The Silence

One of two films currently showing from Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf, The Silence isn't as compelling or original as A Moment of Innocence, but it still has much to recommend it. A slow-moving, visually poetic tale of a blind boy in Tajikistan who supports his mother by tuning stringed instruments, the film may make more story-oriented viewers a trifle fidgety, but the rewards of sticking with it are worth the effort. Makhmalbaf takes us into a simpler world, one in which a beautiful voice is compelling enough to lure a youngster astray, and one where the echoes of Beethoven can be heard in an angry landlord's knock (You have to see it, or rather hear it, to believe it). The mother's dramatic cheekbones are almost frightening, and the climax, which is both lacking in resolution and extremely surreal, may frustrate some. The Silence is essentially a treatise on the value of music appreciation, and the purity of sound, and may thus prove worthwhile as a tool for music teachers in the years to come. If you only see one Iranian film this year, see A Moment of Innocence, but since The Silence is part of a double feature with that film at Laemmle's Monica, rest assured that you could certainly do worse than stick around for it.