Minimalism in film : the work of Abbas Kiarostami

Abstract

Within various art forms, minimalism enjoys ample academic literature that serves to both describe the concept’s founding elements and uses them to analyse key works. In film studies however, such literature is very limited, evincing a significant research gap. This dissertation posits Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami as a quintessential multidisciplinary minimalist artist, and employs his filmography and related literature to formally examine the workings of minimalism within film. Drawing upon his short films alongside feature-lengths made within the narrative and experimental modes, a formal analysis with regards to their minimalist application of narrative, mise-en-scène, cinematography, editing and sound is conducted. The dissertation concludes that cinematic minimalism hinges on two key concepts: cinematic voids, which refer to a director’s intentional creation of filmic omissions, and audience participation, which refers to the spectator’s function in negotiating these omissions through a process of creative involvement. These findings are presented in a highly accessible format, delineating several minimalistic tenets of film language which can be effectively utilised in the analysis or production of any film within the global canon.