If Sarif improves with experience, she might regret ever having allowed this effort to be seen by the public.
Comment
04/09/09
The World Unseen (2008)
28
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:25
Fresh:7
Rotten:18
Average Rating:4.7/10
Theatrical Release:03-04-2009
Synopsis: In this drama set in 1950s South Africa, two women find love in surprising places. Lisa Ray (WATER) stars as Miriam, a married mother, while Sheetal Sheth (AMERICAN CHAI) plays Amina, a progressive... [More]
Starring: Lisa Ray, Sheetal Sheth, Parvin Dabas, Nandana Sen
Director: Shamim Sarif
Reviews for The World Unseen
Both films are politically daring as well as what used to be called risque. Neither, I'm afraid, is well directed or acted.
04/09/09
No amount of heaving bosom or quivering bottom lip can evoke a romantic frisson if the emotion simply isn’t there.
04/03/09
Top CriticAs drama, it's insipid. As erotica, it's useless.
04/03/09
Top CriticYou wait all year for a lesbian comedy drama with the production values of a 1980s TV movie and the acting standard of a carpet shampoo advert, and then two come along at once.
04/03/09
Top CriticA curiously strait-laced, timid and self-conscious affair.
04/03/09
Top CriticWhile the visuals never rise above TV-movie adequacy and some background acting hovers at am-dram level, The World Unseen's central story is strong enough to hold attention.
04/03/09
Intimacy, nuance and emotional punch are conspicuous only by their absence. Dreary.
04/03/09
This tale of forbidden love in the early days of apartheid South Africa suffers from heavy-handed direction and stodgy exposition, but it is made tolerable by its two central performances.
04/03/09
Sharif's second film maintains the small screen soap opera feel of I Can't Think Straight, but it remains a watchable lesbian romance, heightened by strong central performances from Ray and Sheth.
04/02/09
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04/23/09
It suffers from an abundance of transparent acting, simplistic plot twists and music that essentially screams, 'These are important scenes to behold!'
11/14/08
Possibly too restrained for its own good, the fictional story still makes a quiet impact.
11/10/08
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11/10/08
Top CriticEngaging and intelligent.
11/07/08
Drawing upon her own heritage as a descendant of South Africa's large Indian community, Sarif brings more than a dozen interconnected characters to life.
11/07/08
Top CriticIt doesn't leave you cold, but it doesn't exactly make an impression, either.
11/07/08
Less an account of hatred and injustice in apartheid-torn South Africa than it is a soap opera-ish romance that could easily be an episode of The L-Word.
11/07/08
Never begins to tap the talent at its disposal.
11/07/08
Top CriticWhen dialogue and pacing get bogged down in L Word soap opera and the rich social context in S. Africa fades to mostly background, the appealing cast holds the eye.
11/07/08
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October 05, 2008:
Trailer & Poster review 
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