Through The Olive Trees- Abbas Kiarostami -
Abbas Kiarostami's Through the Olive Trees a masterful work of meta-cinema that concludes the acclaimed Koker Trilogy
The famous final sequence: The film ends with an extraordinary, nearly 10-minute long shot from a camera placed on a hillside. After the director yells "cut," Hossein chases Tahereh through olive groves. We can't hear their words, only see them walking/running. She finally stops; he talks; she turns and walks away. He then runs back—but stops abruptly and runs back toward her. It's ambiguous whether she finally accepts him. Through the olive trees- Abbas Kiarostami
The genius of Through the Olive Trees is that Kiarostami pulls focus from the fictional tragedy of the earthquake to the very real, very human comedy of the actors playing the couple. Abbas Kiarostami's Through the Olive Trees a masterful
Through the Olive Trees: Kiarostami’s Meditation on Reality, Fiction, and the Unsayable
Through the Olive Trees (Persian: زیر درختان زیتون, Zir-e Derakhtān-e Zeytūn) is the final film in Abbas Kiarostami’s informal “Koker Trilogy,” following Where Is the Friend’s House? (1987) and And Life Goes On… (1992). Released in 1994, the film is a masterful exercise in cinematic self-reflexivity, blurring the boundaries between documentary and fiction, director and subject, actor and character. It won the prestigious Prix de la mise en scène (Best Director) at the Cannes Film Festival, cementing Kiarostami’s reputation as a leading figure of the Iranian New Wave. Patience and Attention : The film's non-linear structure
Set in the earthquake-devastated village of Koker in northern Iran, the film depicts a fictional film crew returning to the region to shoot a movie. This "film-within-a-film" is actually based on Kiarostami’s previous installment in the trilogy, And Life Goes On
As a viewer, you feel a strange suspension of time. You begin to forget this is a film. You are walking with them. The olives blur past. The logic of cinema—of cuts, close-ups, and dramatic beats—evaporates. What remains is pure duration. Kiarostami is testing your patience, but he is also rewarding it. He wants you to feel the weight of every unspoken word, every footfall on the gravel.
Plot
- Patience and Attention: The film's non-linear structure and slow pace require patience and attention from the viewer. Take your time to absorb the atmosphere and characters.
- Discuss the Blurring of Reality and Fiction: How does Kiarostami's use of non-professional actors and location shooting contribute to the film's sense of realism? How does the film's narrative structure blur the lines between reality and fiction?
- Explore the Themes and Symbolism: What do the olive trees represent in the film? How do the characters' social backgrounds influence their relationships and opportunities?