Kiarostami - Through The Olive Trees- Abbas
The climax of Through the Olive Trees features one of the most famous final shots in cinema history. Hossein follows Farhad as she walks home through a vast, green zigzag path cutting through an olive grove.
We watch the director (a stand-in for Kiarostami himself) patiently correct his actors, move a potted plant for continuity, or shout “Cut!” just as a powerful emotion begins to surface. By exposing the machinery of fiction, Kiarostami paradoxically makes the emotion more real. The awkward silences between Hossein and Tahereh, the frustration of the crew, the dust blowing through a ruined village—these are not set decorations. They are the story.
By fusing documentary techniques with fictional narratives, Kiarostami paved the way for modern docufiction and influenced a generation of global filmmakers, from Jafar Panahi to Martin Scorsese. The film remains a masterclass in how cinema can use simplicity, patience, and meta-textual layers to celebrate the resilient spirit of ordinary people.
Kiarostami teaches us that the truth is not found in what the characters say, but in what they do when they think no one is looking—or rather, when they know everyone is looking. Through the olive trees, we do not see a resolution. We see a possibility. And in the cinema of Abbas Kiarostami, a possibility is infinitely more powerful than a certainty.
The setting is a landscape of dualities. On one side of the frame, you see the jagged, grey scars of collapsed concrete and shattered brick. On the other, you see the impossibly green, rolling hills of the Caspian coast, punctuated by ancient olive groves. This visual paradox is not accidental. Kiarostami is suggesting that life—and art—exists in the liminal space between utter devastation and serene beauty. The earthquake has leveled houses, but it cannot uproot the trees, nor the stubborn rituals of courtship. Through the olive trees- Abbas Kiarostami
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Through the Olive Trees (1994) is the final chapter of Abbas Kiarostami’s Koker Trilogy
In an era of bloated blockbusters and explicit narratives, Through the Olive Trees is a radical act of humility. It asks us to watch differently—not to consume a story, but to participate in the construction of meaning. It is a film about filmmaking that is never cynical; a romance that is never sentimental; a tragedy about an earthquake that is actually a comedy about a man carrying a plank. The climax of Through the Olive Trees features
: On set, Tahereh refuses to speak to Hossein or even acknowledge him between takes, forcing the director to navigate their real-life tension while trying to capture a fictional marriage. Kiarostami’s Signature Style
: A fictionalized account of Kiarostami returning to the region after a devastating earthquake to find the boy from the first film. Through the Olive Trees (1994)
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.
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. including any personal information you added.
The audience is constantly reminded of the camera's presence, forcing us to question where the performance ends and real life begins. Structural Themes and Style Life After Devastation
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But Hossein saw the movie set as a miracle. It was the only place in the universe where social custom was suspended, and he was permitted to stand in the presence of the woman he loved.
