Khorshid (Tahmineh Normatova), a blind ten-year-old boy, lives with his mother and works as an apprentice instrument tuner to pay their rent. His father left their small village in Tajikistan heading for Russia and never returned. The boy has learned to make the most of his hearing and in the opening scene, he is extremely sensitive to the rhythmic knocking on the door of the landlord, the sound of a bee trying to escape from a bottle, and the gurgling of the nearby river. The rest of us do not pay much attention to these kinds of sounds, and so we miss them. On a bus to work, Khorshid hears two girls trying to memorize a text; he quickly masters it and tells them to shut their eyes in order to avoid distractions so they can learn it quickly.

Arriving at the stop near where he works, he is met by his pretty friend Nadareh (Nadareh Abdelahyeva) who walks with him through the marketplace. When they get separated, she knows him well enough to realize that he has followed the sound of music in the place. She closes her eyes and does the same. When she opens her eyes, Nadareh is standing next to Khorshid. While he works, this clever young girl amuses herself by making two cherries substitute as earrings and flower petals as nail polish on her fingers. This playful girl then does a beautiful little dance by moving her hands and head.

Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf has created some innovative film including Gabbeh and Kandahar. This exquisitely beautiful and touching film draws our attention to the delights of the senses and the enchantments of music. Khorshid lives totally in the present moment and is not lured by the past or the future. He is attracted to pleasant sounds and irritated by discordant ones. To protect himself from these distractions, he has been told to put cotton in his ears or to plug them up with his fingers. This does not work and invariably Khorshid finds himself following the music. In one scene, he imagines himself as directing a group of young metal workers in the marketplace. Meanwhile, his anxious mother (Golbibi Ziadolahyeva) unsuccessfully tries to catch fish in the river as the days fly by before they are scheduled to be evicted.

In an interview, the director explains why he made the film: "It goes back to my childhood. My grandmother who was very religious, said to me at the time: 'If you listen to music, you'll go to hell.' She made me stick my fingers in my ears when we were out in the street so I wouldn't hear the music. . . . The first Western music I heard was Beethoven's Fifth. I was deeply affected by the splendor and the strength of this piece. Since then, those four notes have been going around in my head."

This sense luscious Iranian film will slow you down and enable you to appreciate the delights of the senses and the ways in which the world is alive with music. Many scenes are filled with extraordinary images: Khorshid at the bus stop in front of a large mural or sitting on a group of animals following a musician by a lakeshore. Allow yourself to savor the sounds and sights of The Silence as an experience of being deeply present.


Special Features include an essay in the booklet by New York Press film critic Armond White and scene selections.