One of the most exciting aspects of the Abbas Kiarostami retrospective currently under way at the Gene Siskel Film Center (and which runs through the end of October) is that it contains many of the early short films Kiarostami made for Iran’s Institute for the Intellectual Development of Youth. Whether or not they feature children (though many of them do), these works showcase Kiarostami’s deep understanding of how children perceive the world around them. In The Colors (1976), a personal favorite of mine, the filmmaker conveys the enthusiasm kids experience when learning to identify the different hues that define their environment. In Breaktime (1972), Kiraostami forgoes narrative development to convey how children often prioritize certain errant details over “major” ones. The director later claimed the film was more formally audacious than his masterpiece Taste of Cherry (1997), which suggests that many of Kiraostami’s innovations derive from his affinity with children.
To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee’s child’s-eye view of southern bigotry gains something in its translation to the screen by Robert Mulligan, who knows exactly where to place the camera to catch a child’s subjective experience (1962). Mulligan even wrings a respectable performance from Gregory Peck (he won an Oscar for the role) as the country lawyer who defends a Black man on a trumped-up murder charge. Peck’s icy remove works for once—as a kid’s idea of a parent, he’s frighteningly effective. With Mary Badham (John’s sister), Philip Alford, and Robert Duvall. —Dave Kehr
