two masterpieces by mohsen makhmalbaf: the silence and a moment of innocence november 10 - 25, 1999 photo: a moment of innocence

box office and ticket information | calendar biography / filmography | interview: a moment of innocence | interview: the silence "[THE SILENCE] is a film about music and the inner voice that each of us should follow. Khorshid lives for the moment without thinking about the past or the future. I was inspired by Khayyam, the famous Persian poet, who said, 'On earth life is the most important thing that exists, and life means the present time.' A maxim that was rejected by all the religious philosophies so as to compel us to live our lives in anticipation of the sequel to death." - Mohsen Makhmalbaf THE SILENCE (Iran/France, 1988; 77m) There's nothing silent about this visual feast for the eyes, ears and soul. Blind Khorshid (Tahmineh Normativa), a 10-year-old boy who makes a living as a tuner of stringed instruments, apprehends the world primarily through sound-and sometimes touch. The rapt intensity with which this child takes in his environment's rich aural array-especially music-is that of a hungry artist who hears the melodic patterns of life itself. THE SILENCE works a kind of aesthetic synesthesia: a blind child who hears mise-en-scene as music is imagined by a director whose eyes see images as part of the delicate yet indestructible weave of poetry. (Think of Gabbeh, movie as magic carpet; in THE SILENCE, it is the flow of a great river that puts all experience in fluid perspective.) Shot in Tadjikistan, this extraordinary film follows Khorshid as he wakes daily to the buzz of a bee, a heavy knock on the door, and his mother's worries about eviction; ambles like a small pasha past the smells and sounds of earth's plenty (lovely girls clad in bright dresses, offering new bread and bright red apples); goes constantly astray pursuing seductive strands of music instead of riding his bus directly to work; and savors with pagan pleasure the heady flavors of human and natural noise. Nothing of great moment happens in THE SILENCE, yet this lovely film shows in every frame the alchemical power of the imagination to transform the everyday, the natural-boys hammering on pots, cherries, flower petals-into high art, beautiful and true. Wed Nov 10: 2, 6 and 9:30; Thurs Nov 11: 3:45; Fri Nov 12: 2, 6 and 9:30; Sat Nov 13: 4 and 7:30; Sun Nov 14: 5:30 and 9; Mon Nov 15: 4 and 7:45; Tues Nov 16: 2; Wed Nov 17: 4 and 7:45; Thurs Nov 18: 2 and 9; Fri Nov 19: 4 and 7:45; Sat Nov 20: 5:45 and 9:15; Sun Nov 21: 4 and 7:30; Mon Nov 22: 2, 6 and 9:30; Tues Nov 23: 3:45 and 7:45; Wed Nov 24: 2, 6 and 9:30; Thurs Nov 25: 4 and 7:45 A MOMENT OF INNOCENCE (Iran/France, 1996; 77m) A MOMENT OF INNOCENCE is an excellent example of Makhmalbaf’s style of “poetic realism,” simple, sometimes comic, always richly ambiguous. Like a number of other contemporary Iranian films, INNOCENCE’s subject matter is self-reflexive, stirring up personal history in a metacinematic mix. Based on a real incident that took place in pre-revolutionary Iran, 20 years ago, when Makhmalbaf was an anti-Shah militant, the film replays a single event: the director used a girl as a decoy, then disarmed and stabbed (not fatally) a police officer. Makhmalbaf spent the next five years in prison where he was tortured and feared for his life. Juxtaposing younger versions of himself and the cop with present day reality, Makhmalbaf contrasts pre- and post-revolutionary generations and mines the points of contact for insight into the human heart: for example, the officer-turned-actor keeps threatening to leave the film, over the casting of his younger self, then over his realization that the woman he loved for 20 years was the very girl who participated in his stabbing. These latter-day emotions inspire the “actors” to attempt to significantly change the events of the past as they are dramatized in the movie! And in fact A MOMENT OF INNOCENCE significantly re-fictionalizes—in the most positive and poignant fashion—the crucial moment of the story. Makhmalbaf demonstrates the power of transcendent art over timebound politics. Wed Nov 10: 4 and 7:45; Thurs Nov 11: 2 and 5:30; Fri Nov 12: 4 and 7:45; Sat Nov 13: 5:45 and 9:15; Sun Nov 14: 7:15; Mon Nov 15: 2, 6 and 9:30; Tues Nov 16: 3:45; Wed Nov 17: 2, 6 and 9:30; Thurs Nov 18: 3:45; Fri Nov 19: 2, 6 and 9:30 Sat Nov 20: 4 and 7:30; Sun Nov 21: 5:45 and 9:15; Mon Nov 22: 4 and 7:45; Tues Nov 23: 2, 6 and 9:30; Wed Nov 24: 4 and 7:45; Thurs Nov 25: 2, 6 and 9:30