The
Wind Will Carry Us
1999
Director: Abbas Kiarostami
Starring: Behzad Dorani
I
can’t help myself – the more I see Kiarostami’s work, the more I’m fascinated
by it. Part of me doesn’t really
understand why. The latest of his I’ve
seen, The Wind Will Carry Us is, on the surface, frustratingly
meandering, with no clear sense of purpose – or, for that matter, narrative. Usually that sort of movie drives me
nuts. But my goodness, take a moment to
peel back the outer layer, and suddenly this new world opens before your eyes,
one with meaning and poignancy and symbolism and, well, just so much more to
offer than simple “plot.”
The
story – which is not the focus of the film, to be very clear – is about a man
from the city (Dorani) who comes with a small crew to a small village in the
country. His purpose there is a bit of a
mystery, and he tells everyone he is an engineer. He befriends a small boy and keeps asking him
questions about the boy’s dying grandmother.
He keeps getting cell phone calls, but has to drive his Jeep up the side
of a hill in order to answer the call.
He drinks tea, borrows milk, chats with his neighbor, enjoys the
hospitality of the townspeople… and, well, that’s about it.
Usually
films like this infuriate me. Nothing
happens. If anyone reading this is
stunned by my enjoyment of such a film, trust me, I’m a little in shock myself. But with Kiarostami, he does it in such a way
as to draw me in, to hypnotize me, to get me thinking about, well, lots of
stuff.
