of ten conversations with various female passengers -- including her sister, a hitchhiking prostitute and a jilted bride -- as well as her imperious young son. As Kiarostami's "dashboard cam" eavesdrops on these lively, yet heart-wrenching road trips, a complex portrait of distaff Iran comes sharply into focus.

OFFICIAL SELECTION 2002 NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL

Synopsis taken from Zeitgeistfilm

***

Ten sequences in the emotional lives of six women and the challenges that they face at one particular moment in those lives, that could just as easily be ten sequences in the emotional life of the one same woman...

Exploring for a long time children's sensitivity ("The Key", "Homework", "Where is the Friend's Home?", "Under the Olive Trees"), Abbas Kiarostami, a man who often wears dark sunglasses, is back at the Cannes film festival this year to present his latest film, Ten.

"This Film, says Kiarostami, is my own "two words". It resumes almost everything. I say "almost" because i'm already thinking about my next film. A one-word film perhaps...".

Kiariostami has been nominated several times in Cannes for his previous efforts such as 1992's "Zendegi Edame Darad" or 2001's "A.B.C Africa".
20-5-2002 9:33

Extracts of Dialogues

-Life is so vast, why depend on just one person?

-Why not? Why not be different?

-It's not love. It's an illusion.

-If it's an illusion, what is love, then?

-First, you must love yourself. You despise yourself so much, you hurt yourself.

Has he gone? Too bad. There's more than one man in the world. And you're still crying?
Go on. Leave him too.

-I can't!

-You're wrong to cling to him. It's an illusion. That's all!

***

Abbas Kiarostami on TEN

Sometimes, I tell myself that TEN is a film that I could never make again. You cannot decide to make such a film... It's a little like CLOSE-UP. It's possible to continue along the same path but it requires a great deal of patience. Indeed, this is not something that can be repeated easily. It must occur of its own accord, like an incident or a happening...At the same time, it requires a great deal of preparation. Originally, this was the story of a psychoanalyst, her patients and her car, but that was two years ago...
Read the rest at Zeitgeistfilm

Actors

Reza YADZDANI
Vahid GHAZI
Mandana SHARBAF
Amene MORADI
Amin MAHER
Kamran ADL
Morteza TABATABAII
Bahman KIAROSTAMI
Mastaneh MOHAJER
Mazdak SEPANLU
Mania AKBARI
Roya ARABSHAHI
Katayoun TALEIDZADEH

(All info is taken from Cannes Film Festival's Home Page)

10 (Iran/France)
May 21, 2002
A summary by Kirk Honeycutt

Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami reduces cinema to a minimalist extreme in his film "Ten." He gives us 10 sequences over several days. Each takes place in the same car with the same woman driver and a stationary camera focused on either her or a single passenger as we eavesdrop on their conversations. From these seemingly offhanded sequences, we extract many details about this woman and her passengers, Iranian society and the lives they all lead.

So rigorous and, for the eyes at least, wearying a film demands patience from an audience. It is well rewarded, but the concept does limit the film's theatrical life. Certainly, Kiarostami's name ensures future festival slots and substantial play dates worldwide.

The woman driver, we quickly learn, is a divorced mother of a strong-willed 7-year-old boy. She has remarried and clearly views herself as a modern woman in a male-dominated society. Other than her son, all other passengers are female. She chauffeurs her sister, a friend who wants to marry, an older woman on her way to pray, a weeping friend whose lover has left and -- somewhat implausibly -- a streetwalker.

The son is the most fascinating companion. He takes his father's side in the divorce and constantly accuses his mother of selfishness. He is, in fact, well on his way to becoming his father.

With her women passengers, the driver exhibits curiosity about others as well as frustrations with men and the social dictates of Iranian society -- to say nothing of all the bad drivers around her.

These 10 sequences are moments frozen in time, which reveal a surprising amount about the emotional lives of the movie's characters. By its very nature, such a film is dialogue-heavy and uncinematic. Nonetheless, "Ten" is a fascinating portrait of a society that is not that much different from our own after all.

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