whispers of genius
Víctor Erice's "The Spirit of the Beehive"
ACMI celebrates the 'quiet' films of two masters of cinema.
Once dubbed cinema's "poet of silence", Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami has been hailed by international critics for his meditative works exploring his homeland's physical, emotional and social landscape. Similarly, Víctor Erice's small but significant oeuvre is lyrical, contemplative and highly personal. Wesley Morris, critic for the Boston Globe, once wrote that Erice's The Spirit of the Beehive "unfolds with the patience of a cloud".
Focus on Víctor Erice and Abbas Kiarostami surveys early works and acclaimed classics by the two directors featured in our Correspondences exhibition, highlighting their shared themes, motifs and aesthetics. It's a rare chance to see all three of Erice's feature films - including the Australian premiere of The Quince Tree Sun - as well as Kiarostami's Koker 'trilogy' of films linked by a small village in northern Iran (Where Is My Friend's House, And Life Goes On, Through the Olive Trees).
Also screening are key works from Erice's and Kiarostami's respective film traditions that have become cinematic touchstones: Amir Naderi's The Runner was perhaps the first post-revolution Iranian film to attract significant worldwide attention, while Carlos Saura's The Delinquents and Manuel Summers' From Pink.to Yellow subtly pushed the cinematic constraints of Franco's Spain.
When you consider that in 2002 Kiarostami was denied a visa to enter the United States (despite an invitation to attend the New York Film Festival) and that, as recently as last year, his films were only available for viewing within his own country via pirated DVDs on the black market, it becomes apparent that a cultural exchange such as this is as much about politics as it is about poetry.
Published Thursday, 2 October 2008
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