Solution | Abbas Kiarostami | 1978 | In Persian with English subtitles | 11 minutes | NR | DCP
“The rare Kanoon film that doesn’t involve children, this unusual road movie was made during the revolution and afforded Kiarostami what may have been a welcome escape from the capital. Shot amid spectacular mountain scenery north of Tehran, it shows a young man on a roadside with a tire, trying to get a ride. After several minutes of failure, he simply takes the tire and rolls it down the mountain, a lyrical visual journey that’s accompanied by a triumphal score.” – Janus Films
Toothache | Abbas Kiarostami | 1980 | In Persian with English subtitles | 26 minutes | NR | DCP
“Though much of this film is a straightforward lecture about dental hygiene delivered by a dentist facing the camera, it still manages to be persuasively Kiarostami-esque in its description of young Mohammad-Reza’s life at home and school before he falls prey to tooth woes. (Kiarostami found the boy having a tooth removed, then filmed the earlier parts of the story later.) That some audiences find the film hilarious testifies to the humor that can accompany great discomfort.” – Janus Films
Orderly or Disorderly | Abbas Kiarostami | 1981 | In Persian with English subtitles | 15 minutes | NR | DCP
“The first shot shows students descending a staircase in calm, orderly fashion, then the second details the same action as a chaotic rush. Separated by slates and Kiarostami’s voice intoning, ‘Sound, camera,’ subsequent sequences describe the same dichotomous behavior in a schoolyard, on a school bus, and in the haphazard traffic of Tehran. Kiarostami described this as ‘a truly educational film,’ but it plays more like a quirky philosophic aside.” -Janus Films
The Chorus | Abbas Kiarostami | 1982 | In Persian with English subtitles | 17 minutes | NR | DCP
“An old man strolls through the noisy streets of Rasht, and when his hearing aid is knocked out of his ear, the film’s sound goes off, mimicking the silence that envelops him. At home, the same thing happens when he takes the device out, and Kiarostami intercuts his silent actions with the clamor of schoolgirls who try to get his attention from outside. Another Kiarostami meditation on the contrasts of silence and sound, age and youth, solitude and solidarity.” – Janus Films
This series is presented as part of Kiarostami: Beyond the Frame, in memory of Jeanne Hoffman Smith and in partnership with Janus Films.
