The Wind Will Carry Us (Abbas Kiarostami, 1999) - [Life and Death]

Abbas Kiarostami’s The Wind Will Carry Us (1999) is a film that speaks in whispers. It does not tell us everything. Instead it makes us listen, observe and feel. This is not a movie about events. It is about waiting, searching and understanding life itself.

The film follows a man who comes to a small village in Iran for an unknown purpose. He waits, roams the hills and speaks to the villagers. Yet, some people remain unseen. We hear their voices but never see their faces. This is Kiarostami’s way of showing that life is full of unknowns. We do not always see everything but it still exists.

One of the main themes of the film is death. The man is waiting for an old woman to die. But in this waiting, he sees the simple beauty of life in the village. People work, children play, and the wind blows through the hills. Death is always near, yet life continues. Kiarostami reminds us that we are all waiting for something. But in the waiting, we must not forget to live.

The title of the film comes from a poem by Forough Farrokhzad. The wind represents time, change, and the unknown. It carries things away, just like life moves forward, no matter what we do.

The Wind Will Carry Us is not just a film. It is a poem in motion. It does not give clear answers. Instead it asks us to think. It shows that life is full of waiting, mystery, and beauty. Even in silence, even in the unseen, there is meaning. Kiarostami teaches us that sometimes to understand life, we must listen to the wind.

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