| Directer: | Abbas Kiarostami |
| Starring: | |
| Countries: | France, Iran, Japan |
| Genre: | Drama |
| Year: | 2004 |
| Type: | Color |
| Language: | No dialog |
| Length: | 54 mins. |
| Aspect Ratio: | 1.66:1 |
Synopsis
"Contemplative cinema that generates its own hypnotic, therapeutic fascination ... Five will still be around long after fashionable hits of the day are gone and forgotten." - Screen International,
Acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami (A TASTE OF CHERRY, THROUGH THE OLIVE TREES) pays homage to Yasujiro Ozu, the brilliant Japanese filmmaker whose spare but evocative style has been a major influence on Kiarostami's work. Canny and sublime, the 74-minute film is comprised of five long, apparently single takes of a beach on the Caspian Sea, all focusing on the ocean, comprised of virtually no camera movement and enveloped in rapturous natural sound.
Richly poetic and shot on a hand-held DV camera, the film features five extended, apparently single-take sequences:
1. The camera accompanies a piece of wood with which the waves are toying, at the beach.
2. People are walking along, by the seaside. Older people stop, look at the waves, then walk away.
3. Indistinct shapes on a beach in winter. A group of dogs. A love story.
4. Ducks noisily cross the frame in one direction, then the other.
5. A pond. Nighttime. Frogs. A chorus of sounds. Then, a storm, and finally, dawn.
2004 / 74 min. / Japan, France, Iran / no dialog / Widescreen - 1.66:1
directed by Abbas Kiarostami
produced by Marin Karmitz, Ali Reza Shoja-Nuri, Makoto Ueda
cinematography by Abbas Kiarostami
film editing by Abbas Kiarostami
an MK2, NHK co-production
Extras on DVD
Includes Around Five: Abbas Kiarostami's reflections on film and the making of Five
2005 / 54 min. / In Iranian w/English subtitles an MK2 production
