Film: The Wind Will Carry Us
Year of production: 1992
UK Release date: 27th June 2011
Distributor: Artificial Eye
Certificate: 15
Running time: 118 mins
Director: Abbas Kiarostami
Starring: Behzad Dorani, Noghre Asadi, Roushan Karam Elmi, Bahman Ghobadi, Shahpour Ghobadi
Genre: Drama
Format: DVD
Country of Production: Iran/France
Language: Persian
Review by: Tim Molton
Released as part of The Abbas Kiarostami Collection. This 1999 Iranian production by Abbas Kiarostami references the poetic works of the controversial Forough Farrokhzad and contemplates the relationship between life and death. The Venice Film Festival Golden Lion nominee and Grand Special Jury Prize winner has drawn praise from critics worldwide, and saw Kiarostami hailed as one of the great directors at the turn of the millennium.
A group of purported engineers make their way to the small Kurdish village of Siah Dareh, though the motivation behind their trip is initially unknown. Towards the end of their scenic journey through the hills of Iran, the men meet a small boy, Farzhad (Farzhad Sohrabi), who offers them a place to stay and is immediately befriended by the focal engineer Behzad (Behzad Dourani).
Behzad tells young Farzhad that his presence there is to hunt for treasure, a rumour which is subsequently circulated by the young boy, but about which the locals still speculate. Behzad, however, spends his time wandering the village and observing the villagers, whilst persistently querying the health of a sick and elderly woman who resides in the village. The woman, we learn, is Farzhad’s 100-year-old grandma, and her health is a constant source of interest to Behzad and his crew.
During their time in the village, the engineers become agitated and impatient, and it becomes clear that they are awaiting the death of the elderly Mrs Malek. Behzad receives regular telephone calls from his Producer in Tehran - an increasingly frustrated woman – whose concerns are only for the time that it is taking for Mrs Malek to pass away.
Behzad, however, is determined to stay in the village until his duty is fulfilled, and by doing so opens himself up to a different world to that which he knows. A slow-paced and naturally beautiful town, which thrives on simplicity and collective responsibility, becomes his short term home and gives him a little more insight into the nature of life and death…
The opening scene sees the car of engineers driving down the long and winding road of a hill side, whilst asking one another for directions and looking out for landmarks to confirm that they are on the correct route. Straight away, Kiarostami fuses comic dialogue with an idyllic backdrop and symbolic references to great effect, setting the tone for the rest of the film. Utilising the flat roads around the mountains, he intimates that too often people are distracted off course by the appeal of a less challenging alternative.
Kiarostami is also quick to draw attention to the impatience of the engineers in the car, a trait which is maintained by the characters throughout the film, and which is a major theme of the feature.
The film is very documentary-esque in the way that life, lifestyles and scenery are so prevalently observed throughout. The beautifully simplistic way of life becomes ever more appealing as the picture develops, and the audience begin to appreciate the appeal of such a lifestyle.
But this film is as much about what we do see as what we do not, and it is this desire to see more which the director continually feeds throughout. Kiarostami intelligently plays on the viewers’ intrigue and impatience, often to the point of frustration, with the aim of educating his audience in the same way as his protagonist.
There are several key characters in this movie that are never actually introduced to the audience, and this serves to bolster Kiarostami’s message, as the film achieves its goal without having to display such characters. The viewer learns, in a sense, to take pleasure in what is available to them rather than to dwell on possibilities. For example, aside from Behzad, the engineers are never seen. Neither is Mrs Malek, the ailing old lady whose imminent death is seemingly the engineer’s only reason for being in the village. The audience are never permitted to view inside any of the village houses, and Youssef - the man on the hill to where Behzad must drive each time his mobile phone rings in order to get a signal - is also never seen. Youssef’s voice is only heard from below the hill, where he digs a ditch for telecommunications purposes and converses with Behzad. Neither do we see the face of the Youssef’s 16-year-old fiancé, Zeynab, during one of the film’s key scenes. During this scene, Behzad seeks milk from Zeynab’s cow and is taken down to a cellar where the young lady milks a cow whilst Behzad - somewhat condescendingly - recites poetry to her.
The poem recited is that from which the title takes its name, and is a relatively erotic poem. Behzad asks several times to see the young woman’s face, but to his dismay she does not hold up the lamp with which the cellar is lit. Again, the viewers are left to their own imagination, and encouraged to listen rather than only to see.
There are, of course, some wonderful and tranquil moments captured here, such as a turtle taking its time to make its way across the land and a large beetle pushing its earth along the ground. Nevertheless, the sound in this film is every bit as important as the aesthetic visuals, and Kiarostami’s soundtrack with the simple sounds of nature are what allow the audience to experience so much with far less visual information.
Ironically, it is the local doctor towards the end of the film who talks about not limiting himself - choosing to occupy his time observing life rather than surrounding himself with death. Perhaps, then, it is his words which echo most once the film has ended; do not wait for the promises of paradise to materialise in the afterlife, when so much beauty is before you in the present.
The doctor’s statement that nobody has been to this paradise and come back to tell us whether it exists is somewhat surprising and unexpected within a nation so devoted to religion. But this is a film which discourages intrigue and impatience and promotes acceptance, and the ability to slow down enjoy what is at hand.
A brilliantly filmed and wonderfully narrated feature, which expresses in so many different ways the beauty of life and the necessity for appreciation. This non-drama discourages expectation and anticipation, choosing instead to incite observation and fulfilment. While it may be a little slow-paced for many, those with patience and a penchant for the idyllic will be rewarded with an insightful and humorous piece of world cinema. TMO
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