Movie Review:	Where Is the Friend's Home? (Khaneh-ye Doust Kojast?). 
	 	Abbas Kiarostami (Iran, 1987)* 

			Srini Narayanan 
			   July 1997

Surely even the most sensory-deprived American child can readily
associate the "evil" land of terrorism with images of bearded,
hook-nosed "Shias" gutturally invoking "Allah-hu-Akbar" in the name of
assorted "Jihads" and "Fatwas" while hijacking planes and massacring
innocent civilians. Yet few Americans ever grow up to the awareness
that this favorite object of blistering negative media-blitz and
profitable Hollywood movies is also the birthplace of some of today's
most human, compassionate, and life-affirming films. Amidst all the
paranoia, the Jingoism and saber-rattling on all sides, films like
"Where Is the Friend's Home?"  have had very little exposure in the
US, depriving western art and movies far more than "Frozen Assets" or
"US Economic Embargos" seem to have hurt Iranian commerce. With some
luck, the recent commercial release and well deserved critical acclaim
of "The White Balloon" (1995) (written by Abbas Kiarostami, and
directed by his assistant Jafer Panahi), will result in increased
interest and wider distribution of other Kiarostami "films of the
heart".

"Where Is the Friend's Home" is a beautiful movie set in Northern Iran
chronicling the adventures of young Ahmad Ahmadpour as he sets about
his all-important post-school mission to return a notebook to his
friend and classmate Mohammed-Reza Nematzadeh. Just that morning,
Ahmad has witnessed his friend severely distraught after a strict
one-more-strike-and-you-are-out schoolmaster informs young Nematzadeh
of possible expulsion for failing to turn in his daily homework in the
"officially sanctioned" notebook.  Arrival of said notebook with
Mohammad-Reza's perpetually late cousin from the neighboring village
of Poshteh merely engenders the response "Students who come from
Poshteh must sleep half an hour early and wake-up ten minutes early,
so that they can be fresh and on time"; leaving the earlier
pronouncement standing.

Following this episode, the luckless Nematzadeh Jr. falls down and
sustains a minor scratch in the universal after-the-bell mad dash. The
ensuing distraction results in his notebook being transferred to
Ahmad. Discovering this omission soon upon returning to his house in
the village of Koker, Ahmad is immediately consumed by the prospect of
his friend's possible expulsion unless the notebook somehow found its
way back that afternoon. Faced with just plain adult non-comprehension
of the urgency of the situation, tinged with varying degrees of
disbelief, including accusations of laziness "All you want to do is go
out instead of doing your homework", Ahmad Ahmadpour is forced to defy
his parents and set-out on his own to find his friend's home in the
neighboring village of Poshteh.

Armed only with the name of his friend, our determined hero starts-off
by climbing the winding path through steep hills and across the
barren, dusty landscape that leads to Poshteh.  In the quagmire of
adult incomprehension, his mission soon turns into a seemingly
impossible odyssey rivaling anything that the ancient Greek bard could
offer.

The stoic resilience and wisdom of Ahmad Ahmadpour to remain
undeterred in his caring mission to save his friend is never at issue
through all the conflicting directions from disinterested adults that
result in him traversing the same barren territory between Koker and
Poshteh repeatedly with absurd inevitability.  We find him negotiating
bleak similar-looking and confusing houses and narrow labyrinth-like
streets, fielding meaningless adult requests and irrelevant adult
banter about iron doors and bringing up children right by creating
reasons to beat them at least once every fortnight.  We find him
running behind older Nematzadehs on mules calling out every
combination of Mohammed-Reza Nematzadeh over and over (including
"Mummadreza!" and I could have sworn an odd "Neamastadeh!"). His
afternoon adventures culminate in an engaging encounter with a
deliberate, slow, old carpenter who goes on about the durability
and quality of modern door design.

Returning home exhausted and frustrated by the elusive little
Nematzadeh, Ahmad's caring is made palpable and heart-wrenching when
he is unable to eat dinner -- consumed by worry and sorrow about the
fate of his friend.  The movie closes with an inspiring moment of
grace, aptly illustrating the triumph of caring and compassion that
remains unshaken in the face of conflicting opinions, meaningless
symbols, irrelevant theories, and erratic and inexplicable human
behavior.  The movie's patient unfolding, simplicity of style, and
Ahmad's own behavior exemplifies what can only be termed "casual
humanity" and "effortless grace".

* The movie was inspired by a poem of the same name by Iranian
philosopher Sohrab Sepehri.