Through The Olive Trees- Abbas Kiarostami Jun 2026

Tahereh said nothing. She turned the pages of her schoolbook, her face a mask of beautiful, devastating indifference. 🌳 Scene 3: The Green Labyrinth

In the end, Through the Olive Trees is cinema at its most essential: an act of looking so patient, so generous, and so human that it transforms a dirt road in Iran into a sacred stage for the drama of the heart. And that, perhaps, is the only miracle worth filming.

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. Through the olive trees- Abbas Kiarostami

He runs ahead, turns around, and walks backward in front of her, still talking. She sidesteps him. They disappear behind a tree. They re-emerge. He continues his monologue. She continues to ignore him.

(1987): A straightforward story about a boy trying to return a classmate's notebook. And Life Goes On Tahereh said nothing

But Tahereh, bound by her real-life disdain and cultural codes, looks at the lens instead. Or slightly to the left. Or at the ground. Take after take fails. The crew grows weary. Kiarostami—the real Kiarostami, directing this film—holds on the shot for an excruciating length of time. We watch the artifice of filmmaking grind to a halt because of a real glance that will not be given.

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. And that, perhaps, is the only miracle worth filming

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The conflict between Hossein and Tahereh’s family highlights the rigid social hierarchies of rural Iran. Hossein argues that the earthquake leveled everything, rendering material wealth meaningless. He proposes a progressive view of marriage: since he cannot read, he should marry a literate woman who can teach him. Through Hossein’s dialogue, Kiarostami critiques traditional obsessions with status and property, advocating instead for human connection and mutual growth. 3. Resilience in the Wake of Tragedy