The wife of Nasim, an Afghan immigrant in Iran, is gravely ill. He needs money to pay for her care, but his day labor digging wells does not pay enough. A friend connects Nasim to a two-bit promoter who sells tickets to watch Nasim ride a bicycle continuously for a week. The promoter brings in sick and aged spectators, haranguing them to find hope in Nasim's strength. Aided by his son, who feeds him as he rides, Nasim grinds out the days and shivering nights. Local officials believe this may be a plot and Nasim may be a spy; they try to sabotage him as do those who bet he won't finish the week. Will desperation alone get Nasim the money? Is any triumph an illusion?
Directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf
immigrant
afghanistan
motorcycle
IMDB
N/A
Letterboxd
3.6 / 5
Cast
Samira Makhmalbaf
Esmail Soltanian
Showman
Crew
Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Director
Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Writer
Majid Entezami
Original Music Composer
Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Editor
Ali Reza Zarrindast
Director of Photography
Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Production Design
Popular Reviews
8 reviews
Maddox
6.0★ · 06/18/25
I have mixed feelings over this one. Compared to all the other films I have seen from my stupid “history of motion pictures” class I was most invested in this one. But was it necessarily good? Ehhhhhh not really. I mean I’m not totally sure how to feel on this one. This was my first film I have seen from Mohsen Makhmalbaf and I can definitely say it will not be my last but the film seemed messy at times and the acting was okay at best. Overall decent film and I can see what the director was going for and he definitely was able to get his point across but I mean it was okay. I don’t really know how to feel about this one.
I have mixed feelings over this one. Compared to all the other films I have seen from my stupid “history of motion pictures” class I was most invested in this one. But was it necessarily good? Ehhhhhh not really. I mean I’m not totally sure how to feel on this one. This was my first film I have seen from Mohsen Makhmalbaf and I can definitely say it will not be my last but the film seemed messy at times and the acting was okay at best. Overall decent film and I can see what the director was going for and he definitely was able to get his point across but I mean it was okay. I don’t really know how to feel about this one.
