Under the Olive Trees (Zire Darakhatan Zeyton) (1994, G)

Written and Directed by Abbas Kiarostami

Starring
 Mohammad Ali Keshavarz as the Film Director
 Farhad Kheradmand as Farhad
 Zarifeh Shiva as Mrs. Shiva
 Hossein Rezai as Hossein
 Tahereh Ladanian as Tahereh

As Reviewed by James Brundage

Let me say that, after I have written this review, I will never be allowed within the borders of Iran. It will be the basic disrespect I intend to show towards my first (and probably last) contact with the Iranian Film Industry that keeps me out. It will also be my high criticism of the extraordinarily strict censorship standards that the country holds close to its very story heart. For either reason, after this review, Iran is a country that is out of the question.

Basically, Under the Olive Trees is the worst kind of dissapointment: an unconventional film with a very conventional story. To say it simply, it is boy-meets-girl, boy-loves-girl, boy-stalks-girl-until-she-marries-him. The boy is Hossein (played by Hossein Rezai, the low-budget filmmakers couldn’t afford actors that would respond to a name other than their own). The girl is Tarereh. Both of them are working on a low-budget film about a love story that takes place after the 1992 earthquake.

While watching it, having discovered that it was about the Iranian film industry, I jokingly stated that it was a Iranian The Player. Another person shook his head and said it was more like Irma Vep. We were both joking. It was a terrible movie.

The cinematography, the sound, the direction: all hold up under the incredible stress that a terrible script puts them under. In fact, the cinematography is the very best part of the movie. Iran, as displayed in the film, is a beautiful and somewhat mystic place where a simpler form of life dominates. If only that were true…

The cinematography leads me to believe that Jim Jarmush is part of the standard film school curriculum, because the camera only pans once during the film, and does the rest in probably less than one hundred shots. Shots, folks, not slugs. I’m not stating that this is a bad thing, I’m just stating that, after a while, it gets boring. It takes away the steam.

On the subject of steam, the simple fact is that Under the Olive Trees doesn’t have it. It doesn’t have steam. It doesn’t have gas. This damn film doesn’t even have fumes. It moves along with the pace of a caterpillar and tempts you to sleep through it constantly. As far as plot goes, it basically has none. I have already outlined it for you, but, for those hoping to see a violent “Stalker” film, hope again. The stalking you witness is rather a constant badgering and following around of Tahereh. In America, we have two words for that… “Restraining Order.”

The influence of the theocratic Iranian censors seems alive and well in the fact that every other word out of any characters mouth is “Praise” or “God”, both of which, theocracy or no, are bad dialouge when used profusely. The same is true of films on the opposite end of the spectrum, ones that don ’t know how or when not to curse.

It’s always a great pity to have your first experience with another country’s film industry be spurned by a completely terrible film. Let’s face it, we all prejudge, and I’ve obviously prejudged Iran as have a great difficulty at turning out films. I saw, as my first Czech film, Kolya. An excellent movie. As my first Italian film… Cinema Paradiso. Another excellent film. My first experience with Japanese movies, Godzilla, which, let’s admit it, is fun as hell to watch. Hong-Kong: Hard-Boiled. The odd apple in my bunch of very pleasing foreign films would have to be this one. It’s bad, and it’s bad by American standards.