Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy
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- joshua
- Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 5:11 pm
Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy
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
- Bloodthirsty Butcher
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Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy
Wonderful! Haven't seen any of these.Joshua wrote:Just going to leave this Amazon link here
- Ribs
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Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy
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
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Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy
Running times range from 72 to 87 mins, so there’s plenty of room for them across two discs.
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
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Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy
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
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Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy
I’d say Gabbeh is one of his best-known films as far as the UK is concerned.
- dda1996a
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Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy
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
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Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy
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
- Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm
Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy
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.
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
- Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 5:11 pm
Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy
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.zedz wrote: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.
- whaleallright
- Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:56 am
Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy
surely this will later become part of the Trilogy Trilogy box set
(what is it with art-film directors and trilogies btw?)
(what is it with art-film directors and trilogies btw?)
-
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Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy
Gabbeh and The Silence are both favorites of mine (haven't seen the other). Can't wait!
- thirtyframesasecond
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Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy
Kandahar was released just after 9/11 wasn't it? Probably a fave of the Bush administration.
- MichaelB
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Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy
I can't tell if that post was tongue in cheek, but Kandahar really was screened at the White House in late 2001.
- thirtyframesasecond
- Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 1:48 pm
Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy
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
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Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy
From what I gather, it was a few weeks after the war in Afghanistan started.
- whaleallright
- Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:56 am
Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy
If Bush himself watched it, which I doubt, it would have very possibly been the first subtitled film he'd ever seen.thirtyframesasecond wrote: ↑Tue May 22, 2018 2:28 pmKandahar was released just after 9/11 wasn't it? Probably a fave of the Bush administration.
The current occupant of that builing is functionally illiterate, so no chance of a similar event taking place.
- Dr Amicus
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Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy
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
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Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy
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.whaleallright wrote:If Bush himself watched it, which I doubt, it would have very possibly been the first subtitled film he'd ever seen.
Oh, and from what I gather, the request for a Kandahar screening was made on Bush’s personal behalf.
- Michael Kerpan
- Spelling Bee Champeen
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Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy
GWB is passably conversant with Spanish (but no more than that), while his brother Jeb is probably actually fluent in that language.
- whaleallright
- Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:56 am
Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy
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!
anyhow!
- jindianajonz
- Jindiana Jonz Abrams
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Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy
The Battle of Algiers was regularly shown in the Pentagon during the War on Terror. I'd be surprised if Bush never saw it.whaleallright wrote: ↑Thu May 24, 2018 12:19 amIf Bush himself watched it, which I doubt, it would have very possibly been the first subtitled film he'd ever seen.thirtyframesasecond wrote: ↑Tue May 22, 2018 2:28 pmKandahar was released just after 9/11 wasn't it? Probably a fave of the Bush administration.
- Drucker
- Your Future our Drucker
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- senseabove
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Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy
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
- Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2016 12:32 pm
Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy
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.