Kiarostami's moving picture continues. A middle aged man & his young son are on the road to Koker, a northern rural town leveled by the devastating earthquake in 1990. It is only revealed later on that the man is a film director who is looking for a child actor who starred in his previous film, Where is Your Friend's Home? As they encounter monstrous traffic jam and many victims of the 'god's will', the line between reality and fiction evaporates. Shot shortly after the real earthquake that took the lives of 50,000, & based on his own experience driving around with his real son, Life and Nothing More... shows resilience of the people amid a horrible disaster. They fidget a TV antenna to watch a World Cup game in ruins. Many of ‘Kiarostami styles’ are present: interior driving shots, wide scenery long takes, no close-ups. Elegantly simple and captivating throughout with an open ending, Life and Nothing More... is a beautiful film. #abbaskiarostami #iraniancinema #kokertrilogy

Film of the day: آن سوی حصارهای لاله زار (BEYOND THE FENCES OF LÂLEHZÂR, dir Amen Feizabadi, 2023) Intriguing but ultimately obscure combination of essay film and multimedia performance piece that would probably have been more successful as a stage production; on film, it outstays its welcome very quickly. #IFFR2023 #IranianCinema #Teheran #art #dance #music #memory #performance #multimedia #film #filmposterart #filmfestivals

Film of the day: عصب کشی (NUMB, dir Amir Toodehroosta, 2023) Essentially PLAYGROUND set in an Iranian kindergarten, with a sensitive young boy watching the adults and other kids behaving badly; well enough made but unable to transcend its limitations.
#IFFR2023 #IranianCinema #children #drama #kindergarten #adults #Iran #childhood #film #filmposterart #filmfestival

50 Years, 50 Movies (1987): Where Is the Friend’s House?

https://othemts.wordpress.com/2023/01/24/50-years-50-movies-1987-where-is-the-friends-house/

#movies #moviereviews #iraniancinema

Film of the day: خرس نیست (NO BEARS, dir Jafar Panahi, 2022) Deceptively simple yet fiendishly layered meta-fiction where life and filmmaking mesh to vertiginous effect, meticulously and extraordinarily arranged by a master director working with the simplest of materials: a camera, people and life. #film #filmposterart #iraniancinema #freejafarpanahi

An Englishman is giving a talk on his new book about the legitimacy of copies compared originals in art in picturesque Tuscani. As an infatuated antique dealer picks him up and drives him around town as a guide, the film becomes something else: deconstruction of a marriage. Even though it's the first Kiarostami film set outside Iran, his touches are everywhere. One of my absolute favorites. #abbaskiarostami #juliettebinoche #iraniancinema #williamshimell #tuscany

The Wind Will Carry Us (1999) - Abbas Kiarostami #iraniancinema #abbaskiarostami #iran

Hit the Road boasts perhaps the most memorable child acting in recent memory- by Sarlak as an adorable rascal. His joyful presence peaks out over the overall somber tone of the film that hangs like low lying clouds. His joy is infectious. It also features gorgeous rural Iranian vistas, humor, magical realism (relating to 2001: Space Odyssey) and poetry. It's a short, life affirming film that lingers long after watching. #freejafarpanahi #panahpanahi #iraniancinema #prodemocracyiniran