A Moment of Innocence
Encyclopedia
A Moment of Innocence is a 1996 film directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf
. It is also known as Bread and Flower, Bread and Flower Pot, and The Bread and the Vase
Two decades later, Makhmalbaf made the decision to track down the policeman whom he had injured in an attempt to make amends. A Moment of Innocence is a dramatization of that real event.
called A Moment of Innocence "a dizzying hybrid of autobiography, documentary, and mythology,...[a] bold[]...testament to our innate decency and capacity for love," and said that it "ends with the greatest final freeze-frame since The 400 Blows
-- maybe the greatest final freeze-frame ever." Stuart Klawans
of The Nation
said readers should contact him immediately "if [they] see another film with so urgent and complete an image of people's hurts, fears, needs and dreams." One of the few negative critical reactions came from Mick Lasalle of the San Francisco Chronicle
, who called the film "grindingly dull," and "muddled and endless" and implied that Makhmalbaf's filmmaking was "self-indulgent, meandering, pointless and irritating."
Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Mohsen Makhmalbaf is an Iranian film director, writer, editor, and producer. During 2007 he was the president of Asian Film Academy.Makhmalbaf's films have been widely presented in international film festivals in the past ten years. The multi-award-winning director, belongs to the new wave...
. It is also known as Bread and Flower, Bread and Flower Pot, and The Bread and the Vase
Plot
The film is a semi-autobiographical account of Makmahlbaf's experience as a teenager when, as a seventeen-year-old, he stabbed a policeman at a protest rally and was jailed.Two decades later, Makhmalbaf made the decision to track down the policeman whom he had injured in an attempt to make amends. A Moment of Innocence is a dramatization of that real event.
Cast
- Mirhadi Tayebi as The Policeman
- Mohsen MakhmalbafMohsen MakhmalbafMohsen Makhmalbaf is an Iranian film director, writer, editor, and producer. During 2007 he was the president of Asian Film Academy.Makhmalbaf's films have been widely presented in international film festivals in the past ten years. The multi-award-winning director, belongs to the new wave...
as The Director - Ali Bakhsi as The Young Director
- Ammar Tafti as The Young Policeman
- Maryam Mohamadamini as The Young Woman
Critical reaction
Although the film was banned in Iran, Western critics were very positive toward the film. Mike D'AngeloMike D'Angelo
Mike D'Angelo is the chief film critic for Esquire. He regularly contributes film reviews to Las Vegas Weekly and Nerve, and maintains a personal website, The Man Who Viewed Too Much....
called A Moment of Innocence "a dizzying hybrid of autobiography, documentary, and mythology,...[a] bold[]...testament to our innate decency and capacity for love," and said that it "ends with the greatest final freeze-frame since The 400 Blows
The 400 Blows
The 400 Blows is a 1959 French film directed by François Truffaut. One of the defining films of the French New Wave, it displays many of the characteristic traits of the movement. The story revolves around Antoine Doinel, an ordinary adolescent in Paris, who is thought by his parents and teachers...
-- maybe the greatest final freeze-frame ever." Stuart Klawans
Stuart Klawans
Stuart Klawans has been the film critic for The Nation since 1988. He won the 2007 National Magazine Award for Reviews and Criticism and he received a 2003 Guggenheim Fellowship to work on a critical study of Preston Sturges...
of The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
said readers should contact him immediately "if [they] see another film with so urgent and complete an image of people's hurts, fears, needs and dreams." One of the few negative critical reactions came from Mick Lasalle of the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, who called the film "grindingly dull," and "muddled and endless" and implied that Makhmalbaf's filmmaking was "self-indulgent, meandering, pointless and irritating."