90 minutes Quote by Abbas Kiarostami
“The starting point and the ending point are nothing but two arbitrary choices. You make them as in soccer games, where they chose that it's 90 minutes, not less and not more. But the choices are the responsibility of the filmmaker. You have to choose to join the story at an arbitrary point, and you leave it at an arbitrary point.”
About This Quote
Source Film: Close-Up, 1990
Filmmakers set arbitrary start and end points, like a soccer match’s fixed duration, shaping narrative structure.
In simple terms: Filmmakers choose start and end points arbitrarily.
Key Takeaway
Embrace narrative flexibility.
Themes
storytelling
structure
choice
Mood
reflective
analytical
Type
philosophical
inspirational
When to use this quote
- film editing
- scriptwriting
- scene planning
- audience engagement
Key Concepts
Narrative theory
authorial control
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you decide where a story should begin?
- What impact does an arbitrary ending have on audience perception?
A Different Perspective
Arbitrary limits may constrain natural story flow.
![“It was a film that I knew, that I had seen, that I was familiar with, but I wasn't anxious about it at any point during the screening. I snoozed twice, and this is something I couldn't have imagined that I would feel detached, as I did with this film [Certified Copy].” quote by Abbas Kiarostami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/533/abbas-kiarostami-2631_anxious_it-was-a-film-that-i-knew-that-i-had-see_155328.jpg)
