‘Gabbeh’ Weaves a Fable of Art, Passion

Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s “Gabbeh” is as exquisite as the kind of carpet that gives the film its name. In the remote steppes of southeastern Iran, now almost extinct nomadic tribes have for centuries woven gabbeh, carpets that serve as a record of incidents in the lives of their makers and their families. A depiction of a man and woman riding a horse, small figures set against a field of blue, for example, make such a gabbeh a distinct contrast to the familiar Persian rugs with their rich patterns.

Usually a highly political and often a controversial filmmaker, Makhmalbaf here is in a serene, contemplative mood. He originally intended to make a documentary but instead had the inspired idea of introducing a charming, fantastic fable of duty and desire into his recording of the endless treks of the Ghashghai tribe with its herds of sheep and supply of goats and chickens. The men tend to wear simple Western-style work clothing, but the women wear spangly Gypsy-style attire.

An elderly couple (Hossein and Roghieh Moharami) are washing their gabbeh in a creek when one of the figures in the carpet suddenly materializes as a beautiful young woman (Shaghayegh Djodat). Her story is seemingly simple: She is coping with interminable delays to her marriage. Her father has given her permission to marry her beloved, who follows her tribe constantly but at a distance. But her uncle (Abbas Sayahi) must return home and marry first. Yet when the uncle does reappear, there are, not surprisingly, further glitches. The way in which Makhmalbaf connects the young woman’s tale with that of the elderly couple is so poignant and magical that it could be right out of Jean Cocteau’s “Orpheus.”

“Gabbeh” celebrates the mystical power of art and passion in the midst of the kind of vast expanses of natural grandeur most often seen nowadays on an Imax screen. One of the most delightful of many such sequences occurs when the uncle is teaching children about color (and by extension the source of the dyes for the gabbeh). He reaches toward a field of poppies and, whoosh, a bouquet of them appear in his hand--and this is just the beginning of his magic.

“Gabbeh” is a work of shimmering beauty.

* Unrated. Times guidelines: appropriate for all old enough to read subtitles.

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‘Gabbeh’

Shaghayegh Djodat: Gabbeh

Abbas Sayahi: The uncle

Hossein Moharami: The old man

Roghieh Moharami: The old woman

A New Yorker Films release of a co-production of Sanayeh Dasti of Iran and MK2 (France). Writer/director/art director/sound designer/editor Mohsen Makhmalbaf. Producers Khalil Doroudt-Chi and Khalil Mahmoudi. Executive producer Mustafa Mirza-Khani. Cinematographer Mahmoud Kalari. Music Hossein Alizadeh. In Farsi, with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour, 11 minutes.

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