ABBAS KIAROSTAMI
(1940- ) Iran




"Nearly all of Kiarostami’s films are inspired by his immediate experiences, and he always uses nonprofessional actors. The distinction between documentary and fiction is often blurred in his work, and Kiarostami himself resists their neat separation... Kiarostami’s films break away from conventional narrative, and are completely self-referential, often eschewing a strict chronological structure... Employing simple imagery of daily life with an emphasis on the Iranian landscape, Kiarostami is a master of using visual imagery to convey abstract philosophical ideas and his characters’ inner struggles of the soul."
-Mita Lad, Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film

"The films of Iranian master Kiarostami, while succeeding partly as oblique but illuminating reflections of his country's recent history, occupy a more fertile territory somewhere between documentary and self-reflexive, modernist drama...Kiarostami's humane compassion for his characters shines bright, his simple compositions and stories and long takes a mark of deep respect for their quiet integrity and strength of spirit."
-Geoff Andrew, The Director's Vision

"Good cinema is what we can believe and bad cinema is what we can't believe. What you see and believe in is very much what I'm interested in."
-Abbas Kiarostami


1970 The Bread and Alley (short)
1972 The Breaktime (short)
1973 The Experience
1974 The Traveler
1975 So Can I (short)
1975 Two Solutions for One Problem (short)
1976 The Colors (short)
1976 A Suit for Wedding (short)
1977 The Report
1977 Tribute to the Teachers (short)
1977 How to Make Use of Our Leisure Time?
1978 Solution No. 1 (short)
1979 First Case, Second Case (documentary)
1980 Dental Hygiene
1981 Orderly or Disorderly (short)
1982 The Chorus (short)
1983 Fellow Citizen (documentary)
1983 Toothache (short)
1984 First Graders (documentary)
1987 Where Is the Friend's Home?
1989 Homework (documentary)
1990 Close-Up
1991 Life, and Nothing More...
1994 Through the Olive Trees
1995 Lumière and Company (documentary)
1997 Taste of Cherry
1999 The Wind Will Carry Us
2001 ABC Africa (documentary)
2002 Ten
2003 Five
2004 10 on Ten (documentary)
2005 Tickets
2006 Roads of Kiarostami (documentary short)
2007 Kojast jaye residan (documentary short)
2008 Shirin
2010 Certified Copy

I'm downloading a copy of his latest now and will do everything in my power to see it in theaters and certainly will buy it on home video. And I think ABC Africa should be bolded (it's pretty acclaimed), but I haven't seen it. I also think Taste of Cherry hasn't held up as well critically as, say, Close-up, Where Is My Friend's House? and The Wind Will Carry Us, so I didn't red.

Yet another dude I can't wait to delve into. I like Taste of Cherry a whole lot, sad to see you don't think it qualifies for red, but them's the breaks, and it's the only one I know well enough to have a connection with anyway. Close-Up was definitely intellectually interesting for me but didn't do much beyond that. Can't wait to see Wind Will Carry Us.

yeah I think I might prefer Wind Will Carry Us more now

I actually would have no problem with Taste of Cherry being red and I think it's more than justifiable. I just don't seem to see as much praise for it these days compared to lingering praise for Close-Up, The Wind Will Carry Us & Through the Olive Trees.

I was exposed to Taste of Cherry first because of Criterion years ago, and I knew about Close-Up and Wind Will Carry Us, but Where Is The Friend's House and Olive Trees I never even knew were major works until now, and TSPDT seems to bear you out here, so I think it's more just my ignorance, so I don't necessarily think Cherry it should be red. But damn, what a movie.

For anyone interested, a bunch of Abbas' shorts on on Youtube

The Bread and Alley
Two Solutions for One Problem
The Chorus (no subtitles in a bunch of places, but I think that might be OK 'cause it's more about sound in general; since some is translated, I assume the gaps are intentional)

Breaktime is also there but it has no subs either and while mostly it seems fine there were a few spots where I could have used translation. I'll see about d/l'ing a version with subs and checking if it makes a significant difference.

Anyone with Netflix instant should really check out Shirin. Was it Truffaut who said the best seat in a theater was at the front looking back at the upturned faces? Whoever it was, Kiarostami takes that idea to the brink here and makes a movie that literally consists of nothing more than people watching a movie and makes something compelling and thought-provoking out of it.

I heard the only thing the women were looking at during production were like dots on a board on top of a camera. But yeah I'll get around to it. Might be the best movie involving faces since Dreyer's masterpiece

I'm actually working on that connection for my review.

That title goes to the film named after them wink wink nudge.

yeah, better than any set design or complex mise en scene, the closeup on the human face is the most interesting thing to look at and study on the screen

When making italics into oranges it just seemed wrong with Taste of Cherry only being bold so I made it red.

The fact that we live in the time of this guy is wild to me. It's like if Ozu or Dreyer were still alive making movies man

Just saw Like Someone In Love. I enjoyed watching it but I'm not sure what to make of it intellectually.


What did you think of it, wanta?

Shirin was goo-ood