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