Kiarostami was one of the most important figures in contemporary Iranian film and Abbas Kiarostami's Cinema of Life looks at his opposition to war, eclectic spirituality, and symbolic texture in his cinema.
Julian Rice is professor emeritus of English at Florida Atlantic University. He is the author of Kubrick’s Hope (Scarecrow, 2008), The Jarmusch Way (Scarecrow, 2012), and Kubrick’s Story, Spielberg’s Film (R&L, 2017).
Kiarostami (1940-2016) was one of the world's greatest filmmakers:
a total original, a "mystic poet" of the cinema, he braved the
disapproval of the Iranian authorities to create some of the
greatest films ever made--Where Is the Friend's House (1987), Taste
of Cherry (1997), Ten (2002), and Close-Up (1990), just to name
this reviewer's personal favorites. Rice's book does justice to
Kiarostami's greatness. Rice's film-by-film analyses clearly
delineate Kiarostami's influences--Zoroastrianism, Sufism, Shia,
poets like Omar Khayyam, Rumi, and Sohrab Sepehri. Rice (Florida
Atlantic Univ.) pinpoints such recurring images as zigzag paths,
solitary trees, and solitary figures in an empty landscape, and
describes the director's filming techniques--long stationary shots,
alternating long and close shots, shots from within moving cars,
use of non-actors. Most important, Rice analyzes Kiarostami's
themes--light versus dark, country versus city, poor versus rich,
greed versus selflessness, life versus death. Rice makes clear that
all of Kiarostami's films reveal his conviction that life is made
of journeys, the goals of which do not matter. What does matter to
Kiarostami is the zigzag journey itself and how it takes his
characters toward spiritual awakenings. Rice's eloquent book impels
one to seek out or revisit all of the films. Highly Recommended.--
"Choice Reviews"
Kiarostami (1940-2016) was one of the world's greatest filmmakers:
a total original, a "mystic poet" of the cinema, he braved the
disapproval of the Iranian authorities to create some of the
greatest films ever made--Where Is the Friend's House (1987), Taste
of Cherry (1997), Ten (2002), and Close-Up (1990), just to name
this reviewer's personal favorites. Rice's book does justice to
Kiarostami's greatness. Rice's film-by-film analyses clearly
delineate Kiarostami's influences--Zoroastrianism, Sufism, Shia,
poets like Omar Khayyam, Rumi, and Sohrab Sepehri. Rice (Florida
Atlantic Univ.) pinpoints such recurring images as zigzag paths,
solitary trees, and solitary figures in an empty landscape, and
describes the director's filming techniques--long stationary shots,
alternating long and close shots, shots from within moving cars,
use of non-actors. Most important, Rice analyzes Kiarostami's
themes--light versus dark, country versus city, poor versus rich,
greed versus selflessness, life versus death. Rice makes clear that
all of Kiarostami's films reveal his conviction that life is made
of journeys, the goals of which do not matter. What does matter to
Kiarostami is the zigzag journey itself and how it takes his
characters toward spiritual awakenings. Rice's eloquent book impels
one to seek out or revisit all of the films. Highly Recommended.
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