Life, and Nothing More…
A filmmaker and his son cross earthquake-ravaged Guilan searching for familiar actors, discovering resilience in the lives continuing around them.
Overview
A poignant exploration of resilience in the face of disaster and loss.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- contemplative
- humanist
- melancholic
- reflective evening
- arthouse film night
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as a compassionate, formally inventive humanist drama that transforms a post-earthquake search into a meditation on survival and cinema.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The director and his son search for actors from Kiarostami's earlier film while encountering earthquake survivors whose lives become part of the film's emotional reality.
The devastated Guilan communities continue working, traveling, celebrating, and pursuing ordinary life after the earthquake.
The central search is explicitly for actors from Khane-ye Doust Kodjast? and reflects on the director's prior production.
The search through earthquake-devastated areas is contrasted with survivors' efforts to live fully and preserve daily routines.
Films like Life, and Nothing More…, and why
The Wind Will Carry Us
shared humanist realism, post-disaster setting, and attention to ordinary people rebuilding their lives
Where Is the Friend's Home?
shared Iranian New Wave sensibility, child-centered perspective, and understated search narrative
The Naked Island
shared documentary-fiction hybridity, rural landscapes, and compassionate focus on communities after catastrophe
Movie Details
- Director
- Abbas Kiarostami
- Release Date
- 1992-10-21
- Runtime
- 95 min
- Rating
- 7.7 / 10 (188)
Cast
- Farhad Kheradmand
- Pouya Payvar
- Hossein Rezai
- Hocine Rifahi
- Ferhendeh Feydi
- Mahrem Feydi
- Bahrovz Aydini
- Ziya Babai
- Mohamed Hocine Rouhi
- Hocine Khadem
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Criterion Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Life, and Nothing More… about?
- A filmmaker and his son cross earthquake-ravaged Guilan searching for familiar actors, discovering resilience in the lives continuing around them.
- What is Life, and Nothing More… like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Life, and Nothing More… as measured, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Life, and Nothing More… violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Life, and Nothing More….
- What did critics think of Life, and Nothing More…?
- Critics broadly regard the film as a compassionate, formally inventive humanist drama that transforms a post-earthquake search into a meditation on survival and cinema.
- Which films are like Life, and Nothing More…?
- Films with a similar feel include The Wind Will Carry Us, Where Is the Friend's Home?, and The Naked Island.
- How long is Life, and Nothing More…?
- Life, and Nothing More… runs 95 minutes.
- Where can I watch Life, and Nothing More…?
- In United States, Life, and Nothing More… streams on Criterion Channel.
