Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

DVD

Upcoming Release Calendar
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores

Recent DVD/Video Releases

sort by namesort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Moment of Innocence, A

EMAILPRINTNew Yorker Films

Moment of Innocence, A reviews
70
9.0 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 9 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 2 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >

Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama

Written by: Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Directed by: Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Release Date:
Theatrical: November 10, 1999
DVD: June 21, 2005

Running Time: 78 minutes, Color

Origin: Iran / France

Language(s): Persian (with English subtitles)

Summary

RATING: Not rated

Starring Ali Bakhsi, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Ammar Tafti, and Mirhadi Tayebi

Mohsen Makhmalbaf's film is based on his own experience as a young Islamic radical in 1974 when he attemped to stab a policeman and landed himself in prison for the act. Five years after his release from prison, the same policeman, then unemployed turned up to audition for one of Makhmalbaf's films. Makhmalbaf and the policeman each play themselves in the film.

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

San Francisco Examiner Wesley Morris

Turns into something like a screwball farce, an intimate, self-aware one.

Read Full Review >
92

Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson

Normal ideas of truth, illusion, and representation are sent into the meat grinder, and the result is consistently disarming and beautiful.

Read Full Review >
90

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

A fascinating humanist experiment and investigation in its own right, full of warmth and humor as well as mystery.

Read Full Review >
80

The New York Times Stephen Holden

Almost forbiddingly austere.

Read Full Review >
80

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Finds the impassioned Makhmalbaf in a more contemplative, even whimsical, mood than usual.

Read Full Review >
80

Village Voice Leslie Camhi

A meditation-brilliant, humorous, and moving-on history and memory.

Read Full Review >
70

TV Guide Ken Fox

A fascinating fictional documentary.

Read Full Review >
50

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

Some wonderful films have come out of Iran in the past few years, but A Moment of Innocence, by highly regarded director Mohsen Makhmalbaf, is too smug and too self-indulgent to count as one of them.

Read Full Review >
0

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Muddled and endless.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Popular on CBS sites: SEC Football | NFL | Video Game Cheats | iPhone | Video Game Reviews | Notebooks | Antivirus Software

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use