Orderly or Disorderly

Orderly or Disorderly? (1981) Director: Abbas Kiarostami Rating: 8/10 Stars

How I wish I had already discovered Abbas Kiarostami during my University and graduate school years. This, like many of his documentary shorts, are far more fascinating, much more insightful, definitely more interactive, and therefore significantly better than any psychology textbook out there. Pure fodder for philosophical conversation and debate, his entire body of work can be directed in myriad ways ways for endless, thought provoking hours. While his later feature length films were as good if not better for their storytelling power, this is especially true for his early documentary shorts, due to their compact presentation. Trying heaven sent for the true psychology student or psychophile(?). Say what? Yes, that is indeed me!

A school scene. Class has ended. Students walk down the stairs in an orderly fashion. Good. Now rewind. Class has ended. Students walk down the stairs in a disorderly fashion. Bad.

The students make their way to a central court for their classroom break. A single water dispenser is at the center. Some students gather to drink. In orderly fashion it takes them a minute and ten seconds to satisfy their thirst. Rewind. In disorderly fashion it takes them three minutes and the dispenser is trashed in the confusion.

The point? Orderly behavior is efficient.

The dualist approach is now applied to pedestrians crossing a street. Orderly requires waiting for the green light. Disorderly means dodging cars and forcing cars to brake.

Next, cars approach a narrow tunnel. They bunch up at the entrance in disorderly fashion. If simple rules of orderly merging are obeyed by drivers, the cars line up quickly to enter the tunnel.

A major street intersection. Every car is trying to cross the intersection at the same time in all directions. Fender benders are avoided by centimeters. Turbulent flow is inefficient. Now Kiarostami tries to set the orderly version. A policeman is called in to put some order. But can he succeed in a city where cars are handled by disorderly drivers? Hey, what's that? A pedestrian just entered the frame disorderly running across the moving traffic. I guess it is hopeless in Iran.