Metacritic reviews

While never slow, the film feels quiet and spacious, like a prayer.

The film's climax involves a father and son reunion that is tense, tragic and, finally, as transcendent as Mohammad himself.

A family film that shames the facile commercialism of a product like "Pokemon" and its value system based on power and greed.It is made with delicacy and beauty.

The simplicity and idealism of The Color of Paradise are part of what makes it so attractive to near-jaded palates here. There are no evil characters in the film.

Another perfect little gem from Iran in which the simplest story unleashes a torrent of emotion.

A beautiful film from Iran explores beauty both physical and spiritual.

Doesn't have the emotional heft of his "Children of Paradise," but it's still moving.

Leans a bit too much toward the lachrymose and has a wrong-note final image.

The surprisingly tragic climax may make it rough going for kids too young to grasp the film's comforting message.

As worthy and moving as The Color of Paradise is, it is not entirely free of the manipulative, the arbitrary and the downright punitive.