The Silence (1998/Iran)
Picture: C
Sound: C+ Extras: C- Feature: B
A young blind boy is told he and his mother will be thrown
out of their home, so he goes on a journey to find a solution in Mohsen
Makhmalbaf’s The Silence, a 1998 Iranian release about the pre-teens
aural trip through a physical, visual world.
Like The Red Balloon, features come along like this once in a
while that are mature in an adult way, but are still about children, the world
and are for all ages. This is one of
those times.
Unlike Ingmar Bergman’s film of the same name, which also
involves a child and gets into his usual examinations of spirituality, there is
something spiritual going on here as the young man senses and feels his way
through the world. It both frees him
and could save him from homelessness, a nice thought. It has dialogue, but not much, making it a more purely cinematic
exercise despite originating on video.
Khorshid (Tahmineh Normatova) even tunes instruments because his visual
blindness so increases his sound sensitivity.
The Silence is a pleasant surprise worth your time.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1/16 X 9 image has
color and detail limits being shot on video as it is, though still manages to
pull off some visually beautiful instances.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo with a music score that is often as
sweetened as the sound effects the lead is supposed to be hearing. The only extras are four trailers for other
New Yorker DVDs, but this is a work worth catching up with, so enjoy.
- Nicholas Sheffo
