Like one of the nomadic rugmakers who give his film its factual basis, Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf weaves with a quirky if entrancing story with "Gabbeh," an odd folktale about forbidden romance.
Partly an ode to Iranian carpet weavers as well, this charmingly poetic film is a real surprise coming from Makhmalbaf, whose incendiary and controversial documentaries and features have been banned in his home country.
In fact, the filmmaker actually began the project as a documentary on rugmakers when he apparently changed his mind.
Two of his planned interviewees, husband-and-wife rugmakers Hossein and Roghieh Moharami, are included in the film, playing a bickering couple who find an ornate rug (gabbeh) floating downstream. As the two try to clean the rug, its characters seem to come to life.
A beautiful young woman (Shaghayegh Djodat) mysteriously appears, claiming to be the young woman depicted on the gabbeh. The woman (named Gabbeh, appropriately enough) begins to tell the couple of her tragic past — she was apparently the eldest daughter of a nomadic tribesman and was unable to marry her longtime love, a mysterious horseman who courted her by howling like a wolf.
Continuing to pressure her father for his approval, Gabbeh is told she must wait to marry until her aging bachelor uncle (Abbas Sayahi) finally finds a mate — a difficult task since the teacher-poet is looking for a woman who sings like a canary.
And though the uncle ultimately meets his match, her father continues to put her off, until she and her horseman can wait no longer and decide to run off together.
Besides its obvious visual appeal (Makhmalbaf beautifully records the sights and sounds of the desert) and appropriately low-key pacing, the film also benefits from wonderfully natural performances by the old couple, as well as Djodat, who was actually the director's second choice for the role.
"Gabbeh" is not rated but would receive a PG at most for some mild profanity.