Goodbye Solo (film)
Goodbye Solo is a 2008 American independent film written and directed by Ramin Bahrani. It premiered as an official selection of the 2008 Venice Film Festival where it won the international film critic's FIPRESCI award for best film, and later had its North American premiere at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival. The film is distributed by Roadside Attractions. The film exhibits significant thematic and plot similarities to Abbas Kiarostami's 1997 film Taste of Cherry.[1]
| Goodbye Solo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Ramin Bahrani |
| Produced by | Ramin Bahrani Jason Orans |
| Written by | Bahareh Azimi Ramin Bahrani |
| Starring | Souléymane Sy Savané Red West |
| Distributed by | Axiom Films (UK and Ireland) |
Release date |
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Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $826,763 |
Plot
Solo, a Senegalese cab driver, is working to provide a better life for his young family in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. William, an old man with a lifetime of regrets, hires Solo to take him to Blowing Rock, a peak in which updrafts cause objects that are dropped from it to fly upwards. William does not ask for a ride back from the rock and is obviously depressed, so Solo assumes that the old man intends to commit suicide there. Solo befriends William, in hopes of talking him out of ending his life. He introduces William to his wife and his stepdaughter Alex, hoping to inspire the old man with the joys of life.
Cast
- Souléymane Sy Savané as Solo
- Red West as William
- Diana Franco Galindo as Alex
Reception
Goodbye Solo won the Venice Film Festival’s FIPRESCI International Critics Prize. It was hailed as "A force of nature!" by Roger Ebert. The New York Times' A.O. Scott said it has "...an uncanny ability to enlarge your perception of the world." Eric M. Armstrong, critic at The Moving Arts Film Journal, placed Goodbye Solo at #5 on his list of the best films of the decade (2000–2009).
Awards
FIPRESCI International Film Critics Award - Best Film, Venice Film Festival 2008.
On December 1, 2009 it was announced that Souleymane Sy Savane was nominated for Best Male Lead for the 2010 Independent Spirit Awards.
References
- "Ramin Bahrani's 'Goodbye Solo' tells a new American tale". latimes.com. Retrieved 2010-12-23.