Ali & Nino

It's a nice movie, great cinematography. If you are just looking for a good movie to watch, go for it. But if you want to know the original story of Ali and Nino, I would suggest watch this movie after reading the book. Naturally, to shorten the story, major changes have been done to the story. In a way that I would say you wouldn't actually know the original Ali and Nino relationship and the overall story by watching this movie. Its not just shortened, its different. Movie is more like "movie based on Ali and Nino" rather than "movie of Ali and Nino". As in most movie adaptations of books, most side characters and their back stories are ignored in the movie. But if you read the book and then watch the movie, you will still feel close to side characters because you already know them from the book. I think it's an important factor that will make the experience of the movie better. The changes done to the story might be annoying while watching at first, but I think it's very understable considering the time limitation. So after reading the book, just watch the movie for great visuals. The locations, scenery in the movie is amazing.

Splendid visuals! Asif Kapadia really has an eye for landscape beauty! I loved his 'The Warrior' (2001) and I was meaning to watch this since like ages. (Cinematography: Gökhan Tiryaki)

Storywise this is superb(No wonder.This is based on a novel).But it's made in a pathetic way.Even though the feelings are romantic and we gets an urge to watch more,the boring direction makes it irritating.I watched till the end only due to the story.

A very beautiful movie and an excellent one. cinematography is excellent with beautiful scenes of Azerbaijan. I didn't knew Azerbaijan had mountains and snow till I saw this movie. The movie is set in pre- 1st world war time and after seeing this movie one knows that there is a country named Azerbaijan. The story is a love story set in war period. Its pace is very slow and needless to say as is not a Hollywood movie the sets are fine. The love story of cross culture was very usual in the 1960 and 70s. Most of the scenes of action are in the dialogue form as clear with the case of budget. But considering a movie from Azerbaijan, I think it is a feat itself. A good movie.

Excellent movie, I really loved it very much! During the Russian Empire, Ali and Nino fall in love. Ali is a Muslim from Azerbaijan who lives in the oil-rich city of Baku, in the family's Shirvanshir Palace. Nino is a Georgian Orthodox Christian whose wealthy Kipiani family also lives in Baku.

Lovely History, really enjoyng that i recommend to every one watch this movei

In "Ali and Nino" we get a rare glimpse into an era at the onset of the formation of the Soviet Union. The movie is shot on location in Azerbaijan and has wonderful cinematography. Also the interaction between two religions, Islam and Christianity, is carefully portrayed and interesting to observe for that time period and location. Acting is well done with believable characters. I was also glad that the film is in English. The TV-MA rating is probably because due to some violent war scenes and one engaging romantic scene, but overall should be PG-13 / TV-14. We really enjoyed watching it and although there's lots of sadness in this film, this movie is different mostly due to the setting/location and the era and it makes it an interesting flick with excellent cinematic execution.

The movies leaves a deep impact on your heart. Wishing it may never end. Asif Kapadia continues his trait. One of those memorable tragedy movies you cant miss. Reminder of the forgotten history. Such movies are rare. A piece of art.

Strong story, beautiful directing, talented team of actors. This is a very solid historical drama which will appeal not only to patriotic Azerbaijanis but to all genre lovers. Historical Baku was really well recreated. The shots of historical part of Baku and Caucasus mountains are gorgeous- this paired with splendid costumes make "Ali and Nino" visually a very beautiful movie. Asif Kapadia is an Oscar winning director and you can easily feel it in the movie as directing quality certainly above the average. The cast is very multinational: Palestinian Arab Adam Bakri seems believable as a son of Azerbaijani khan. Spanish Maria Valverde is charming as Nino and easily evokes from viewers sympathy. The culture of the East was well shown in the movie, revolution and fight for independence scenes, despite of low budget, are well executed- impressive and tragic as they should be. The last scene on the bridge is wonderful and definitely will burst a lot of people to tears. My only concern is that movie is really short- only 1.5 hours. Way too little to show such a complicated time period of Azerbaijani history (overthrowal of monarchy and fight for democratic independent republic). You just cannot help but wish for story to slow down and take its time to show more details, maybe add more characters and make it much more than just Ali and Nino story. But that little what was shown was great as well. Hopefully BBC will watch this movie one day and extend it to miniseries because story still has so much in it and it is definitely too good to be told in such fast and general manner. It potentially could be a second "Gone with the Winds". But it wasn't due to short length and somewhat shallow portrayal of Eastern culture and historical background. But it is a very strong historical drama movie anyways. Beautifully shot and most importantly- it has a heart. It will bring you smile, test your nerves, brig tears- and sometimes all at once in one scene. If you are familiar with Azerbaijan only via Eurovision and recent European Olympic games, I definitely recommend to watch this movie. It is a great opportunity to get familiar with early stages of Azerbaijani Democratic Republic formation and to grasp heart and soul of the nation. 10 out 10

The novel has been published in more than 30 languages, with more than 100 editions or reprints. The book was first published in Vienna in German in 1937, by E.P. Tal Verlag. It is widely regarded as a literary masterpiece and since its rediscovery and global circulation, which began in 1970, it is commonly considered the national novel of Azerbaijan. I have read the novel. Best Azerbaijan romance I have ever read. Movie is also beautiful. As beautiful as novel. Watch it!