In the '90s there was a new wave of Iranian directors. The two most prominent of them being Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Abbas Kiarostami. Makhmalbaf was the youngest of these two and is strongly influenced by the Islamic revolution of 1979.
Gabbeh is the name of a traditional Persian carpet made by nomads. The motifs on a gabbeh are not abstract (like in normal Persian carpets) but are real life representations.The film was originally meant as a sort of commercial for this type of carpets. Makhmalbaf became so intrigued with the subject that the project grew out to a feature length film.
One of the typical elements of Iranian movies is the story within a story. This is also the structure of "Gabbeh". An aged couple goes to a little stream to clean their gabbeh. During the washing the illustration on the carpet comes to live. This illustration is about the courting of a young couple. It is left to the imagination of the viewer to decide of the old - and the young couple are the same persons.
'Gabbeh" uses a very bright (not to say dazzling) color palette. This reminded me of films such as "The color of pomegranates" (1969, Sergei Parajanov) and above all "Ju Dou" (1990, Zhang Yimou).
Gabbeh is the name of a traditional Persian carpet made by nomads. The motifs on a gabbeh are not abstract (like in normal Persian carpets) but are real life representations.The film was originally meant as a sort of commercial for this type of carpets. Makhmalbaf became so intrigued with the subject that the project grew out to a feature length film.
One of the typical elements of Iranian movies is the story within a story. This is also the structure of "Gabbeh". An aged couple goes to a little stream to clean their gabbeh. During the washing the illustration on the carpet comes to live. This illustration is about the courting of a young couple. It is left to the imagination of the viewer to decide of the old - and the young couple are the same persons.
'Gabbeh" uses a very bright (not to say dazzling) color palette. This reminded me of films such as "The color of pomegranates" (1969, Sergei Parajanov) and above all "Ju Dou" (1990, Zhang Yimou).