Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami is one I had heard a lot about. Master, genius and cinematic legend were among the words that were used to describe him. And one day I finally decided to watch one film of his, that film being Where Is The Friend's House. And I was blown away.
Kiarostami is often described as a minimalist, and this film proves that is correct, but also wrong. You see, the story is simple, incredibly simple really, but there is something below the surface too.
The story starts in the school where we are introduced to Ahmad, a young kid. His teacher shames one of his friends (Mohammed) for not doing his homework and says that if he repeats this one more time, he will expel him. When Ahmad comes home he finds that he has accidentally taken Mohammed's book. He understands that without his book, Mohammed can't do his homework, and will be expelled. He decides to give the book back to him even if he doesn't know where he lives.
But before he can go on his journey, he has to get out of his own house. One of the major themes of this film is the disconnect between children and adults. This is depicted many times in the film, but first and best by Ahmad's mother. He tries to tell his mother that he has to give the book back, but she refuses to listen to Ahmad and even at one point threatens to beat him.
After he escapes his home and sets out on his journey, he meets many adults, but there is one character I want to dive a bit into, and that's the old carpenter. He is one of the few nice adults in the whole movie, and constantly talks about the beauty of the wooden doors he makes and how they are being replaced with ugly metallic doors. Maybe I am overanalysing, but maybe this is a metaphor for how good parenting is being replaced with bad parenting? But either way, the carpenter is a great character.
I don't really know if you can call Where Is The Friend's House an adventure film, but if you can, I would easily rank it among the best. The world it portrays is mean, but loyalty and kindness prevails at the end of the day.
Kiarostami is a truly excellent filmmaker. The cinematography and framing shines, with one image of a hill being among my favorites in 1980's cinema. He is a minimalist filmmaker, but there are always layers of complexity underneath the surface. If you want an introduction to the filmmaker's work, this is it.
Conclusion:
Where Is The Friend's House is one of cinema's great adventures. An amazing look at the world we live in while also being a genius allegory for loyalty, this film is simply beautiful. It most definitely won't be for everybody, but it sure as hell was for me.
10/10
Need to give this a watch!
SvarSlettCalvin: You should!
SvarSlett