Acclaimed Iranian filmmaker
Abbas Kiarostami pays homage to
Yasujiro Ozu, the brilliant Japanese filmmaker whose spare but evocative style has been a major influence on Kiarostami's work, with this non-narrative visual experiment. Five features five extended single-shot sequences shot along a seashore, in which Kiarostami, through framing and subtle camera movement, finds different moods and feelings in each shot, lending them a personal and distinctive touch. Shot on digital video, Five was screened at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival shortly before opening in French theaters in the spring of that year. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide