source: Desert Dancer

A human-interest story that unfolds in a very meaningful and never-boring way. I particularly like the way the final dance choreography builds on the different moments of the movie and tells the shocking story of the young dancer. I also like very much how the movie shows how ordinary people of different cultures will always empathize with those that speak-up for human dignity and for freedom. Well done! I am a fairly sensitive person and was able to see the entire movie without skipping. Although there is brutality in the story, the movie handles scenes that have violence in a "sensible" way, not overdoing them, unlike what we so often see on screen. Definitively a movie worth seeing!

The dance scenes were very nice and attractive but the dialog and other story was a bit exaggeration!

I personally love this movie. It was so hard for me to believe that a country exists in this modern age that is so oppressive. This was a strong theme woven in a story about the love of expressing yourself through the arts, particularly through dance. My heart hurts that there are people that would literally beat other human beings to death simply because another chooses to use the talents God has given them. If there are ANY oppressed people reading this- wake up! talents are divine. Those gifts were given for you to use them, not hide them away. I don't care what religion you believe, I have found the "golden rule" to be present in almost every different type of "holy book" that exists. Treating others kindly and with love. If a government is suppressing it's people, it will continue to fail and make it's people miserable. Only after all people can unite in a loving way can success occur. This is what I got from the political standpoint. I agree with what another author wrote... this is probably an outlawed film in Iran. Anyone writing contrary is very likely a political extremist, or doesn't appreciate freedoms and arts very much. As for the dance- it was so beautifully performed and so powerful. If you're not connected to the arts, it may be hard to feel emotionally tied to this film, and that's okay. It's still worth watching and reflecting how grateful you can be that if you chose to dance, you can live happily and not worry about being killed for it. I know I personally feel extreme gratefulness for my country and all countries that are free and have governments that treat their citizens humanely. I wish freedoms for all those that want them, and humbling, understanding and forgiveness for those who want control. I appreciate the boldness of the director for making this film. It is an important piece. Thank you.

Intense dancing uninspired acting gets uninteresting after awhile.

If you like dance movies, this is for you. It's comparable to the best true-story dance movies like 'Mao's Last Dancer', 'Dancing Across Borders', and so on. If you liked those movies, you will love this. It's well cast, well acted, well danced, and very interesting and dramatic. I loved it! Highly recommended for dance-movie fans. The lead character is especially well cast, and he dances marvelously, with passion and beauty and skill, while also being an excellent actor.

The content of this movie is soft and 1/100 of the sad reality of youth living in that godforsaken country. if the catch you laughing/dancing/singing they beat you & call you whores. While the real animals basiji and their whores, get paid to torture and kill young boys and girls. this is our reality for 37 years. I left and anyone who could left. If you stay, you become depressed, put in prison or drug addict. that is what the ayatollahs want. watch this film and feel lucky that most basic human rights like enjoying music is not taken away from you

I viewed this movie after hearing about it through a friend. It didn't seem like a film I would usually be interested in after seeing some of the reviews from critics and users, but I gave it a chance anyway. I was very impressed, the story was great, the fact that it was based on a true story, and political facts made the film more put together and gave it a lot of depth. A lot of work and studying was put into this film, and I always give acclaim to those in the film industry who try hardest to put a story out there that is meant to be heard and for that reason I rate the film a 10. Definitely recommend everyone to see it, this is in no way a "boring" film.

The ONLY reason I had any interest in watching this was because Nazanin Boniadi (Fara from "Homeland") was in this. According to IMDb, she had top billing. So I figured, sure, I'll watch it. After all, even if the movie isn't very good, Nazanin is hot, so that would make up for it to some extent. NOT EVEN CLOSE!!!! NB is only in one scene at the very beginning for about a minute. Yes! About a minute of screen time. Time it! Somehow IMDb believes she was going to get top billing for that. In the actual credits of the movie, she gets 4th billing. I don't know how she got such high billing for so little screen time. The movie itself was a frickin' bore fest. Snooze fest. Call it whatever you want. It wasn't good. Watching paint dry would've been better, because at least you expect it to be boring if you watch paint dry, and nobody is saying Nazanin Boniadi is going to be staring in "watch paint dry." I know Iran has a very repressive regime, but couldn't they have made it about something more worthwhile? Nope. It had to be made about these people in the movie not being allowed to dance. I guess the sequel might be about them not being able to brush with Crest, or not be able to buy Hebrew National Hot Dogs. I don't know. All I can say is, if there's a sequel made, there won't be a sequel played in my computer. I gave this a 2-star rating. One star for the one minute Nazanine Boniadi was actually in the movie. The other star is for the talent it took to bore the heck out of me. Believe it or not, that does count as a talent, but not one anyone in this film should be proud of.

This piece of political trash is so hilariously made to trash Iran and it's people and government - as to be laughable. Considering the history of Persia (Iran) this movie would have made "yellow journalist" William Randolph Hearst giddy! In 1951 Mohammed Mossadeg was Time's Man of the year .. and garnered a front page spread: http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19520107,00.html As Kermit Roosevelt brags on the Cia.gov web page, Kermit was in charge of bombing schools, churches and blaming it on Mossadeq! The reason for this terrorism: Mossadeq wanted to use some of Iran's oil revenues to improve his country! British Petroleum would have none of that .. and the "terror" started. Moosadeq was overthrown, and the Shah of Iran placed in charge of the county - and the secret police "The Savak" ruled Iran with extreme terror for decades. That is the historical perspective which this movie glosses over, making it such a piece of propaganda trash! On the one hand the CIA installed Shah .. killed and tortured hundreds of thousands of Iranians - on the other hand the vicious government they have now disallows dancing! What a tragedy that Movies like this get funded!

I saw this at the US premiere in Santa Barbara. It was shown to a sold-out house of some 2200 people. It received a long ovation at the end. The story is based on the true story of the male lead. He wants to be a dancer, and the Iranian regime frowns on dancing. The tension is palpable, the cast of "good guys" and "bad guys" and "maybes" is good, there is some good male-female chemistry, and the ending is heartwarming. The dancing and the acting are top-notch, as are the photography and the music. I had some difficulty with the accents, but it certainly didn't ruin the movie. If I wrote much more, I would spoil it. So I won't. Just this advice: Go see it for yourself, you won't regret it.