Genius outside: in memory of director Abbas Kiarostami – Official web-site of radio Vesti FM

In Paris, died the great Iranian film director, winner of the “Golden Palm” Abbas Kiarostami. He was 76 years old. His amazing career, says film critic “Vesti FM” Anton Dolin

whether Abbas Kiarostami title of genius deserves will say only descendants, but one thing is certain:. For Iranian cinema his name – is just as sacred as the names of Tarkovsky – to Russia, Bergman – in Sweden or Buñuel -. for Spain

In fact, the boom of Iranian cinema, which began to look all over the world since the 1990′s, is closely linked namely with Kiarostami. And the most famous of the current Iranian filmmakers, political prisoner Jafar Panahi – his former assistant and student

Kiarostami was not the oldest of the founders of Iran’s “new wave”, but it was he who opened the door to Europe and the world when in 1997. th received the “Palme d’Or” for philosophical parable “Taste of cherry”, the story of the suicide, and at the same time the meaning of life.

But it was kind of the peak of a long career, which began in the 1960s. Then a native of Tehran Kiarostami started working in TV commercials and gained fame in this way. Of course, despite its complicated metaphorical picture, now it’s hard to believe. But it was all a pioneer in many ways and in any genre or formal framework did not fit. For all the poetic paintings – by the way, Kiarostami was a famous poet and the use of modern Iranian poetry in the names and the dialogues of his films – they included elements of the mean documentary style, gravitating to improvisation

After a few short films in 1974. Kiarostami takes full-length film “Voyager”. This touching and paradoxical film tells about the adventures of a boy from the village who wants to raise money and get to the football match in the capital. In 1987, with a ribbon of another village boy who dreamed of returning blog classmate, “Where a friend’s house?” Kiarostami received recognition outside the country – and it is called a direct follower of the Italian neo-realists

In 1990. m out “Approximation” – a unique hybrid of documentary and feature films about the shooting of the film and the trial, where he played the colleague and friend Kiarostami, Mohsen Makhmalbaf. Godard, Tarantino, Scorsese and Herzog sang this picture as a masterpiece. 7 years later, “Taste of Cherry” Kiarostami makes a recognized classic, and his next picture “We will take the wind” gets “Silver Lion” in Venice.

The next 10 years, the director has devoted to experimental film and video art. During this time, his student Jafar Panahi received a prison sentence for opposition political regime. As a result, Kiarostami, though, and continued to be considered a genius at home, actually left Iran, and the last 2 films shot outside: refined “certified copy” – in Italy, “as if in love” – ​​in Japan

<. p> He died in Paris. The cause of death was cancer.