Gabbeh (1996)

Director:

Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Writer:

Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Release Date:

25 June 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Romance

Plot:

An elderly couple go about their routine of cleaning their gabbeh (a intricately-designed rug), while bickering gently with each other...

Plot Keywords:

Sheep | Old Woman | Marriage | Wool | Carpet

Awards:

4 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Abbas Sayah	...	Uncle
Shaghayeh Djodat	...	Gabbeh
Hossein Moharami	...	Old Man
Rogheih Moharami	...	Old Woman
Parvaneh Ghalandari

Directed by
Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Produced by
Khalil Daroudchi	....	producer
Khalil Mahmoudi	....	producer
Mostafa Mirzakhani	....	executive producer
Reza Shirazi	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Hossein Alizadeh

Cinematography by
Mahmoud Kalari

Film Editing by
Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Casting by
Mostafa Mirzakhani

Production Management
Mohamad Ahmadi	....	production manager
Hamid Mana Gahri	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Abolfazi Alegheband	....	assistant director
Behram Azimpour	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Mojtaba Mirtahmasb	....	sound
Abbas Rastegarpour	....	sound mixer
Behroz Shahamat	....	sound mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
Mohamad Ahmadi	....	set photographer
S. Asadi	....	camera operator
B. Dorani	....	camera operator

Other crew
Berouiz Rahmen	....	location manager

Production Companies

• MK2 Productions
• Sanaye Dasti

Distributors

• Contact Film Cinematheek (1997) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (Argentina) (video)
• Atalanta Filmes (Portugal)
• Cult Filmes (199?) (Brazil) (VHS)
• JMM Invest (Spain)
• Mongrel Media (Canada)
• New Yorker Films (1997) (USA) (subtitled)
• Primer Plano Film Group (Argentina)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

75 min | Japan:73 min

Country:

Iran | France

Language:

Persian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Canada:14A (Ontario) | Iceland:L | South Korea:All | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:T

Company:

MK2 Productions

Trivia:

Influenced by Sergei Parajanov's The Color of Pomegranates (1968)

Movie Connections:

Featured in Stardust Stricken - Mohsen Makhmalbaf: A Portrait (1996)

This is a visually stunning film.

This visually stunning film tells the story of an old couple's gabbeh-a finely crafted Persian carpet. One day when they go to a nearby spring to wash the carpet, an attractive young woman appears suddenly and mysteriously-she is the apotheosis of the people whose tale is told in the carpet's woof and warp.

The film is a surrealistic folk tale. As she helps the old woman wash the carpet, the young woman (the spirit of the carpet) begins the tale of her life, which becomes the film's story. The film's charm lies in the magical use of color and water to tell a story. Young girls are everywhere in native dresses that complement the picturesque scenery with as many dabs of color as a French impressionist painting. The filmmaker here is an artist, adept at sunsets, drifting cotton-white clouds on a pristine blue canvas. Pastels, ultramarines, burnt siennas, ochres-there is a sensuous joy in the very colors of the earth and sky.

The world of the film is a kaleidoscope of color. Exotic birds appear from nowhere like bursts of sunset. Young women dress in native Iranian costumes of reds, golds, blues, and greens. And through it all, the sounds of flowing water, like little bells or delicate wind chimes, is given a palpable presence.

The Persian carpet, no longer mute, beguiles the viewer with its simple, haunting tale of people and places at once so ancient and new. The wolf-like howls of a young woman's lover merge with the sound of the water as it rills and flows over stones, pebbles, and sand. The water is itself a comment on the people whose lives are lived within its boundaries. The magical and surrealistic elements of the peasant girl's story weave themselves into a fairy-tale. What enchantment there is in a young woman's quest for love and continuity. The very air is rich with the colors, sights, and sounds-the spices and incense of the Near East.