Through the Olive Trees (1994) is the final chapter of Abbas Kiarostami’s Koker Trilogy
The story follows a film crew that has arrived in the village of Koker to shoot a scene for Kiarostami's previous film, And Life Goes On . The central conflict arises when the local actor cast as the groom, Hossein, discovers that the woman cast as his bride is Tahereh, a girl he has unsuccessfully proposed to in real life .
Through the Olive Trees is a slow, quiet, demanding film. If you require car chases or three-act structure, look elsewhere. But if you are willing to sit with imperfection, repetition, and the stubborn beauty of human connection, it is a masterpiece. Through the olive trees- Abbas Kiarostami
One dot stopped. The other caught up. They stood together for a breathless, microscopic moment in the frame.
The film is the third in a series set in Northern Iran's Koker region: Where is the Friend's Home? (1987) : A simple story about a boy returning a notebook. And Life Goes On (1992) Through the Olive Trees (1994) is the final
(1992): A fictionalized director searches for the child actors from the first film after the earthquake. Through the Olive Trees
: On set, Tahereh refuses to speak to Hossein or even acknowledge him between takes, forcing the director to navigate their real-life tension while trying to capture a fictional marriage. Kiarostami’s Signature Style If you require car chases or three-act structure,
1. The Earthquake as a Leveler and a Wound The 1990 earthquake, which killed over 30,000 people, is never shown directly. Instead, it is the invisible ground of the entire trilogy. For Hossein, the tragedy has a perverse silver lining: it destroyed Tahereh’s family home and killed her parents, theoretically making her less socially superior. He argues, “The earthquake changed everything… Now we are equal.” Kiarostami neither endorses nor condemns this logic; he presents it as a raw, human attempt to find hope in catastrophe. The rubble-strewn landscape becomes both a real memorial and a movie set—a place where art tries to make sense of trauma.
The film tells the story of a young man, Hossain (played by Beshroti), who wants to marry a young woman, Tahereh (played by Pirooz Karkhaneh). However, their social differences and the fact that Tahereh is already engaged to someone else complicate their love.