--- title: "Gabbeh" year: 1996 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/gabbeh" fi1m_id: "gabbeh" imdb_id: "tt0116384" tmdb_id: 43771 wikidata_id: "Q3288099" fi1m_score: 82 critics_score: 84 critics_reviews: 5 published: "2026-09-26T02:45:36.194865+00:00" updated: "2026-09-26T02:45:36.614621+00:00" region: "JP" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Gabbeh (1996) Directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf · 1h 12m · Drama, Mystery, Romance ## Identity Gabbeh - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/gabbeh - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** gabbeh - **IMDb ID:** tt0116384 - **TMDB ID:** 43771 - **Wikidata ID:** Q3288099 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116384/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/43771, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3288099 **Fi1m score: 82** · Critics 84 (early) from 5 reviews *In a sentence:* The colours are doing most of the courting, and we are not complaining > Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s *Gabbeh* makes a slight love story worth our attention through colour, sound and its young lead. The storytelling can feel thin, especially when the images have already made their point. ## Synopsis Gabbeh (Shaghayeh Djodat) is a young woman whose longing for love gives this story its centre. In a Persian nomadic setting, her story connects with those of Old Man (Hossein Moharami) and Old Woman (Rogheih Moharami), with Uncle (Abbas Sayah) also part of the tale. Youth and old age share a film in which the ordinary and the magical sit together. Colour and sound help tell a romance that moves away from straightforward realism, following the young woman’s feelings as much as the events around her. ## Review At 72 minutes, *Gabbeh* asks for a modest amount of our time and a fair amount of patience with a story that will not hurry. Mohsen Makhmalbaf directs a romance built around youthful longing, allowing magic into its telling without making the magic a puzzle to solve. We recommend it for the conviction with which it makes colour and sound carry feeling. There is little narrative urgency, and anyone who needs each scene to advance the love story may find that patience tested. We occasionally did. Shaghayeh Djodat plays Gabbeh, and her presence gives the film someone to care about whenever its pictures threaten to become the main attraction. The young woman’s story is connected to an elderly couple, played by Hossein Moharami and Rogheih Moharami, which changes how we understand her longing. We were moved by having youth and old age held so close together. The connection makes the young woman’s feelings seem vulnerable, even when the film around her is confident and bright. Mahmoud Kalari’s cinematography is the clearest reason to watch. The vivid colour tells us where to look and gives the compositions much of their force; there is pleasure in simply taking in how an image is arranged. The production design, also credited to Mohsen Makhmalbaf, supports that concentration on colour, with a consistency that helps the magical elements feel at home. Occasionally the beauty becomes so insistent that we begin to notice the effort behind it. Mostly, though, these pictures reward the attention they ask for. Mohsen Makhmalbaf is also the editor, and his willingness to let imagery lead the telling gives *Gabbeh* its unusual rhythm. The film provides fewer of the prompts with which a conventional romance tells us to anticipate a complication or expect a resolution. That can be refreshing, but it leaves some passages feeling underfed by the story. With so little forward pressure, an image has to do considerable work to justify our attention. A few ask us to admire them for longer than we want. Hossein Alizadeh’s music helps sustain our attention through that slower movement. It belongs to a use of sound that is as deliberate as the use of colour, and deserves to be listened to with the same care. The music has enough character to draw attention without making us forget the people we are watching. What matters is how picture and sound keep the young woman’s longing present, including when the plot offers little fresh encouragement. Watching while doing something else would make this a thinner experience than it needs to be. Within romance, *Gabbeh* is unusually willing to leave the plot waiting while it attends to what longing feels like. Its magic-realist approach suits that interest, though we understand why a viewer might prefer more ordinary behaviour and firmer consequences. The modest length helps, and so does Shaghayeh Djodat, who keeps us interested in Gabbeh amid all that colour. Choose it for an evening when nobody needs to keep asking what happens next. *Fi1m score 82, published 26 September 2026.* ## Straight answers **Is Gabbeh worth watching?** *Gabbeh* is worth watching for its expressive colour, carefully judged sound and Shaghayeh Djodat’s engaging lead performance; we score it 82. We recommend it to anyone happy with a slow, magic-realist romance, though the slight story sometimes leaves its images doing more work than they can sustain. **How long is Gabbeh, and what is it rated?** *Gabbeh* runs 1h 12m. It is a drama and mystery film. **Where can I watch Gabbeh in Japan?** *Gabbeh* is not on any streaming or rental service in Japan at the moment. It is available in 2 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily. **How does Gabbeh compare to Picnic at Hanging Rock?** *Gabbeh* offers a colourful, magic-realist romance, while [*Picnic at Hanging Rock*](https://film.one/film/picnic-at-hanging-rock) makes a sunlit school outing frightening; we recommend both for their images rather than their explanations. We favour *Gabbeh* for an evening centred on longing and the closeness of youth and old age, and *Picnic at Hanging Rock* for viewers who prefer an unsettling mystery. ### Reviews we read (5) - **Los Angeles Times**, KEVIN THOMAS (90/100, inferred): Thomas praises the film as a serene, charming fable and a work of shimmering beauty. He especially admires the magical, poignant way the young woman’s story connects with the elderly couple’s. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-06-26-ca-6874-story.html) - **The AV Club**, Keith Phipps (90/100, inferred): Phipps calls the film wonderful, finding its magic-realist approach compelling despite its limited narrative drive. He singles out Makhmalbaf’s poetic imagery, editing, and breathtaking compositions. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/gabbeh-1798196085) - **Variety**, Godfrey Cheshire (90/100, inferred): Cheshire gives the film an enthusiastic, highly positive verdict, praising its visual beauty and poetic confidence. He singles out its vivid imagery and striking use of color and sound. [Read](https://variety.com/1996/film/reviews/gabbeh-1200445851/) - **The New York Times**, Stephen Holden (75/100, inferred): The review appears to regard the film positively as a tale of youthful longing. Its headline foregrounds the Persian nomadic setting, but the article text is unavailable to confirm specific praise. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/10/movies/among-persian-nomads-a-tale-of-young-longing.html) - **Time Out**, GA (74/100, inferred): The available standfirst presents the film as visually gorgeous, suggesting a positive assessment. It singles out the film’s vivid visual beauty. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/gabbeh) ## Details - **Director:** Mohsen Makhmalbaf - **Director:** Mohsen Makhmalbaf - **Screenplay:** Mohsen Makhmalbaf - **Cinematography:** Mahmoud Kalari - **Editor:** Mohsen Makhmalbaf - **Music:** Hossein Alizadeh - **Production design:** Mohsen Makhmalbaf - **Producer:** Khalil Daroudchi, Khalil Daroudchi - **Cast:** Shaghayeh Djodat as Gabbeh; Abbas Sayah as Uncle; Hossein Moharami as Old Man; Rogheih Moharami as Old Woman; Parvaneh Ghalandari - **Runtime:** 1h 12m - **First release (IR):** 1 February 1996 - **Genres:** Drama, Mystery, Romance ## Where to watch in Japan Not streaming, renting or buying in Japan at the last check. Also available in: IT, TR. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - International Submission to the Academy Awards 1998: International Submission to the Academy Awards (nominated) ## If you liked this - *The Colour of Pomegranates* (1969): For colour and composition that make patient looking feel like active participation. - *Where Is the Friend's House?* (1987): A child’s errand supplies firmer narrative footing, with equally close attention to place. - *Daisies* (1966): A sharper, funnier rebellion against sensible storytelling, with colour doing much of the mischief. - *Picnic at Hanging Rock* (1975), Fi1m 88: Another film whose images hold us when the story declines to explain itself. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/picnic-at-hanging-rock.md) - *Petite Maman* (2021): Family feeling and quiet magic, told with a similarly economical running time. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/gabbeh