The Silence is a film about the blind Korshid who earns money for his family (him and his mother) by tuning instruments. Only, he will hear things and follow them around by following their sounds. For Iranian film (and the restrictions they put on it) its great. So much better than The Cow for me, but maybe I just don't care for Iranian film in general (I will blame the restrictions the government puts on the industry). The director is Mohsen Makhmalbaf, and he is one of the biggest Iranian directors out there. Or perhaps the biggest, I am not so versed in Iranian film.
I do think this is a pretty film, as in how they film things is interesting. They show lots of colorful head scarves and foods, and Korshid's friend/coworker Nadereh has an obsession with cherries and red lips, as all 10 year olds should. The age is a guess.
The movie is driven by music, Korshid hears a symphony in the wind, and Beethoven in the hammering of pots. In that sense, its a fabulous film. Just don't see it expecting the lovely wrapped up packages that American films have, it will leave you confused and perhaps even a bit siappointed.
The film is also in Farsi (Persian) and has subtitles. That isn't really an issue unless you really hate reading subtitles as most of the film is about music and following the music.
Overall I give it 4 stars because the music and visual aspect. If I rated it only on plot and character development it would be lower.
Note: Post started 7/23/08.
Labels: 1990s, 1998, Iranian, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Persian
Crazy like a Fox? Pfft More like crazy like "The Cow".
The Cow is brought to us by the home-made black and white syling movie-makers of Iran. Smuggled out in the 70s it's considered to likely be the best Iranian film made to date. That isn't saying much. The entire movie spanning 100 minutes has so little plot that it's amazing how much time it takes to tell the tale. Don't worry though the movie still has bandits (that sometimes look like ninjas), random great characters (like the man who always talks through his window and never leaves his house), and a love story, well actually two.
Hassan is the one man in town that is lucky enough to have a cow. He loves his cow; he plays with the cow. He walks around with the cow and picks food for it. He shoos away local children who want to touch or feed the cow. He seems in all accounts to regard the cow more than he regards his wife. Yet, for some unknown reason he goes on a day trip and doesn't bring the cow. The cow almost immediately dies, presumably from separation anxiety. The townsfolk are so concerned about what will happen to Hassan when he finds out, they decide to hide the cow and tell Hassan it ran away, so he won't get upset.
Madness ensues as Hassan is unwilling to accept the idea that HIS cow would leave. In fact, he's certain his cow never left because it's still there. He quickly degrades from believing he knows the cow is there to taking the cow's place. To even calling for himself to protect him when he feels threatened. The movie progresses a little more simply to show us what happens to a man who both thinks and insists he's a cow.
Overall the movie is odd. The best parts of it are the mad cow moments. Anytime you see a man-cow throw himself into a support beam, then break it off and attack his/his master's friends you know its a good film. This alone must be the one support for all the awards that were given the film. Hassan (Ezatolah Entezami) received the Golden Hugo in Chicago International Film Festival in 1971. He also went on to make many more random movies, that might or might not be great. Who knows??
Three Stars for Absurdity