December 14, 2007 | By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS
For his poetic fourth feature, “Half Moon,” the Kurdish-Iranian writer and director Bahman Ghobadi returns to the breathtaking desolation of the Kurdish borderlands and the enduring optimism of his people.
After the fall of Saddam Hussein, Mamo (Ismail Ghaffari), a famed Kurdish musician living in Iran, gathers his many sons for a trip across the border to Iraqi Kurdistan and a long-planned celebratory concert. Despite failing health and his offspring’s fluctuating commitment to the dangerous enterprise, Mamo is resolute; neither callous border guards nor his own recurring premonitions of disaster will derail the performance.
Fateful and funny, haunting and magical, “Half Moon” balances delicately between the harsh realities of its location and the mystical power of Mamo’s visions. Shooting mainly in Iranian Kurdistan, the cinematographers Nigel Bluck and Crighton Bone find an unearthly beauty amid the gambling frenzy of a cockfight and the silent ranks of exiled female singers lining the rooftops of a mountain village. As the end of the journey draws near, the line between the natural and the supernatural becomes increasingly difficult to discern.
Inspired by Mozart’s “Requiem” and commissioned by the New Crowned Hope festival in Vienna, “Half Moon” is an affecting contemplation of resilience in the face of tragedy. When a higher purpose beckons, death itself must take a back seat.
Opens on Friday in Manhattan.
Written (in Kurdish and Persian, with English subtitles), produced and directed by Bahman Ghobadi; director of photography, Nigel Bluck and Crighton Bone; edited by Hayedeh Safiyari; music by Hossein Alizadeh; production designers, Mansooreh Yazdanjoo and Mr. Ghobadi; released by Strand Releasing. At the Imaginasian Theater, 239 East 59th Street, Manhattan. Running time: 1 hour 47 minutes. This film is not rated.
WITH: Ismail Ghaffari (Mamo), Allah Morad Rashtiani (Kako/Bus Driver), Hedye Tehrani (Hesho/Singer), Hassan Poorshirazi (Border Policeman), Golshifteh Farahani (Niwemang) and Sadiq Behzadpoor (Shouan).