Sightlines · reception
How Through the Olive Trees was received
1995 · Abbas Kiarostami · Through the Olive Trees on Sightlines
The arc
A Cannes competition title in 1994 that helped make Kiarostami the festival darling of the decade, it was slightly overshadowed at the time by the films around it; the Criterion Koker Trilogy box later cemented it as the capstone of one of cinema's great trilogies rather than a footnote.
What’s debated
Fans endlessly relitigate that famous ambiguous ending — sublime act of faith or a shrug? — alongside the eternal 'which Koker film is best' debate.
Its footprint
Its final image — two tiny figures crossing a landscape in one unbroken extreme long shot — is one of the most discussed closing shots in film history, a go-to reference whenever cinephiles talk about endings.
Where it stands
Slow-cinema canon as the meta-textual finale of the Koker trilogy — the 'you must watch all three in order' film of 90s art cinema.
Did you know? Mohamad Ali Keshavarz, who plays the film director, was the only professional actor in the cast — and announces as much directly to camera in the opening shot; everyone else was a nonprofessional from the earthquake-struck region where the trilogy was shot.