Abbas Kiarostami: Where Is the Friend’s House? (1987) — Movie Discussion

The first film in Abbas Kiarostami’s sublime, interlacing "Koker Trilogy" takes a simple premise — a boy searches for the home of his classmate, whose all-important notebook he has accidentally taken — and transforms it into a miraculous child’s-eye adventure of the everyday. As our young hero zigzags determinedly across two towns, aided (and sometimes misdirected) by those he encounters, his quest becomes both a revealing portrait of rural Iranian society in all its richness and complexity and a touching parable about the meaning of personal responsibility. Sensitive and profound, Where Is the Friend’s House? is shot through with all the beauty, tension, and wonder a single day can contain.

"Like the neo-realist works from which it descends, deceptively simple and utterly profound." (Rotten Tomatoes)

"Kiarostami represents the highest level of artistry in the cinema." (Martin Scorcese)

"A classic of humanist filmmaking and a landmark in Iranian cinema." (TIFF: Toronto International Film Festival)

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Let's revisit Abbas Kiarostami and discuss his 1987 film Where Is the Friend’s House? (Persian: خانه دوست کجاست), recently voted the 72nd greatest movie of all time in Sight & Sound's international survey of filmmakers, and the 157th greatest of all time in the related poll of film critics and experts. The film, inspired by a poem by Iranian poet Sohrab Sepehri, was one of Kiarostami's most successful films in Iran and his first film to gain major international attention.

The film is the first installment of Kiarostami's so-called "Koker Trilogy", which Criterion has called "a gradual outward zoom revealing the cosmic majesty and mystery of ordinary life." We will watch the other two installments at later meetups. We previously discussed 3 other films by Kiarostami: Close-Up (1989), Taste of Cherry (1997), and The Wind Will Carry Us (1999).

Please watch the movie in advance and bring your thoughts, reactions, and queries to share with us at the meeting.

You can stream it here (check the settings in the player for English subtitles and to adjust quality) or rent it on various platforms online.

A trailer.

Check out other movie discussions in the group every Friday and occasionally other days.