Zire darakhatan zeyton (1994)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Abbas Kiarostami

Writer:

Abbas Kiarostami (writer)

Release Date:

2 December 1994 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

The movie focuses on one of the events in Zendegi Edame Darad (1992), and explores the relationship between the movie director...

Plot Keywords:

Earthquake | Film Crew | Film Making | Long Shot | Iran

Awards:

5 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Mohamad Ali Keshavarz	...	Film Director
Farhad Kheradmand	...	Farhad
Zarifeh Shiva	...	Mrs. Shiva
Hossein Rezai	...	Hossein
Tahereh Ladanian	...	Tahereh
Hocine Redai	...	Hocine
Zahra Nourouzi	...	Kouly's Daughter
Nasret Betri	...	Achiz
Azim Aziz Nia	...	Azim
Astadouli Babani	...	Teacher
N. Boursadiki	...	Tahra
Kheda Barech Defai	...	teacher
A. li Ahmed Poor	...	Himself
Babek Ahmed Poor	...	Himself
Mahbanou Darabi

Also Known As:

Au travers des oliviers (France)
Through the Olive Trees
Under the Olive Trees

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

France | Iran

Language:

Persian

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:All | Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:G

Filming Locations:

Koker, Iran

Company:

Abbas Kiarostami Productions

Trivia:

Chosen by "Les Cahiers du cinéma" (France) as one of the 10 best pictures of 1995 (#09).

Movie Connections:

Follows Khane-ye doust kodjast? (1987)

Soundtrack:

Conc. C 4.Allegro Giusto

Kiarostami presents us with another paradox

Is it real life or is it fictional? Is it fascinating or torture to sit through? These are the two questions that immediately tend to arise after a viewing of any film by Iran's preeminent cinematic master, Abbas Kiarostami. The answer to both questions is "yes." Ever since Close Up in 1990, Kiarostami seems fascinated with playing around with the distinctions between cinema and real life. Close Up examines the actual case of a man conning a rich family by telling them that he's a famous film director. Kiarostami re-creates the entire ordeal, trial and all, using the actual people involved in the event including the famous film director the con man was impersonating. Kiarostami's "trilogy," begun in 1989 with Where Is My Friend's Home? and ending with Through the Olive Trees, is a virtual hall of mirrors in which the audience (especially those that have seen all three films) is led to question what is real and what Kiarostami is fabricating. Where Is My Friend's Home? is documentary-like, charting the quest of a young boy to return his friend's lost notebook before the next morning's class. The second film, And Life Goes On, has an actor playing a famous film director searching for the children he used in a film called Where Is My Friend's Home? to see if they're alive after a devastating earthquake in northern Iran. Through the Olive Trees once again has an actor portraying Kiarostami. At the start of the film the actor explains that he is playing the role of the director in this film and that he is about to commence the casting of local villagers for his new film. His film is - you guessed it - And Life Goes On. Through the Olive Trees is the most complex film in the trilogy, endlessly self-referential and full of in-jokes that will be lost on anyone who hasn't seen the first two films. It's endearing, annoying, beautiful, dull and mesmerizing all at the same time and may well be a masterpiece (I haven't yet decided). Some prominent critics have cited it as "THE film of the 90s," but I think that there are some other films more deserving of that title, including Kiarostami's own A Taste of Cherry. All of his films require an adjustment of pacing expectations on the part of the audience: they move at a sometimes nearly unbearable crawl. For those that take pleasure in small, fleeting fragments of pure poetry Through the Olive Trees has much to offer. It is a beautiful film with striking use of landscapes and colors. There is little doubt in my mind that Kiarostami is a filmmaker of great importance.