The Silence (1998) - Mohsen Makhmalbaf 

Continuing on a roll for Makhmalbaf came this film far removed from politics. Filmed outside of his native Iran, the story continues somewhat in tone from Gabbeh. The story is loosely comprised as an excuse to load the frame with beautiful imagery and color. Truthfully I don't think that color has been more abundant and radiant in any previous Iranian film. There is certainly a reference to making his lead actor blind, and showing us the hyper sensitive world that he can only feel and hear.

Not surprisingly music does play a huge roll in this film, as a constant distraction, as a means to pay the bills, and as an ever present part of life. The motif of the film is Beethoven's 5th Symphony, and Khorshid (Tahmineh Normatova) seems to hear it everywhere. When he doesn't hear it, he makes people create those distinct opening notes. He is extremely easily distracted, and this I find to be a slight fault of the film. I mean I can't quite understand why this character who needs this job as the only source of income for his family that's about to get evicted, can't just get his ass to work. There is some deeper meaning to it, and it was thoroughly lost on me.

Representing his eyes is Nadereh a pretty girl also working with Khorshid, who tries sometimes in vain to keep Khorshid employed. She symbolizes the beauty in the world and with nature. Wearing cherries for earrings and flower petals for fingernail polish. It is a world of sympathetic kids and cold adults. The landlord is ominous and unseen, and Khorshid's boss is ineffectual, and cranky. But you can hardly blame him when Khorshid is so awfully bad at his job. Almost never showing up on time and not even being able to tune the instruments properly. He is costing his boss customers, and it isn't surprising that he is going to be fired. Khorshid doesn't seem to do anything to keep his job, making this film somewhat depart from a state of practical reality.

As a piece of cinematic poetry The Silence succeeds on many levels. It is an allegory of modern life, and music in the world. It is an homage to the beauty of the world and nature. As a practical film with a narrative heart it is a failure. It's story does seem to be pointless, and is so badly told that we really wonder if there had to be any real plot at all. Perhaps the film could have worked better as a straight film of pictoral compositions, much in the way Sergei Paradjanov's films substituted shots for plot.

Grade B