83
At times it may be difficult to watch, and the plot does feel episodic, but it remains powerful, challenging filmmaking.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
70
The New York Times by Ben Kenigsberg
The Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf (“A Moment of Innocence,” “Kandahar”) is not known for his kineticism, but The President — which he has suggested is his comment on the Arab Spring — has surprising urgency and sweep.
60
Time Out London by Cath Clarke
Makhmalbaf says he was inspired by the Arab Spring, and his film is pitched somewhere between allegory and satire.
60
The Hollywood Reporter by Deborah Young
All this is portrayed in such elementary terms it could be the libretto of a 19th century operetta, or maybe a children’s film, were it not so disturbing.
50
An allegorical lesson about dictatorships and the cycle of violence they breed, Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s The President unfortunately offers a simplified and simplistic reduction, akin to an ancient morality tale without the ancients’ brevity – rather than sophistication cloaked in innocence, the pic feels like didacticism submerged in naivete.
80
The President has an urgent relevance to all too many countries around the world, including those touched by the Arab Spring; a darkly comic and poignant portrait of an Ozymandian fall from grace and the subsequent damage that ensues.
83
Portland Oregonian by Marc Mohan
Inspired by uprisings in the former Soviet bloc as well as, more pointedly, the Arab Spring, Makhmalbaf serves up a surprisingly tense, sometimes poignant parable. It's good to have him back.
60
Village Voice by Michael Nordine
Makhmalbaf makes you feel the enormity of the president's loss of self even if you don't actually feel for him.
80
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
The President is a striking movie - and a bold and challenging change of directorial pace from Mohsen Makhmalbaf.
83
Even though The President lacks some of the subtlety that made Makhmalbaf’s previous work transcendent, this film is still a worthy testament to a fiery storyteller determined to use the medium as a necessary means of subversion.