«Gabbeh» is the first movie from Iran that I saw. And I'm so happy because since then, I've seen 5 or 6 and all of them were to my eyes excellent.

This movie is simple, poignant and beautiful. It's poetic and magic at the same time. The visual is also fantastic. Truly enchanting.

Out of 100, I gave it 87.

This film was selected as the Iranian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars, but was not nominated, but I found out about it because it featured in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. A "gabbeh" is a type of Persian rug, usually crafted by women, and much thicker and coarser than other carpets. An elderly couple (Hossein Moharami and Rogheih Moharami) carry their gabbeh to the river wanting to wash it. When the rug is spread on the ground, referred to as Gabbeh (Shaghayeh Djodat),magically comes out of it. Gabbeh belongs to the clan whose history is depicted in the design of the carpet, and it follows her story, including her Uncle (Abbas Sayah) who is hoping to find a bride, and she is longing herself to find a young man she hopes to marry. Throughout it also sees the nomads crafting of the carpets, from shearing the sheep, the spinning and dyeing of wool, and the making of gabbehs. There is not much story as such, it is more about seeing country traditions, apparently this film was banned by Iran for being "subversive", I just remember it because of the colourful clothing of the people, the making of the Persian rugs, and the landscapes, so this is enough to make it a watchable fantasy documentary drama. Good!

Gabbeh (1996) is an Iranian film written and directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf. It stars the extraordinary Shaghayeh Djodat as Gabbeh. Her name in Persian is the word for the woven rugs made by the women of her nomadic tribe.

The plot of this film is hard to describe. Gabbeh is a young woman, who may or may not be the beloved of a mysterious horseman. However, there's an old man who may or may not have been that horseman when he was younger. It's not exactly fantasy. I think it's closer to magical realism.

However, the plot isn't the key to this movie. The key is color. The rugs are colorful, the land is colorful, the plants used to make the dyes for the wool are colorful, and the children are taught colors in school along with their arithmetic.

The film also gives us a glimpse into a life that is almost unimaginable to us. I'm not a scholar, so I don't know whether this nomadic lifestyle is still present 20 years after the movie was completed. It's not a glimpse into Eden--it's a harsh, patriarchal society. However, it's a fascinating look at a very different world.

"Gabbeh" cries out to be seen in a theater on a large screen . It's shot almost completely outdoors, and the scenery is spectacular. However, unless you're really lucky, you'll probably have to see it on the small screen, and make do with that. It's available on DVD, and it's worth the effort to find it and enjoy it.

Note: Another great Iranian film is "Close-Up," directed by Abbas Kiarostami. (I reviewed it for IMDb.) In that film, a young man is arrested because he has convinced a family that he is the filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf. That's how I learned about Makhmalbaf, and that's what made me purchase this DVD.