Pluskylang Great Film overall

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Sohrab Rahimi I first saw this film in Malmö Film Festival 2006th A very interesting Iranian film by the female director Mania Akbari. The actors perform their roles with great reality and it makes the film affects the audience deeply. It may be uncomfortable at times because of sincerity that patients are explored. A new generation of Iranian films has been born. Here we see that the couple has relationship and marital problems similar to those found in Western countries. It could be about jealousy, abortion. It can be about dancing with another person, homosexuality, sexuality, free relationships and so on. In this film we see a different picture than we're used to from newspapers and televisions. We meet a modern Iran with modern society's problems. This is a wonderful change that is on the process in Iran and Iranian films. Mania Akbari is leading in that way. This is an excellent film with a very high performance.Sohrab Rahimi

runamokprods An interesting experimental Iranian film, shot on DV, with shades of John Cassavettes. A series of 7 vignettes about married couples. Each story is about different couple, but all are played by the same two actors. Each scene is one shot only, mostly close ups panning back and forth, while the couple is on some mode of transportation (a motorbike, a train, a ski lift). The acting has a rough, improvisational feel, that works very well for the most part. The only negative is that the film starts to get repetitive in theme as well as style. Each story is about women being repressed in some way, and while I understand that's an important theme (in Iran, but really anywhere) I wish it had covered more elements of how couples relate. Still, I'm glad I saw it.

Brandy001 Directed by Mania Akbari, dedicated to Abbas Kiarostami Starring Mania Akbari, Bijan Daneshmand Mania Akbari, best known as the actress in Abbas Kiarostami's "Ten" wrote, directed and starred in this film which is a series of seven conversations between a man and a woman. In each section Bijan Daneshmand plays the part of the man, he also produced the film.Each of the conversations deals with a different topic that raises differences between men and women, 1 or 2 are issues which are more prominent within a Muslim or other strict religious society but the majority are universal.The first section caused the film to be banned in Iran, a woman's virginity is forcibly taken by her fiancé, why? because in his words "I had to be sure" that she was a virgin. Immediately you are thrown into a society where the majority of women are treated as second class citizens, checked to ensure their virginity is intact before marriage because the loss of it is a source of deep family shame. The woman worries how she will explain the bloody stain to her family while the man appears pretty blasé about the whole incident.Each section picks up a different issue - petty jealousy and attention seeking, abortion and the importance of having a son to carry on the family line, infidelity, what it would be like to be the opposite sex and even lesbianism. The conversations are natural and frank, you feel as though you are eavesdropping on the couples. Apart from one of the sections, the conversations all occur in moving vehicles representing the journeys couples embark on together through life.The chapters are well filmed and special note must be made on the third part which was filmed in busy traffic in Tehran, the couple start of on a motorbike with a young child, because they keep arguing the wife and child disembark from the bike and get a lift from a passing car, the husband on his bike forces the car to pull over, the wife and child exit and after another argument they all ride off on the bike again. Doesn't sound too impressive till you realise it was all done in a single take, no cutting or editing and in real traffic, very skilled film making.As already noted, a lot of these issues are universal but probably more emphasised because of the strict religious background, it is common around the world that a man who puts it about is a stud and is held in esteem by his peers while a woman who does the same is a tart or slut, not only in the eyes of men but of other women as well, something isn't quite right with that ideology.As far as the title goes, I had assumed before seeing the film that the "20 Fingers" referred to the couples, 2 hands each, 20 fingers between them. During the film we're told through one of the conversations that it refers to a remark the woman's Grandmother had made along the lines of "The 20 fingers represented the number of men a woman could sleep with and still be regarded as a woman, any more than 20 and she would be regarded as a prostitute." I was taken aback but this remark is probably metaphorical.This is very brave film-making and hopefully we will see more from Mania Akbari, Recommended viewing.

hamidrichard This film is one that when you leave the cinema, you go on talking about it for days to come. It engages you. Seven conversations between a man and a woman: played by Bijan Daneshmand and Mania Akbar. They are not just conversations, they are energy charged , emotionally engaging conversations, ending sometimes in a fight or massive argument. As a viewer you get very involved, Filmed beautifully, you do not feel the presence, the existence of a camera. It flows so smoothly. The part played by the man is challenging , portraying this insecure person, and yet a man that wants to be seen strong, a middle eastern man. Pretending that he likes to give freedom to his partner, but when it really that freedom is requested, it is denied. An impressive performance by Daneshmand. Mani Akbar, seen in "Ten" over 2 years ago, gives a good solid performance as a young woman wanting more freedom and movement in her life. Highly recommended film.