Abbas Kiarostami deserves credit for fuelling the rise of Iranian cinema, arguably the most dramatic film development of the past dozen years. His slyly reflexive Close-Up, 1989, reached the international circuit in the early 90s, and crested when his extraordinary Taste of Cherry, 1997, shared the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1997. While some of his Iranian colleagues have also achieved a fair share of western recognition — he has remained the most highly visible figure, thanks to his trilogy (Where Is the Friend’s Home, 1987, Life Goes On, 1992, and Through the Olive Trees, 1994), that have earned ecstatic reviews and drawn enthusiastic art-house audiences in many nations. All of which explains why a touch of the ‘Enthronement Syndrome’ has crept up on Kiarostami, with the worshipful attitude of some devotees sparking a backlash from others who question whether this emperor is wearing as impressive an outfit as his admirers claim. Such arguments notwithstanding, it’s plain to anyone who has seriously engaged with Kiarostami’s work, that some of his films are full-fledged masterpieces, and that the master who created them deserves any throne he might choose to occupy.