"I was watching a geezer on Charlie Rose last night. John something, lectures in universities on war, uprisings, terrorism, torture, how governments become the terrorists, the pendulum of life and death. John something still uses this film to explain all before they discuss waterboarding. This film is the guv’ner."

"If there’s life after death, let’s hope it looks like these 8 minutes of pure plastic effervescence & cosmic softness during which Belson takes us on a tour into the core of a far away galaxy, like a celestial voyage. Smoking a bit before is a plus for a total immersion."

"A powerful journey through despair and silence. A magnificent reflection on death and the meaning of life, as well as the ways life sometimes unveils its beauty—by, say, the taste of cherries that have fallen from a tree, a tree shaken by a man who was planning to hang himself on one of its branches but who remembered, when savoring these wild berries, that life is worth living. Long single takes, car scenes (for which Kiarostami is famous, and rightfully so). A gem. Must see. Now, please."

"The lives of ordinary people in a second rate city are given depth and tragic resonance in sensually realized prose. “The Dead,” in particular succeeds in rendering a perfectly realistic scene: a holiday party, brilliantly capturing different voices and registers, and then wallops us with a vision of life, love, death and meaning."