A Moment of Innocence - 1996
Directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Director Mohsen Makhmalbaf, playing himself, casts young actors to recreate a life-changing event from his youth in which he attacked a police officer during the reign of the Shah. The production is nearly brought to a halt by the victimized police officer (Mir Hadi Tayebi), now working for Makhmalbaf, who tries to force his will on the production and threatens to leave the project every time he becomes frustrated.
Color, 1 hour 15 minutes, Farsi
Original Title: Nan va Goldoon
Watch Trailer (Farsi w/French subtitles), Watch Scene (Farsi w/English subtitles)
Star Rating
Firouzan Rank # 14
Cast
| Mir Hadi Tayebi | The Policeman |
| Ali Bakhshi | Young Makhmalbaf |
| Ammar Tafti | The Young Policeman |
| Maryam Mohammadamini | The Young Woman |
| Mahram Zinalzadeh | |
| Fariba Fagheeri | |
| Maryam Fagheeri | |
| Lotfollah Gaashlaghi | |
| Ali Irani | |
| Hana Makhmalbaf | As Herself |
| Mohsen Makhmalbaf | As Himself |
| Khadijeh Pakseresht | |
| Abdollah Hajinaghdi | |
| Zahra Daneshvar | |
| Sedigheh Shakeri |
Crew
| Writer | Mohsen Makhmalbaf |
| Director | Mohsen Makhmalbaf |
| Producer | Aboulfazl Alagheband |
| Director of Photography | Mahmoud Kalari |
| Sound Recordist | Nezam Kiai |
| Production Designer | Reza Alagheband |
| Editor | Mohsen Makhmalbaf |
| Sound Mixer | Jhila Pikachi Behrouz Shahamat |
| Music | Majid Entezami |
Pictures
The Director Makhmalbaf finds the actor to portray "Young Makhmalbaf."
The Police Officer storms off of the project because of a dispute over who will play him.
The Police Officer as Acting Coach - teaching the proper way to salute.
"Young Makhmalbaf's" cousin agrees to appear in the movie.
The Police Officer and the Cameraman look on as the first attempt at a recreation nears.
The first attempt - "Do you have the time?"
After learning the true nature of the girl from his youth, the Police Officer storms off once again.
One of the film's namesake's Nan (Bread) which Makhmalbaf used to conceal his knife.
Take Two - "Do you have the time?"
Nan va Goldoon (Bread and Vase), otherwise known by western audiences as "A Moment of Innocence."
DVD
External Reviews
By Jeffrey M. Anderson Combustible Celluloid
Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf's "A Moment of Innocence" (1996) is being released in tandem with his "The Silence" (1998), but for the sake of clarity, I'll review them separately.
A Moment of Innocence plays less like a typical Mohsen Makhmalbaf film and more like one of his colleague and countryman Abbas Kiarostami's self-reflective films such as "And Life Goes On..." (1991) and "Through the Olive Trees" (1994). It's a movie about cinema itself, though it's not like Hollywood films about cinema that simply make jokes about the business. Makhmalbaf's film is about how cinema captures life and makes something more out of it. Continued
By Jeremy Heilman Movie Martyr
Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s "A Moment of Innocence" is a spin-off from his earlier project "Salaam Cinema." That film was, in simplest terms, a documentary of a casting session that turned out to be the work itself, but it was far from simple in execution. Quite similar in its deceptive effortlessness, "A Moment of Innocence" is the end result of an unlikely meeting between Makhmalbaf and Mir hadi Tayebi, a policeman who the director stabbed twenty years earlier as a protest against the Shah’s regime. Tayebi, who answered "Salaam Cinema’s" open casting call, was seen in that film saying that he wanted to play a heroic figure, despite his brutish looks. This film restages the meeting and takes flight as the director and actor decide to recast and recreate the attack that effectively ended Tayebi’s police career and landed Makhmalbaf in prison. Continued
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