No Bears (2022)
95%RT Audience Score:
Awards & Nominations: NA
No Bears bears witness to Jafar Panahi’s incisive filmmaking while urging viewers to examine the complex layers of a deceptively simple story: a man oppressed and suppressed by his country.
“No Bears” is a powerful film that showcases Jafar Panahi’s insightful filmmaking. The movie tells the story of a man oppressed and suppressed by his country and challenges viewers to consider its complex themes.
Production Company(ies)
Film/TV/Theater, Foreign Language
Distributor
Janus Films
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
NR
Year of Release
2022
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital, Dolby
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 47m
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Language(s):Azerbaijani, Persian/Farsi/Dari
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Country of origin:Iran
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Dec 23, 2022 Limited
Genre(s)
Drama/Romance
Keyword(s)
starring Jafar Panahi, Naser Hashemi, Vahid Mobasheri, Bakhtiyar Panjeei, directed by Jafar Panahi, written by Jafar Panahi, drama, romance, Persian language, box office gross $8.5K, reviewed by Stephanie Zacharek, Glenn Kenny, David Fear, Barry Hertz, A.O Scott, Justin Chang, Avi Offer, Chris Knight, Nora Lee Mandel, Todd Jorgenson, Anne Brodie, Elena Lazic, Jafar Panahi’s No Bears, Iranian cinema, love stories, superstition, power, oppression, political, traditionalism, religious dogma, artistic suppression, remote directing, government suppression, mob rule, allegory, multi-layered fable, soul-nourishing, provocative, engrossing, captivating, effective, personalized, humanistic, incisive, indictment, self-discovery, better world, complex layers, deceptively simple story, Janus Films, MPAA rating N/A
Worldwide gross: NA
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend: $617,325
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $660,948
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,339
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Naser Hashemi – Village Chief
Vahid Mobasheri – Ghanbar
Bakhtiyar Panjeei – Bakhtiar
Director(s)
Jafar Panahi
Writer(s)
Jafar Panahi
Producer(s)
Jafar Panahi
Film Festivals
Venice, Toronto
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (70) | Top Critics (27) | Fresh (70)
There’s no way to watch this film without feeling mournful, or fearing for the man who made it.
December 26, 2022
Stephanie Zacharek
TIME Magazine
TOP CRITIC
[Panahi’s] work has not astonished like this in some time.
December 23, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Glenn Kenny
RogerEbert.com
TOP CRITIC
You leave feeling like you’ve just seen a truly extraordinary late work produced by one of the era’s greatest working auteurs, quickly followed by the sense of experiencing a sucker punch.
December 23, 2022
David Fear
Rolling Stone
TOP CRITIC
If watching a Jafar Panahi film is something of a political act, then it is also a soul-nourishing one.
December 22, 2022
Barry Hertz
Globe and Mail
TOP CRITIC
Panahi, whose courage and honesty are beyond doubt, has made a movie that calls those very qualities into question, a movie about its own ethical limits and aesthetic contradictions.
December 22, 2022
A.O. Scott
New York Times
TOP CRITIC
It’s a fierce critique of small-town traditionalism and religious dogma. But while this is an angry and ultimately devastating movie, it’s also a surprisingly playful and inventive one.
December 20, 2022
Justin Chang
NPR
TOP CRITIC
Provocative, engrossing and captivating.
December 28, 2022
Avi Offer
NYC Movie Guru
A fascinating, multi-layered fable in which the storytelling techniques of film butt up against the realities of the world.
December 27, 2022 | Rating: 4/5
Chris Knight
National Post
An effective, personalized allegory for the role of cinema within the Iranian theocratic, authoritarian regime and an incisive, yet humanistic indictment of oppression, from a traditional village on up.
December 24, 2022 | Rating: 10/10
Nora Lee Mandel
Maven’s Nest
… a journey of self-discovery with a powerful ending that reinforces the acclaimed filmmaker’s refusal to be silenced.
December 23, 2022
Todd Jorgenson
Cinemalogue
Iranian Jafar Panahi’s No Bears brings to light the suppression of artists in his homeland, who, like him, carry on – a stoic figure shooting, observing, and directing his feature remotely as tensions rise in brutal government suppression and mob rule.
December 23, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Anne Brodie
What She Said
Jafar Panahi’s ability to still clearly identify who the real culprits are is an inspiring testament to his clear-mindedness and his unshaken ability to imagine a better, more just world.
December 23, 2022 | Rating: A
Elena Lazic
The Playlist…
Plot
A filmmaker is relocated to a rural border town to remotely direct a new film in nearby Turkey – the story of which comes to sharply mirror disturbing events that begin to occur around him. As he struggles to complete his film, he finds himself thrust in the middle of a local scandal, confronting the opposing pulls of tradition and progress, city and country, belief and evidence, and the universal desire to reject oppression.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Fresh Kernels doesn’t have any goofs listed for the film “No Bears.”
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