Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy

Discuss releases from Arrow and the films on them.

Moderator: yoloswegmaster

Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
joshua
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 5:11 pm

Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy

#1 Post by joshua » Thu May 10, 2018 1:14 pm

Image

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

User avatar
swo17
Bloodthirsty Butcher
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
Location: SLC, UT

Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy

#2 Post by swo17 » Thu May 10, 2018 2:50 pm

Wonderful! Haven't seen any of these.

User avatar
Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy

#3 Post by Ribs » Thu May 10, 2018 2:58 pm

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.

User avatar
MichaelB
Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
Location: Worthing
Contact:

Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy

#4 Post by MichaelB » Thu May 10, 2018 3:11 pm

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

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy

#5 Post by domino harvey » Thu May 10, 2018 6:28 pm

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?

User avatar
MichaelB
Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
Location: Worthing
Contact:

Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy

#6 Post by MichaelB » Thu May 10, 2018 6:29 pm

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

User avatar
dda1996a
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2015 6:14 am

Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy

#7 Post by dda1996a » Thu May 10, 2018 7:03 pm

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

User avatar
StevenJ0001
Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 12:02 pm
Location: Los Angeles

Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy

#8 Post by StevenJ0001 » Thu May 10, 2018 8:44 pm

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.

User avatar
zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy

#9 Post by zedz » Thu May 10, 2018 8:52 pm

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.

User avatar
joshua
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 5:11 pm

Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy

#10 Post by joshua » Thu May 10, 2018 10:39 pm

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.
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.

User avatar
whaleallright
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:56 am

Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy

#11 Post by whaleallright » Fri May 11, 2018 8:03 pm

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

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

mteller
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:23 pm

Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy

#12 Post by mteller » Fri May 11, 2018 8:09 pm

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

User avatar
thirtyframesasecond
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 1:48 pm

Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy

#13 Post by thirtyframesasecond » Tue May 22, 2018 2:28 pm

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

User avatar
MichaelB
Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
Location: Worthing
Contact:

Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy

#14 Post by MichaelB » Tue May 22, 2018 3:34 pm

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

User avatar
thirtyframesasecond
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 1:48 pm

Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy

#15 Post by thirtyframesasecond » Tue May 22, 2018 4:21 pm

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.

User avatar
MichaelB
Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
Location: Worthing
Contact:

Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy

#16 Post by MichaelB » Tue May 22, 2018 4:28 pm

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

User avatar
whaleallright
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:56 am

Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy

#17 Post by whaleallright » Thu May 24, 2018 12:19 am

thirtyframesasecond wrote:
Tue May 22, 2018 2:28 pm
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.

User avatar
Dr Amicus
Joined: Thu Feb 15, 2007 10:20 am
Location: Guernsey

Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy

#18 Post by Dr Amicus » Thu May 24, 2018 4:15 am

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.

User avatar
MichaelB
Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
Location: Worthing
Contact:

Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy

#19 Post by MichaelB » Thu May 24, 2018 4:19 am

whaleallright wrote: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.

User avatar
Michael Kerpan
Spelling Bee Champeen
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 1:20 pm
Location: New England
Contact:

Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy

#20 Post by Michael Kerpan » Thu May 24, 2018 4:40 pm

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

User avatar
whaleallright
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:56 am

Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy

#21 Post by whaleallright » Thu May 24, 2018 5:31 pm

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!

User avatar
jindianajonz
Jindiana Jonz Abrams
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 8:11 pm

Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy

#22 Post by jindianajonz » Thu May 24, 2018 6:45 pm

whaleallright wrote:
Thu May 24, 2018 12:19 am
thirtyframesasecond wrote:
Tue May 22, 2018 2:28 pm
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.


User avatar
senseabove
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2015 3:07 am

Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy

#24 Post by senseabove » Thu Aug 23, 2018 2:14 pm

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)

User avatar
chiendent
Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2016 12:32 pm

Re: Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy

#25 Post by chiendent » Tue Sep 04, 2018 5:08 pm

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.

Post Reply