That was an excellent one.

ridiculous rating

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

One of the first surprises of this documentary is director Mohsen Makhmalbaf defining himself right at the beginning as not (longer) a Muslim. The once militant filmmaker has lived for quite some years now outside Iran, clearly disillusioned with its politics and the use of religion by the regime.In this film we see him in Israel (Iran's number one enemy, no less) exploring the subject of religion, looking in particular at the Baha'i faith, which was originally founded in Iran in the mid 19th century, but after being persecuted in its native country has now its headquarters in Haifa (the movie will give you a good overview of the history of this religion). Baha'is are famously pacifist, and have many positions, regarding the environment, the position of women, etc. which would be considered progressive. So Makhmalbaf wants to show us that not all religions are oppressive, and that since religion has an undoubtedly powerful hold on many humans, it is better to use its power for the good. The position of his son is the opposite, he believes all religions are oppressive, so we should better get rid of all of them. From this debate between father and son, the movie gives us a good point/counterpoint. Intercalated with their debates about religion, we have interviews with Baha'i followers who have come to the World Center from all parts of the world (there is for example a gardener working in the beautiful gardens who is from Papua New Guinea). The close-ups of flowers, trees and other elements in the gardens gives a nice pantheistic feel to the movie.

"The Gardener" is motivated by Iranian award-winning filmmaker Mohsen Makhamalbaf's desire to find out more about the Baha'i Faith. Adherents of the Faith have been gruesomely persecuted by Muslim ecclesiastics ever since its inception in mid-nineteenth century Persia, now Iran. Such unrelenting systematic persecution continues today, despite the community being the largest religious minority. Yet little is understood of the Faith in the land of its birth. Though not a Baha'i, Mohsen is no stranger to controversy himself. He has been imprisoned for past political activism and his films banned. Entering Israel, where the Faith's spiritual and world administrative center is located, to make this film, can subject him to five years imprisonment back home. He now lives in Paris.This is not your normal documentary laden with facts and figures, with neither heavy references to religious texts nor even interviews with senior representatives of the Faith. There are no actors. The few Baha'i interviewees are all young volunteer workers from diverse backgrounds with no claim to any authoritative or in-depth understanding of the Faith. Not surprisingly no Iranian Baha'i is included if one were cognizant of the consequences. This curious choice of young nobodies, positively inspired and animated by a broad range of uplifting principles from their faith, should resonate well with an entire generation of totally dispirited and disenchanted youth in Iran today who has never experienced the positive inspirational influence of religion.Mohsen believes in the power of the language of the image and in the conversational style of storytelling. He engages his son, Maysam, as the second camera representing the skeptical and impatient younger generation, with a third invisible camera filming the "conversation" between the two. This conversation is the religious debate between father and son interspersed throughout that is the dialogue that binds the film together. The dichotomy between the positive father and negative son is further accentuated by their camera styles, the slow and meditative father with the fast moving pace of the son. Maysam thinks a Hollywood celebrity actor would enhance the film's popularity while Mohsen wants real people so he can develop "perception through concentration." "Don't try and capture a series of shots one after the other as if you're changing channels with a remote control." The son replies, "ten seconds is enough". The sub- text I think is if you're going to understand this Faith, you need time and reflection.The third protagonist, giving the film its title, is the young Baha'i gardener, Eona, from obscure Papua New Guinea. The father is riveted on the young gardener. He takes his shots stealthily from behind one tree to the next, as his camera "meditates" on the devotional attitude, the intricate care, the peace and contentment of his subject, evoking the Baha'i concept of "work is worship". Through the "real people", the diverse youth volunteers, we are exposed ever so fleetingly to some broad principles and concepts such as progressive revelation, that all religions derive their authority and inspiration from the same source, humanity's organic unity expressed through the quote "Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch" as well as appreciating its diversity like "flowers of one garden", the emancipation of women, that "heaven" and "hell" relate to states of our soul rather than destinations, that religion can transform the heart what science cannot, and that the human heart is like a mirror that needs to be polished before it can reflect the rays of the sun, the divine attributes. Mohsen turned the mirror metaphor into an artistic performance between the two of them using the colorful garden and rolling waves of the sea as rich tapestries.The religious debate between father and son is conducted in more secular tones. He can see that religion, like his camera, needs regular updating. He effuses positively: "If religion can educate innocent children in such a way, that they're prepared to die and kill, then it proves that religion has power. Why not use the power of religion for the promotion of peace and friendship." The son trots negatively that organized religions are the source of conflict. He accuses his Dad of using technology to serve superstition while the Dad countered "you are turning technology into a new religion. You are creating from Steve Jobs a Moses, Jesus or Muhammad."Maysam decides to go to Jerusalem where some of the holiest sites of Christianity, Islam and Judaism reside in close proximity. The contrast between the commercialism, cacophony, touristy ambiance commingling with the religious in Jerusalem and the absolute peace, serenity and uplifting beauty and order of the Baha'i gardens cannot be more distinct.Here Maysam muses: "Why did God only begin to send prophets only three thousand years ago, and even then, three major religions, connected to each other by the same streets?" Little did he know that had he been more reflective, the answer lay back in Haifa.In the end, Maysam asks his father: "Have you become a Baha'i?" He answered he is Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish, Zoroastrian, irreligious and all of these. Perhaps he has made some progress, acknowledging the common foundation of all religions but his watering of his "planted" camera, mimicking Eona's watering of a garden plant, suggests he's half-mocking.Mohsen's noble message is to make use of the powerful positive inspirational peace-loving aspect of religion to solve the region's intractable problem which essentially is a manifestation of a negative human trait – hate.

The Gardener contains several scenes that raised intriguing questions about the role of faith in humanity's evolution and other scenes that answered those questions through the unfiltered testimony of individual believers. The cinematic style was a little surreal for my taste, but it accentuated the moments of realism, like comets occasionally streaking across a crowded night sky. Hopefully the film will be shown in southern California again. It created quite a buzz in the Baha'i community, but many were not able to make it to LA during its one-week run. I know I would see it again...and bring friends! To me, the most amazing thing about the film is the director's courage to put his career, awards, and life on the line to make a documentary film about a Faith that is not his own.

The "Gardener" is a work of art with a profound message. One may not appreciate Makhmalbaf's abstract and poetic style of film making, but his genuine desire to explore and understand is undeniable and truly admirable. This was not a typical documentary, filled with facts and figures, but a moving portray of an artist's journey to what has been and still remains a forbidden land in the minds of many Iranians, and explore a Faith that is persecuted for 170 years in it's birthplace. I highly recommend it. But you may want to watch couple his other works in advance, such as Gabbeh and The Silence. Btw "Gardener" was financed solely by Makhmalbaf, so he could protect it from the influence of the investors.