Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Better Late Then Never

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

This is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. Gabbeh, an Iranian film which chronicles the complex life of a young girl and her family who live in the mountains of Iran herding goats, is told with such conviction and simplicity, that it is hard not to fall in love with this film.The narrative displays non-Western conventions, while remaining simple and easy to follow for a Western audience. It is actually quite refreshing to see a film that is told in the way Gabbeh is told.The content of the film is brilliant, with themes of nature, life's beauty and misfortune and complex family relationships. The use of color, which is arguably one of the most unique and interesting features of this film, warrant at least one viewing, if not multiple. Also, using the rug, or, gabbeh, as the film's centerpiece is a wonderful visual anchor, and reads well for a Western audience.If the story is not enough to sell this film, the cinematography more than makes up for any mistakes this film has. The film is short enough that the pastoral imagery remains beautiful and not boring or simplistic, but is interjected in the film enough that it remains a focal point which pushes the film forward in many aspects.Overall, a must-see. Absolutely one of the best films I've ever watched.

I pretty much hated this film. I didn't really get the story until I was well within twenty minutes of the film. Yeah, I guess you can say that the colors were really nice. But if that is the basis of the film, if that is the only superb thing about it, then that is really really bad. And that is about what I thought of it. Colors were nice, but the overall film just sucked. It was beyond boring, half the time it is just this old man and old woman washing some rugs. It is completely uninteresting. I mean I guess it is just a generational thing but I mean if the story is even a little interesting I will pay attention and enjoy it. But this film was just not engaging, the story was not interesting. It is hard to appreciate a work of art, which is what I think the filmmaker was going for, without a decent, engaging story.

Gabbeh, is a very different film from other movies I have seen. I did not enjoy this movie as much as I thought I would. This movie requires focus from the viewer if you missed five minutes or did not give full attention to the beginning of this movie you would be lost. There are three main actors in this film but two of them are playing the same character at different times in the film. This movie revolves around an elderly couple washing a rug that displays the heritage and life of the female's family. As they wash the rug the younger version of the female appears, and begins to tell her long heart wrenching story of being in love with a man that she could not marry. The girl is very sad that her dad will not give her permission to marry the man she is in love with. He stalls the approval and wedding ceremony by telling her that she will have to wait until her middle aged uncle gets married. However, her uncle had many criteria's that had to be met before he would take any female as his wife. They ended up searching everywhere until finally they found his match by a stream. Her celebrations are short lived because her dad makes another stipulation. The older version of her lover begins to question the young female claims of actually being in love with him in the past. He does it in the most peculiar voice which I found captivating, but it did little to keep my interest. The scenery was also beautiful throughout the movie, the colors and the way it was showcased was fascinating. I did enjoy some of the cultural details in this movie and found the rug making fascinating, but I do not feel that watching the experience was enough to recommend this movie.

Mohsen Makhmalbaf's Iranian sensation known as Gabbeh is a fantastic film that features a mythical young woman who is longing to be married to a certain horseback stranger from another clan. Gabbeh is spoken in their native language of Arabic, with English subtitles to make sure we understand. This is the story of the young woman named Gabbeh, who is played by Shaghayeh Djodat, wants nothing more than to get married to this horseback stranger, but there is one problem with her plan. Her uncle, played by Abbas Sayah, doesn't permit her to do so until he gets married first before her. But out of nowhere this mythical young woman appears when an elderly couple goes through their routine of cleaning their rug, while squabbling gently with each other. The Gabbeh's story is almost like a fairytale other than the actuality encompasses the old woman's real-life struggle with daily life and accomplishing her aspiration of matrimony. The director hides his analysis by the usage of colors, which is dominant throughout the entire movie. The vibrant colors that the women wear in the movie are a foundation of unity for women and give them an opening to express themselves in the patriarchal culture. This love story has a hint into a society that has Westerners, whom we have misconceptions or have stereotypes about. This is the first film I've seen from their region and it is a quite odd, but yet entertaining film. I'm expecting to see more films from this region or from this director. This director did a great job with this film with the use of vibrant colors as well as a great love story as well as what happens in the life of Gabbeh or others that are just like her. Overall this film got my attention.