THROUGH THE OLIVE TREES

Shooting a film in a norhern Iranian village, razed to the ground by an earthquake, a film crew offers a small part in their production to Hossein, a young stonemason. By chance, Farkhonde, a young girl he has been courting in “real” life (she has refused his offer of marriage because he is illiterate and has no house), is given the role of his wife in the film. Ardently pursuing his intended, Hossein points out that since the earthquake, no one has a roof over his head, and so all are equal now. Director Kiarostami's fascination with the overlap between fiction and documentary provides a backdrop to this touching courtship. This blurred line between what is real and what is cinema is treated with great sophistication, made all the more rich by the simplicity with which it is presented. But the delight and deep emotional satisfactions that come from the film derive primarily from Kiarostami's deep humor, loving humanity, and clear poetic intelligence. -Toronto Film Festival. In Persian with English Subtitles.