Reviews of A Moment of Innocence
Displaying all 2 reviews
jimmylorunning
15Nov09
This is the best self-reflexive movie I’ve ever seen, eclipsing slightly even 8 1/2 (also one of my favorites) and Close-Up (which Makhmalbaf appears in as an actor)—it is able to talk about the act of its own making without becoming annoying in the usual ways (think Adaptation, ugh!). It blends the genres of documentary, political film, a love story, while asking questions about identity and fate and the course of history, and above all, it does all of this with a generous wallop of humor—it doesn’t take itself too seriously. The last 10 seconds of this film are the best 10 seconds in ALL of cinematic history, but only because of what builds up to it. Simply amazing. A top ten movie of all time.
- Currently 5.0/5 Stars.
Law
8Nov09
A Moment of Innocence is a mostly fictional documentary directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf about a director named Mohsen Makhmalbaf (played by Makhmalbaf) attempting to create a film about an event that happened to twenty years ago when Makmalbaf stabbed a policeman, Mirhadi Tayebi (played by Mirhadi Tayebi). This event happened to Makhmalbaf in both reality and the film’s reality thus the film might confuse audiences as its content seems to be that of a documentary yet it is probably almost entirely fiction. To establish this fictionality, Makhmalbaf employs “unnaturalistic” camerawork (using manual focus) in multiple scenes thus posing a hint to puzzled viewers about the film’s truthfulness. Eventually, through such methods, Makhmalbaf creates a worthy tribute to cinema (the concluding freeze frame is blatantly a tribute to its power), an assesment of the unreality of cinema and a touching drama all at the same time. Pure brilliance!
- Currently 4.0/5 Stars.