A Moment of Innocence (1996) User Reviews

Moments of Innocence Twenty Years Apart

[dave-593 · 9/10 · 8 December 1999]

The Iranian cinema is perhaps the most self-reflexive of all national cinemas. Though it owes much to the development of Italian neo-realism, the Iranian cinema today is not just an extension of its predecessor's concerns about cinematic truth but a formal inquiry of the nature of cinema and the "truth" that lies within and outside of art. Jacques Rivette's groundbreaking "L'amour fou" already sets the stage in 1968 when he investigated the symbiotic relationship betwen art and life by using two different film stocks, 16 and 35 mm., to represent "reality" as it unfolds in front and behind the camera respectively.

In Moshen Makhmalbaf's 1996 masterpiece "A Moment of Innocence" twenty years separates a key moment in time and the recreation of it. The incident occurred when Makhmalbaf was only a youth who participated in an anti-Shah demonstration which led to the stabbing of a policeman and his imprisonment for the next five years. In an attempt to recapture this moment Makhmalbaf decides to a make a film within a film casting all the original participants (including the policeman) to play themselves as mentors to their younger selves, (i.e., actors) guiding and instructing them in the making of this "fictional" documentary.

It is not surprising that non-professional actors are employed here to both maintain a semblance of reality and to keep cinematic distortion at bay. But paradoxically, the young non-professional actors chosen to play Makhmalbaf and the policeman of their youth are as similar as they are dissimilar from their counterparts, thus, setting the stage for exploring the many tensions that exist between past and present, art and life, cinema and reality. This type of casting not only blurs the line between fiction and reality but also the distinction between documentary and narrative filmmaking.

The preoccupation with the phenomenological aspects of the cinema is as much the focus of this work as is the dramatization of the event leading up to the pivotal moment, then and now, reconstructed as a memory film as well as a product of the filmmaker's imagination to help correct an incident that only becomes clear to everyone involved after twenty years have elapsed. This celebrated moment which occurs at the end of film effectively captures the past by placing it in the present context much as if past and present suddenly converge and share the same space and time, thereby allowing us to see loss and recovery unfold simultaneously. That lost moment is now regained twenty years later through art's ability to heal and transform Makhmalbaf and his crew--thus altering the "reality" of life. The final shot is both life-affirming and referential because it so eloquently evokes the cinema's first prominent use of the freeze frame in Truffaut's "400 Blows"--if only to remind us just how far the cinema has come along. Like Truffaut's autobiographical based character Antoine Doinel the cinema has indeed grown up.

Cleverly constructed and moving meditation on the innocence and misguided passion of youth

[crculver · 7/10 · 26 August 2017]

Though Mohsen Makhmalbaf eventually established a reputation as one of Iran's foremost filmmakers from the late 1980s, his early life was tumultuous: when he was 17, he stabbed a police officer at a protest against the Shah's regime and spent the next four years in prison, only being released after the Shah's overthrow. His 1996 film NUN VA GULDOON ("Bread and Flowerpot", released in the English-speaking world as "A Moment of Innocence") looks back at this episode from his youth, attempting to jointly evoke both the red-hot passion against political injustice of a young man and his older, wiser understanding that such clumsy violence was hardly a productive way to solve the world's problems.

The result is intricately constructed as a film-within-a-film. As it opens, we see the now 40-year-old policeman (Mirhadi Tayebi) visiting Tehran to ask Makhmalbaf for a part in one of his films to make up for the stabbing two decades before. Makhmalbaf, playing himself, decides to make a film loosely based on the stabbing. He chooses a young man (Ali Bakhsi) to play his younger self, and he then asks the policeman to choose an actor as the young version of himself. The policeman, who has a thuggish look and is bitter about never being offered parts in films besides villain ones, chooses a handsome guy to represent himself, but he is then overruled by the filmmaker who chooses a much more boyish-looking and vulnerable young man (Ammar Tafti), emphasizing just how young both Makhmalbaf and the policemen were at the time. This layer of NUN VA GULDOON broadly pokes fun at what Makhmalbaf's life had become after his rise to fame in Iran, having to endlessly deal with ordinary people who fancied themselves actors and were desperate to appear on screen. Much of this part of the film was shot concurrently with his effort SALAAM CINEMA, which is entirely about the film casting process.

Makhmalbaf and the policemen begin coaching the actors playing their younger selves and we see those young people beginning to act their roles, as well as a young lady (Maryam Mohamadamini) playing a girl that the policeman was in love with at the time. In a magical realist fashion, the layers of the film shift in the middle of scenes: one moment we are watching actors play roles, the next moment it is as if the viewer is really seeing what happened in the mid-1970s. It is this magical intertwining of past and present that made NUN VA GULDOON such a powerful experience for me. The ending, which has been fairly praised as "the greatest freeze-frame since Truffaut's LES 400 COUPS", is just as much a work of art in itself as any still from a Tarkovsky film.

Except for Makhmalbaf himself and Moharram Zaynalzadeh in a supporting role as his cameraman, none of the people in the film were trained actors. With Mirhadi Tayebi as the policeman, this is a weak part of the film: he delivers his lines in a stilted way and it is hard to suspend disbelief. With the others, however, Makhmalbaf made a smart choice, as Ammar Tafti and Ali Bakhsi are convincing in their roles, but there is still a youthful awkwardness and authenticity about them that would might have been lost if they were professionals. Most dazzling of all, however, is Maryam Mohamadamini as the love interest. She's a magnetic screen presence, and as the film leads to its incredible ending, she deftly conveys so much of the suspense and drama through gestures alone. It's a huge loss to cinema that she apparently never acted again.

In spite of the film's limitations in terms of some of the acting and the limited resources Makhmalbaf had to work with when making the film, I found NUN VA GULDOON a moving film and that last freeze-frame literally breathtaking. I'd recommend this to any lover of cinema.

Freeze framed for eternity

[Artimidor · 9/10 · 6 March 2013]

As if fellow Iranian director Kiarostami's exemplary intertwining of fact and fiction of a Makhmalbaf real-life story in "Close-Up" weren't enough, Makhmalbaf himself ups the ante of creative filmmaking a few years later: Focus is a moment in his young idealistic life where he stabbed a guard during the Iranian revolution, resulting in several years of jail time for him before he eventually emerged as one of the leading Iranian filmmakers. But it's not just an autobiographical detail he wants to shed light on, Makhmalbaf films a documentary on top of a pseudo-documentary (or is it the other way round?), it's a heavily symbolic re-interpretation of what happened, why and how, a look into an aspect of reality. In the process a transcendence of the actual situation ensues with an almost mythical truth buried in the film's final scene. Makhmalbaf accomplishes the feat by re-enacting said moment with no other than the actual stabbed guard (now out of money), who coaches a young actor to play himself - while the former guard is being filmed by the director doing so. Simultaneously to that Makhmalbaf casts actors meant to portray his own perspective of the events, not without revealing insights, and the whole effort culminates in the filming of that crucial stabbing scene: Welcome to a film in a film, a reality in a reality, a blending of fact and fiction in a most fruitful and enlightening way, social, historical and political commentary included. How much of what ended up on screen was actually planned, is for the viewer to decide, but if you're looking for creative minds Makhmalbaf's use of the medium will keep you enthralled throughout.

"Excuse me, what time is it?" we hear Makhmalbaf's accomplice ask the guard at the end of the film, the air pregnant with suspenseful anticipation of what is going to happen. So, what time is it? It's two decades after the original incident and an Iranian filmmaker has just delivered his masterpiece. And when the moment arrives the picture freezes, saving a moment in time for eternity that could only happen on film. But in a way, it's all real.

Spectacular!

[headtrauma420 · 10/10 · 5 May 2004]

There is absolutely nothing bad I can say about this film. I was lucky enough to attend a screening of this gem last night at the Alamo Drafthouse. The show was nearly sold out, for good reason.

This film is about a real life experience that Mohsen Makhmalbaf had at the age of seventeen. When he was seventeen, he stabbed a police man while participating in a demonstration. He was imprisoned for five years. Twenty years after this event took place, he has made amends with the policeman he stabbed and is now making a film about this incident.

The film is a work of art. It is beautifully shot, with no over the top camera work and editing. The film is masterfully directed and it is very humanistic. This film will probably prove to be one if the most important films in the history of cinema, especially to Iranian filmmakers. I would recommend this film to any and everybody.

A Fantastic Exploration of Memory and History

[jacques_05 · 23 April 2005]

Makhmalbaf has arguably created one of the MOST interesting films I have seen in my entire life.

Casting young men unexperienced in acting to portray himself and the policemen he stabbed when he was 17, the director separates himself and his young self from the policemen and his; they separately train the actors portraying themselves 20 years earlier during an anti-Shah demonstration.

Culminating in the showdown between the young actors, the truths behind the situation unbeknownst to both director and policemen become evident. An extremely powerful film, and I advise you to stop at nothing to view it.

A masterpiece

[amir-22 · 10/10 · 9 January 2000]

This is the greatest among the dozen or so Makhmalbaf titles I have seen. I was stunned that a movie so thematically complex (politics, history, redemption, etc.) can be conveyed with a superb lightness of touch. When you watch it, you really feel like you're watching a comedy. Only gradually does the movie reveal its many layers, culminating in a final freeze-frame that might be the BEST in all of cinema. More people should watch this movie! (It's certainly a lot more fun than anything by Abbas Kiarostami - a man who is more of a moral philosopher than a film-maker per se).

Straight from the life right into the heart

[hbarbarossa · 10/10 · 5 May 2006]

Despite its technical flaws here and there, due to the (in)capabilities under which Iran filmmakers have to work -as I'm told-, it would not be an exaggeration to name this film one of the best of all times.

While reflecting or hinting at several 'layers' of personal and social conflicts and dilemmas roaming the daily lives of the youth and eld, native and universal, of the present and the past as well with a striking and effective language; at the same time it makes the viewer laugh one's guts out with the natural and fluent comedy. I daresay Chaplin style.

(Spoiler ahead) Aside from the magnificent bread and flower moment at the end, one of the best scenes is when the girl rushes into a watch repairer's shop filled up with hundreds of watches and clocks, asks the time and is answered "I don't know, these are all broken, we repair them here!" (Paraphrased.)

Don't miss it.

Unique movie

[Red-125 · 10/10 · 5 October 2019]

The Iranian movie Nun va Goldoon (1996) was shown in the U.S. with the title A Moment of Innocence. The film was written and directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf.

Fact: director Makhmalbaf, as a young revolutionary, stabbed one of the Shah's police officers. Makhmalbaf was trying to take the policeman's gun. He got caught, and served five years in jail.

The rest of this movie is based on the theoretical concept that Makhmalbaf is making a film based on this event. Because the incident took place 20 years earlier, Makhmalbaf and the policeman must find younger actors to play themselves as a young revolutionary and a young policeman. Also, they need to cast the young woman who accompanied Makhmalbaf when he made his attempt.

Mirhadi Tayebi portrayed the policeman. I believe he was, indeed, the real-life policeman. Makhmalbaf plays himself.

However, we never actually see this movie. What we see is a movie about making a movie. It's fascinating. Nothing goes as planned, and we worry about it as much as the actors worry.

I've never seen a film quite like this. It was both entertaining and informative. See the trailer before you watch the film. That explains the moment of innocence.

We saw this movie on the small screen, where it worked very well. The film has a very high IMDb rating of 7.9. Worth that and more.

P.S. A little girl has a wonderful scene when the former policeman comes to her door. We've seen this type of verbal female schoolchild in other Iranian films. I assume they exist in real life, and I hope they're able to do well.

The restrained intertwining of cinema, politics, self-renewal and gentle anecdote is intriguing

[allyjack · 7/10 · 20 October 1999]

(WARNING - CONTAINS MILD SPOILER)The film ultimately freezes on the pivotal moment: the girl (a decoy, although the policeman didn't know it and had interpreted her proximity as romantic interest) in the middle; the soldier holding out the flower he wanted to give her; the young Makhmalbaf holding out the bread under which is shielded the knife with which the policeman was stabbed. An image of classic composition, frozen but alive with movement; the simplicity of the bread and the plant resonating against our knowledge of the underlying political tension (the young Makhmalbaf a radical protesting against the Shah; in one scene he and the girl talk idyllically of serving as parents to six billion people and of planting flowers in Africa).

The film has a distinct melancholy - the adult policeman has a sense of wastage about the 20 years since then; finicky about his role in the film; although the theme of recreating old selves through the young actors has a strong undercurrent of renewal and redemption. And of course the film is about cinema itself, with the distinction between the filmmaking process and the film within the film, and between actors and directors, often provocatively unclear - this notion, amply explored in other works, is not where the film's greatest value lies specifically, although the restrained intertwining of cinema, politics, self-renewal and gentle anecdote is intriguing in this unfamiliar context.

A Moment of Innocence-A Mohsen Makhmalbaf film which shows that world can be changed but only through love.

[FilmCriticLalitRao · 10/10 · 2 November 2015]

It is true that from a purely technical perspective, the freeze frame at the end of this film is quite revolutionary. A lot of viewers have expressed some positive comments about it. Hence, it would not be an understatement to call it one of the best moments in the history of cinema. However, Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf goes much more beyond this accomplishment as 'A moment of innocence' attempts to recreate an important event of the past in present times for future generations using existential themes and film making process. As a young man, while protesting against Shah's regime, director Mohsen Makhmalbaf had stabbed a police man. Although he chose an autobiographical episode which occurred many years ago, there has been no attempt made by Makhmalbaf to glorify neither violence nor revolutionary ideology. It appears as if everybody has become more compassionate including the young actor chosen to represent Makhmalbaf. This pacifist strategy brings everybody connected to the film to the conclusion that violence is no solution if the world needs to be changed. It is only through love can somebody aspire to change the world.

Surprisingly charming

[adamossey · 6/10 · 15 September 2019]

I didnt expect such a well acted and heart felt experience with this one. Definitely not something I was looking forward to going in but I found myself enjoying it by the end. Definitely not perfect, it takes a while grip you, the pacing can be irritating for something so short and I'm certainly not jumping to see it again but overall I think it was one of the most human story's I've seen in a while and everyone can get something out of it.

Nun va Goldoon

[sharky_55 · 9/10 · 19 March 2016]

A Moment of Innocence, or The Bread and the Flower Pot, closely recalls fellow Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami's Close-Up, which also sough to recapture real life with its own dramatic conviction. In his own retelling of the story of a politically charged attempt to disarm and take a policeman's gun in his youth, Mohsen Makhmalbaf has created something so unique and so layered that it at first baffles the mind. Makhmalbaf wields the camera with an intent to retell faithfully and truthfully, in true Cinéma vérité style - his stylistic choices represent a documentary that cannot tell lies, and yet it becomes increasingly unreliable. In once scene, he converses with the young actor who will play him in the car in long take, talking about everything from future ambitions to romantic crushes, and it puts on a mask of genuineness. They approach his cousin's household to ask if her daughter will play a part in the film. As the girl goes to serve tea to the young actor, she suddenly whispers to him as if he has Mohsen himself, and they are planning the events that will lead to the fateful stabbing. It has suddenly becomes a moment of artifice without any stylistic or directorial indication.

Another technique that Makhmalbaf plays with is one that Kiarostami also used in his 1999 film, The Wind Will Carry Us. While the camera films in wide shot and the characters walk further and further away, the sound levels do not adjust accordingly and realistically, but remain in our ears, as if they were right here next to us. Such a technique throws our objectivity up into the air; surely this must have been dubbed later? And near the end of the film Makhmalbaf will slowly add a musical soundtrack to dramatise the climatic encounter, and replace the still long takes with more dynamic follow shots and closeups. One thing that remains abundantly clear however is the amateur nature of the young actors.

This tension is what makes the film tick. You see, both Makhmalbaf and the policeman seem to have entirely different accounts of what happened 20 years ago, and slowly they begin to realise this as they are in the process of recapturing those events. The policeman wants a tall, handsome young actor to portray him, and sulks when he does not get his way. He vigorously coaches the kid on how to properly play himself, and freely interrupts the filming process to criticise and adjust (and Makhmalbaf also freely layers perspectives of the camera onto each other). And yet, the artifice does shine through. Twice, the policeman storms off, the second after that tumultuous discovery that the 20 years of longing for the girl had been all for nothing, a lie to keep him awake. Makhmalbaf does not attempt to document these emotions in closeup, yet he is also eager to use the soundtrack to imitate the reaction. And he does not relent when he has the actors right in front of him; the policeman feigning suicidal thoughts after the discovery, and the young Mohsen breaking into tears and refusing to commit the violence of the past.

This becomes the key to that breathtaking final freeze frame. Makhmalbaf seeks to recreate the truth, but has become aware of the impossibility of filming an objective, unbiased version of the past. That politically charged activist youth is no more, and the post-revolution mindset becomes clear in the young actor's ideals of saving mankind, but not through violence. And in the young policeman, who does not want to wield the gun to shoot, even if both are just artificial constructs. So they instead offer the bread and the flower pot, a symbolic blossoming of the new generation, and a testament to the ability of film to be able to reconcile and transform the reality of these weary old men.

Overhyped

[Marwan-Bob · 6/10 · 21 July 2020]

What a Long 1h15min, i Can see why this film is well reviewed here, Maybe I'm just dumb but I felt nothing.

An inventive, gripping and moving look at a simple event that is worth seeing on several levels (spoilers)

[bob the moo · 23 May 2005]

In the 1970's director Mohsen Makhmalbaf was a militant against the Shah; during a disturbance he tried to take a policeman's gun producing a struggle that resulted in him stabbing that officer – a crime for which he then served time in prison. While away, he educated himself and was released from prison to be an influential voice within Iranian cinema. For this film he decided to use actors to recreate this event in his life with young actors playing himself and the policeman. However the director decides to split the actors – each man gets the young version of himself, and their own camera to reconstruct events from their point of view. The experiment works – producing further pain and anger.

This is a hard film to describe, far less review. Basically this is a film about making a film of a real event; and if that wasn't twisted enough, it is really two separate films made from two points of view, although to describe the story as a film is a bit too much, really the focus is recreating the one fateful moment the two men came together. Now I'm not sure if this is all as real as it appears to be (particularly did the officer only find out that his "love" was a plant at the moment he did in the film?) but if it is staged then it is done very convincingly. The story works and manages to do both aspects well at the same time – something that the film makes look easy but must have been very difficult to pull off. It is engaging for that reason but the fact that it is real people and a real story only makes it more interesting, not to mention how touching and downright tragic parts of it are. The final image is the most tragic – both young boys want to avoid the violence and want specific things for that moment other than the stabbing, just as (we assume) both wanted in reality – but, despite the final shot of the film we know that the reality was the violent outcome.

The direction is superb, weaving together this tale with different actors and blending realities with such confidence. The "performances" are good, although please remember that I don't know if these were staged or as we saw them. If they were staged then high praise indeed should go to Tayebi, because he is convincing in his emotion, his passion and, ultimately, his heartbreak. The others do well around him but for me, he was the loser of the film and I ended feeling a great deal for him – partly due to his presence on the screen.

I have done a bad job of reviewing this film and for that I am sorry. I have failed to describe how engaging it was, how the blending of the "filming of the re-enactment" and the "film of the filming of the re-enactment" merge but still are obvious and separate. I have failed to really do justice to the characters and the emotions involved in the story. However, my words should not detract from this very strong film that demands attention but rewards it in spades – you should try to find it.

Memories, progress and the art of it all

[Gloede_The_Saint · 10/10 · 12 July 2010]

When the director Mohsen Makhmalbaf was 17 he stabbed a policeman, now that policeman has come to him to ask for an acting job. The work begins to reconstruct the actual incident and they both work on picking their younger selves. However the actors who are to play them are almost identical in their personality.

In many ways it's comparable to the style of Jean-Luc Godard. It sets up absurd situations and plays with reality, even within the films own reality. The film is indeed an odd mix. It's basically about it's own creation. And some parts, as the actual incident happened in real life. Though many elements are played for laughs and could be classified as a comedy it separates from Godard in one major point. Instead of having sarcasm under it's surface we will her find humanity and suffering.

In full it's a look at Irans culture and the old and the new generations view of violence and what it takes to be good. It's artistic style helps to enhance not only the absurdity but also the isolation that can be found in this society. A film about progress and memories that is sure to evoke emotions.

Our Perception Can Be Deceiving

[manumfernandes · 8/10 · 15 August 2020]

From what I've seen of Iranian Cinema, it seems to be that it is simultaneously simple and extremely complex. Simple in the way they capture real life moments, or simply cinematography-wise. Things look exactly how they would look in real life, the directors struggle is not to give reality another layer but to show it exactly like it is. Complex because it operates on so many levels. In "A Moment of Innocence", we talk about the meta-comment on cinema and its attempt to recreate reality, how we perceive our memories and how we would prefer real life to be like. The two main characters and their "young" counterparts are very elaborate, we get to know how their beliefs differ, how closely they resemble each other and what their goals become once they start to understand the way others think.

Beautiful imagery that transports us to the streets of Iran and its snowy roads, fantastic music and a brilliant ending that leaves us glued to the screen.

Thought provoking recreation of the film-maker's past

[timmy_501 · 9/10 · 17 January 2011]

At the age of seventeen, Mohsen Makhmalbaf stabbed a police officer in an act of misguided political defiance. He spent the next few years in prison for this crime before beginning a successful career as a film director in the 1980s. According to this film, which may or may not be based on fact, the policeman he had stabbed showed up at a casting call some twenty years after their violent encounter with hopes of becoming an actor and impressing a girl that he had failed to woo due to his injury.

Makhmalbaf sees the policeman's appearance as a unique chance to recreate his past and shed light on his own motivations so he decides to create a film about the incident with the policeman training an actor to understand how the event affected him while Makhmalbaf himself trains an actor to understand his motivations. The film is de-politicized, an unfortunate necessity in a country which still imprisons its artists at the slightest sign of anti-establishment leanings. Still, Makhmalbaf neatly sidesteps this by casting an idealist who wants to save the world as his teenage self.

While the young Makhmalbaf was completely focused on changing society to be better for everyone, the young policeman was interested only in his own personal life, particularly in beginning a relationship with a girl he thought was flirting with him. There's a subtle point being made here about the banality of evil as the policeman, a representative of a group activists such as young Makhmalbaf found oppressive, never expresses any interest in the ideological aspect of his job. Thus the knife attack, which can hardly be seen as an effective means of protest even if the policeman had been a hardcore fascist, becomes an absurdly meaningless act. This is illustrated in the recreation of the attack in that the actor is hiding the knife under a piece of bread—he's using a symbol of nourishment only as a means of concealing a symbol of hatred. At the same time, the policeman in the recreation is holding a flower he has bought to express his attraction to the girl. In order to protect his gun, he has to drop the flower. Thus, the act of violence is not only hurting him physically, it's also causing him to lose his chance for happiness with the girl.

A Moment of Innocence is a thought provoking film which uses Iranian cinema's usual focus on meta-narratives in an unusual way. It's also a well made film which strikes just the right tone for the subject matter. Mohsen Makmalbaf is a director I plan to become much more familiar with.

In Search of Young Policeman

[XxEthanHuntxX · 9/10 · 21 October 2021]

Extremely foreign and strange atmosphere and narrative in these Iranian films. Though it is nothing but widely fascinating to see. The endeavour of this film is complex, despite the film's simple display. Its extreme beauty is hard to explain but lies in all kinds of creations both tangible and abstract, the meekness of its caution, its charming values, its child-like state, its seriousness, its comedy and every other scent of its bloom. "A moment of innocence" is inexplicable human with life's kismet inwoven in every corner of existence, opposing providence with apathetic actions leading to a mysterious destination. The film shows humans different momentums and how they somehow meet to then share their present breathing togheter, for better or worse. And the regrett and guilt following this cycle. But also how to "save mankind" from not suffering the same fate as one did years ago. This philosophy makes a great manifestation of itself in the twist at the end of the film. Screaming of love and innocence but also lurking with a depressing fate. Sure, the film is pretty perfect, clever and original but minimalistic.

I never saw something like this before.

[thg011093 · 10/10 · 23 December 2021]

"A Moment of Innocence" is a hybrid between documentary and fiction, something like Kiarostami's "Close Up", but not entirely alike. In "Close Up", we're aware that which parts are the real footage and which are the staged scenes. Meanwhile in "A Moment of Innocence", the line between "the genuine" and "the acting" is totally blurred, which accounts for such a special viewing experience!

I don't know if it's right to compare the two films because of my limited knowledge in cinema, but it's a certain thing that both are in the league of their own.

Memories. Subtle. Nice. Heart warming.

[moviesknight · 8/10 · 10 February 2021]

The story to recreate the scene that shaped their lives. Instead of the shooting the scene, the movie is about the pursuit of that moment of innocence which leads to that scene. Very subtle, nice and slowly folds right in front of you. Acting is very natural. Memories are tangible and how recreating or revisiting the critical moments of our life arent actually real. Shifting of our memories sometimes freaks us but it's also essential to make life bearable. It is necessary to be able to forget.

An Interesting Fusion of Art & Life

[CinemaClown · 25 June 2020]

A self-reflexive semi-autobiographical account that finds writer-director Mohsen Makhmalbaf trying to reconstruct a childhood incident from memory, A Moment of Innocence is an attempt by him to make amends with a former policeman who was at the receiving end of this very episode back in their youth.

An interesting dramatisation of the real-life event that cleverly merges past with present and fiction with reality, the film attempts to recreate the said event from the perspective of both the director & the policeman. But it's the new revelations that emerge from the whole re-enactment that makes the journey so fascinating.

Shot in documentary style, the film follows the policeman & director recounting the event and providing background details of their younger selves to the novice actors who are supposed to play them on camera. The boys' hesitation to act out the scenes is evident but it's the final frame that brings home the film's message with clarity.

Overall, A Moment of Innocence is a fusion of art & life that expertly showcases the power of cinema & its ability to heal wounds of the past. Through this docu-fiction, Mohsen Makhmalbaf speaks to the innate decency in all of us and offers an arresting reflection of youth, love, loss, guilt, regret, innocence & forgiveness. Definitely worth a shot.

A powerful film about forgiveness.

[brianberta · 10/10 · 2 July 2022]

When I first heard about this film, it didn't interest me much. All I heard was that it was about Makhmalbaf and a cop he assaulted forgiving each other, but what it actually turned out to be was much more interesting and it left so big of an impression on me it shot up real high on my favorite's list.

In order to explain why I like it so much though, I first have to give some background on the film. When Mohsen Makhmalbaf was 17, he was involved in a militant group, attempted to steal a police officer's gun, and ended up stabbing him in the process. As a result, Makhmalbaf was sentenced to death. After serving five years in prison though, he was released in the wake of the Iranian revolution. The officer in the film is the same officer Makhmalbaf stabbed when he was a kid.

Knowing this gives the film's themes some extra resonance as it turns the film into a story about forgiveness. Of course, there's the noticeable extension to this theme which concerns the cop forgiving Makhmalbaf, but the other extension of this concerns the cop's conflict with a former love interest. Though the cop and Makhmalbaf (and his love interest) never share a scene together in the film, the conflict concerning them is instead portrayed through younger actors, who provide their interpretations to the events surrounding the three of them. The cop bonding with the actor who plays Makhmalbaf as opposed to Makhmalbaf himself is a great touch. The final shot of two simultaneous offerings of a gift shows that the three of them found peace with each other and were finally able to find forgiveness. It's a beautiful shot and tops the final shot of "The 400 Blows" as the best freeze frame ending I've ever seen.

Overall, this film is a masterpiece and my favorite Iranian film. It blew me away when I first watched it and this viewing was no different.