The Silence (1998)

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Like a young Odysseus, little Khorshid travels life's journey in search for his musical Ithaca, wandering into adventures involving modern-age Sirens lurking in every corner, a 'faithful Penelope's' principle in the heart of his despondent mother, a coming of age Calypso falling in love with his unique outlook - and even a Cyclops figure, a grieving ogre to be defeated out of his strictly one-dimensional view.For the film's short running time, our sprite of a protagonist follows lyrical beauty amidst the darkness -- and has me doing exactly the same by following him, completely and utterly charmed by his antithetically stunning in colour, deeply multilayered, poetic innocence.

"The Silence" is not an ordinary movie even though it looks simple. It is the story of a blind boy Hursit who is trying to make both his and mother's living by tuning instruments in local traditional instrument shop.His father has apparently left his family to Russia and Hursit and the mother is having a hard time because they can't pay the rent and they are faced with the dancer of being thrown to the street. The movie uses Beethoven's 5th Symphony in the final scene. The scenery of bazaars,the local imagery of an Eastern town,the local instrument builders and vendors add so much to the atmosphere to the movie. And a little note for those who have just recognized the Iranian movie..Before the Islamic revolution in Iran, the director of the movie was a political activist and because of that he was jailed for more than 4 years, and was let out of jail only after the revolution. After the revolution he abandoned politics, because he had believed that the chief problem in Iran was the cultural one. The movie was also banned in Iran.If you like simple real stories about real life I suggest you see the movie.

This is simply the most beautiful movie I've ever seen. It revitalized all my senses. It helps to have some information about the cultural background of the movie. The fact that it takes place in Tajikistan an X-soviet republic, of Iranian ethnicity and Persian language etc.

The boy Khorshid has to earn a living tuning instruments. He's blind. He does an excellent job, but his boss doesn't think so. Khorshid's mother won't be able to pay the rent if her son gets fired. What can be done? This film both shows the hard life of a blind boy and his mother in Azerbaijan as well as beautiful images -- and lots of music, of course! if you wanna hear Beethoven's 5th, recently spiced up inna hip hop stylee by A+, in a Oriental style, then you gotta check out this beautiful film by Iran's leading filmmaker Mohsen Mahmalbaf. Additionally, _Sokhout_ is social commentary both on life in Eastern countries as well as the relationship between East and West...it is not a coincidence that Makhmalbaf chose Beethoven instead of Classical Persian music.