Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy

[joshua]

One of the preeminent figures of Iranian cinema, Mohsen Makhmalbaf has written and directed an impressive array of acclaimed films, winning accolades at international film festivals and the admiration of world cinema audiences. This collection presents three of Makhmalbaf's most lyrical films which the director has termed his Poetic Trilogy.

Gabbeh tells of an elderly couple who stop by a stream to wash a vividly woven traditional Persian rug ('Gabbeh'). A beautiful woman, depicted in in the rug's elaborate design, suddenly appears and tells a heart-rending story of love and loss. A film imbued with the ideas of Sufism, The Silence tells of Khorshid, a young blind boy from Tajikistan who earns rent money for his family by tuning rare instruments but becomes enraptured by the sonorous music he hears on his way to work each day. The Gardener is an imaginative documentary which traces Makhmalbaf, and his son Maysam, to Israel to investigate the Bahá'í Faith, a religion with 7 million followers, which originated in Iran 170 years ago.

As well as presenting a wealth of extras, this collection boasts stunning new restorations of Gabbeh and The Silence which truly bring the films' rich colours and imagery to life.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

• Brand new 2K restorations of The Silence and Gabbeh from the original camera negatives
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations of all three films
• Original Persian soundtracks with uncompressed LPCM audio
• Newly translated English subtitles
• Audio commentary on Gabbeh by critic Godfrey Cheshire
• Poetry in Motion: An Interview with Mohsen Makhmalbaf, an in-depth conversation between the Iranian auteur and film critic Jonathan Romney, newly produced for this edition
• Mohsen with Closed Eyes, an imaginatively filmed archival interview with Makhmalbaf on The Silence
• Original trailers
• Stills and collections gallery
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Scott Saslow
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated booklet featuring new writing by film academic Negar Mottahedeh and Mohsen Makhmalbaf

[swo17]

Just going to leave this Amazon link here

Wonderful! Haven't seen any of these.

[Ribs]

Sounds great! I've only seen Moment of Innocence, so am excited by this. Good work Arrow! Based on it being two discs, seems like it'll be a cheaper, single-case thing, more like a Nikkatsu set, which is cool if it's what it needs to get out.

[MichaelB]

Running times range from 72 to 87 mins, so there’s plenty of room for them across two discs.

[domino harvey]

Enjoyed Moment of Innocence, interested in seeing more by him... but why not release his best-known film first? Is it with another UK label?

[MichaelB]

I’d say Gabbeh is one of his best-known films as far as the UK is concerned.

[dda1996a]

I would say Moment of Innocence is by far his most well known and highly regarded. I'll still probably get this, but if Innocence was announced it'll be a day one purchase for me

[StevenJ0001]

OMG!!!! I'd kind of given up hope of getting Gabbeh on Blu. The use of color in that film is unbelievable and should look absolutely gorgeous on Blu.

[zedz]

Historically, I reckon The Cyclist is the big Makhmalbaf film, and one of the ones that broke Iranian cinema internationally, though I definitely prefer his later work, and I think Moment of Innocence is his best film. Kandahar is also pretty well known, and actually got home video releases in several territories.

The films here (though I haven't seen The Gardener) are sunnier, somewhat folklorish and allegorical. They're pretty accessible and make a sensible starting point for his cinema.

Here's hoping for a second box that tackles the self-reflexive films from the 90s: Once Upon a Time, Cinema, Salam Cinema, A Moment of Innocence. They can even call it a trilogy if they like.

[joshua]

Here's hoping for a second box that tackles the self-reflexive films from the 90s: Once Upon a Time, Cinema, Salam Cinema, A Moment of Innocence. They can even call it a trilogy if they like.

It's funny you should say that because I have read where Mahkhmalbaf does call Once Upon a Time, Cinema, The Actor, and Hello Cinema his Cinema trilogy. That still leaves A Moment of Innocence orphaned so maybe that would have to be a stand alone.

[whaleallright]

surely this will later become part of the Trilogy Trilogy box set

(what is it with art-film directors and trilogies btw?)

[mteller]

Gabbeh and The Silence are both favorites of mine (haven't seen the other). Can't wait!

[thirtyframesasecond]

Kandahar was released just after 9/11 wasn't it? Probably a fave of the Bush administration.

[MichaelB]

I can't tell if that post was tongue in cheek, but Kandahar really was screened at the White House in late 2001.

[thirtyframesasecond]

Well it probably just about preceded the War on Terror, so Bush and his mates probably thought it was a close to life under the Taliban as they knew it to be.

[MichaelB]

From what I gather, it was a few weeks after the war in Afghanistan started.

[whaleallright]

Kandahar was released just after 9/11 wasn't it? Probably a fave of the Bush administration.

If Bush himself watched it, which I doubt, it would have very possibly been the first subtitled film he'd ever seen.

The current occupant of that builing is functionally illiterate, so no chance of a similar event taking place.

[Dr Amicus]

From what I remember from the news at the time, it was certainly implied that Bush had seen the film - the reasoning given was that it would help understand the situation in the country at the time.

[MichaelB]

If Bush himself watched it, which I doubt, it would have very possibly been the first subtitled film he'd ever seen.

Bush actually speaks fluent Spanish (one of the reasons why he’s the only Republican President in recent decades not to poll record-breakingly poorly with the Latino community), so I wouldn’t be quite that glibly certain.

Oh, and from what I gather, the request for a Kandahar screening was made on Bush’s personal behalf.

[Michael Kerpan]

GWB is passably conversant with Spanish (but no more than that), while his brother Jeb is probably actually fluent in that language.

[whaleallright]

yeah GWB's Spanish was... passable. I remember him giving some kind of address in that language early in his first term, and cringing a bit. if only that was the worst of his crimes.

anyhow!

[jindianajonz]

Kandahar was released just after 9/11 wasn't it? Probably a fave of the Bush administration.

If Bush himself watched it, which I doubt, it would have very possibly been the first subtitled film he'd ever seen.

The Battle of Algiers was regularly shown in the Pentagon during the War on Terror. I'd be surprised if Bush never saw it.

[Drucker]

Some of these films are screening in 35mm at MOMA in September

[senseabove]

Gabbeh, Silence, and other films made by Makhmalbaf, his wife, and his daughters are also screening in Berkeley in September and October (and all of them but Silence and The President are 35mm)

[chiendent]

I saw Gabbeh over the weekend in Berkeley and aside from some minor wear and tear the print looked wonderful. I'm looking forward to seeing the 2K restoration and revisiting this when it comes out, especially since there'll be a commentary and I'd love to hear/read some more about the context and background. The film itself was beautiful and felt like a story I would've been told as a child come to life. The only other Makhmalbaf I've seen is A Moment of Innocence (which I'm excited to revisit on Thursday) so I'm grateful to have the chance to see and own more of them.