Mohsen Makhmalbaf | The Poetic Trilogy | Blu-ray

Arrow Films

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 follows 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 Features

• 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