100
RogerEbert.com
This is a film we’ve never seen before: Syeed explores the heart of a rarely visited landscape, and the souls of the resilient Kashmiri people. This is an amazing film.
Valley of Saints
Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
- India,
- United States
- 2012
- · 82m
Director
Musa Syeed
Cast
Mohammed Afzal,
Gulzar Ahmed Bhat,
Neelofar Hamid
Genre
Drama
A film set in the endangered lake communities of Kashmir. Gulzar, a young working-class boatman plans to run away in search of a better life with his best friend, but a sudden military curfew derails their departure. Forced to wait, Gulzar takes a job assisting a scientist who collects water samples in the lake, revealing dangerous pollutants.
Stream Valley of Saints
What are critics saying?
90
The New York Times by Stephen Holden
Valley of Saints finds a poignant humanity in this chaste romance, which awakens in Gulzar a wondrous sense of possibility, along with a new awareness of the world’s complexity.
90
Village Voice by Serena Donadoni
Valley of Saints is a marvel of neorealism, with nonprofessional actors facing the same hurdles as their characters and writer/director Syeed improvising in shifting circumstances.
80
The Hollywood Reporter by Justin Lowe
The film’s bucolic mood is constantly threatened by the prevailing reality of violence and injustice in the region, a creeping tension that Syeed carefully calibrates to emphasize the tenuousness of his characters’ relationships.
70
Variety by Dennis Harvey
Leaves just an anecdotal impact, but handsome lensing, acoustic score and male leads’ playful rapport lend it gentle appeal.
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