In the pantheon of meta-cinema, Through the Olive Trees stands as a singular achievement—a film so deceptively simple yet structurally radical that it redefines the relationship between fiction, documentary, and reality. It is the third film in Kiarostami’s loose Koker Trilogy, but rather than continuing a linear narrative, it folds back on the previous film, And Life Goes On… , revealing it as a film-within-a-film. The result is a breathtaking meditation on art, authenticity, class, and the stubborn opacity of human feeling.
Alone, on a quiet evening, with no distractions. Let the olive trees work their slow magic.
(1987): A straightforward story about a schoolboy's quest. Through the olive trees- Abbas Kiarostami
The film is the third installment in a series set in the rural northern Iranian town of Koker:
(1994): A "film-within-a-film" that depicts the making of the second movie. In the pantheon of meta-cinema, Through the Olive
At the heart of the film is Hossein Rezai, a real bricklayer playing a fictionalized version of himself. His counterpart, Tahereh Ladanian, was originally just a local girl cast in the background. Kiarostami noticed a tension between them during the shooting of And Life Goes On and decided to build an entire film around it.
To understand Through the Olive Trees , one must understand its context. The film is the third leg of a triptych that began with Where Is the Friend’s House? (1987), a gentle neorealist fable about a boy trying to return a notebook to his classmate. Then, in 1990, a real-life catastrophe struck Northern Iran—the Manjil–Rudbar earthquake, which killed over 40,000 people, including the young boy who played the lead in Where Is the Friend’s House? . Alone, on a quiet evening, with no distractions
Abbas Kiarostami’s The Koker Trilogy (1987-94): Criterion Blu-ray review – Cagey Films
The final sequence of Through the Olive Trees is one of the most breathtaking in all of cinema. After the director wraps production, Hossein runs after Tahereh as she walks home through the terraced olive groves. He follows her, pleading. She ignores him. The camera holds back, watching them from a great distance, two tiny figures in a vast, green, hilly landscape.