Heartrending one minute and heavy-handed the next, Beyond the Clouds is in equal parts beautiful and frustrating.

It's abruptly edited at times and the emotions tend towards the histrionic, especially when pumped up by AR Rahman's lush score. Yet Majidi marshals it all with verve...Bold and often beautiful.

What this brightly painted film lacks in streetwise authenticity is balanced by its righteous strength of feeling.

The famed director's take on redemption is fleshed out by strong performances to make Beyond the Clouds another notable entry in his filmography.

It will surely let you escape into another world. Be prepared to get out of your comfort zone though.

While it may be a bit melodramatic and abrupt in its approach, this is a provocative drama set around the moment when revenge clashes with compassion.

Keeping a step ahead of melodrama is a convincing cast.

Beyond the Clouds is a story about love, family and finding the two in unexpected places. That Majidi manages to tell this story in a country unlike his own - and tell it well - is a testament to its universal strength.

As it gives a voice to the voiceless and making a case for the people whose poverty denies them justice, it's perhaps forgivable that the film labours its point a little stridently at times.