Through the Olive Trees (Iran, 1994) 103 min color DIR-SCR-EDITOR: Abbas Kiarostami. PROD: Alain Depardieu, Abbas Kiarostami. MUSIC: Amir Farshid Rahimian, Chema Rosas. DOP: Hossein Jafarian, Farhad Saba. CAST: Hossein Rezai, Farhad Kheradmand, Mohamad Ali Keshavarz.
In 1987, Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami made a sweet movie, Where is the Friend’s Home. In 1992, he made …And Life Goes On, which is about a director seeking the actor of that film after that location was devastated by a huge earthquake. To add another layer to this complex story, Kiarostami has made a film about the making of …And Life Goes On. Kiarostami was voted “director of the decade” in the well-publicized “Best of the 90’s” poll that transpired two years ago. His films have an inimitable style– long, single takes of characters doing seemingly mundane things, which nonetheless speak volumes. And his films usually end unsatisfactorily; it seems that it is enough to raise big questions and purposely leave them hanging. Of the half-dozen of his films I’ve been able to see, perhaps this is his most satisfying (if because the ending works this time). Like Chantal Akerman, Kiarostami has mastered the single take: these films become addicting. Because the canvas is so wide, we realize anything can happen next. These amusing chronicles of the problems plaguing a simple production may not be as hilarious as those on Day for Night, but the simple, single-take structure emphasizes how grievous these problems are. The interesting “reel life – real life” duality takes place once a young man hired for a part is cast alongside a young lady to whom he has numerously proposed marriage, and has been answered with silence. That they play a newlywed couple on film is a gentle irony. They each keep on blowing takes in their one scene because their real characters seep through and change the lines. Through the Olive Trees is a fascinating, highly entertaining meditation on art and life.
Originally presented in Vol. #1, Issue #7. Because this movie was acquired by Miramax, in another of the Weinsteins’ bizarre “buy it and bury it” practices, for years this film had no North American home video release. My review of it was courtesy of a VHS UK import from Artificial Eye. The film has since been released by Criterion, along with Where is the Friend’s Home and …And Life Goes On, in the boxed set, The Koker Trilogy.
Greg Woods
Greg Woods has been a film enthusiast since his teens, and began his writing "career" at the same time- prolific in capsule reviews of everything he had watched, first on index cards, then those hardcover dollar store black journals, then an old Mac IIsi. He founded The Eclectic Screening Room in 2001, as a portal to share his film love with the world, and find some like-minded enthusiasts along the way. In addition to having worked in the film industry for over two decades, he has been a co-programmer of films at Trash Palace, and a programmer/co-founder of the Toronto Film Noir Syndicate. He has also written for Broken Pencil, CU-Confidential, Micro-Film, and is currently working on his first novel. His secret desire is for someone to interview him for a podcast or a DVD extra.