As a 17-year-old activist in Tehran, Mohsen Makhmalbaf attacked and injured a policeman in a politically motivated bank robbery. Twenty years later, Makhmalbaf — now a celebrated film director — receives an unexpected visit from the very same policeman, leading to a collaboration in which the two decide to film a reenactment of the incident that first brought them together. However, the young actors cast to play the roles of the erstwhile enemies have their own ideas of what that incident means and how the story should be told.
Equal parts autobiographical comedy, Brechtian behind-the-scenes documentary, and metaphysical poem, A Moment of Innocence shines with humanity, humour, and surprising optimism. When I first saw this movie, I spontaneously burst into tears when it ended. One of the greatest achievements in Makhmalbaf’s radically modulating body of work, it’s a film I have often returned to for encouragement whenever I become too sad about the world. I believe this movie will comfort you, also.
Mirhadi Tayyebi, Ali Bakhshi, Ammar Tafti, Maryam Mohammad – Amini, Moharram Zeinalzadeh, Moshen Makhmalbaf
Iran
1996
In Farsi with English subtitles
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Credits & Director
Producer
Mohsen Makmalbaf
Screenwriter
Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Cinematography
Mahmoud Kalari
Editor
Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Production Design
Reza Alqeband
Original Music
Majid Entezami
Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Mohsen Makhmalbaf is an Iranian director, writer, and producer. He is one of the most influential Iranian filmmakers in the world, and a founder of the new wave of Iranian cinema. The director of numerous critically acclaimed films, Makhmalbaf has received more than 60 international awards from some of the world’s most prestigious film festivals. His film Kandahar (2001) was chosen as one of the top 100 best movies of history of cinema by Time magazine. As a writer, Makhmalbaf has also published more than 30 books, many of which have been translated and published internationally.
Filmography: The Cyclist (1989); Once Upon a Time, Cinema (1992); Gabbeh (1996); The Silence (1998); Kandahar (2001); Marghe and Her Mother (2019)
Leading Lights
See more films in this series
A Moment of Innocence
Iranian master filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf stages a filmed reenactment of a political skirmish from his youth. Equal parts autobiographical comedy, Brechtian behind-the-scenes documentary, and metaphysical poem, A Moment of Innocence shines.
Lights in the Dusk
At once both funny and sad, Lights in the Dusk repurposes the cinematic language of film noir and gangster flicks to create a wholly singular proletarian satire of late-stage capitalism. This is Kaurismäki at his most angry and most tender.
News From Home
One part city symphony, one part introspective meditation, one part epistolary text, News from Home is a structuralist masterwork by Belgium’s genius of contemplation, Chantal Akerman.
