The Gardener

IMDb RATING

6.1/10

325

YOUR RATING

A father and son travel to Israel to learn about a religion (BahaÂ’i faith) that they donÂ’t know much about due to its taboo status in the country of both the filmmakersÂ’ and the faithÂ’s birth Â– Iran. Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the father, follows a gardener who works at the BahaÂ’i gardens to understand who he is and why he is there. Meanwhile his son Maysam rejects the concept of religion all together and goes out to Jerusalem where he comes across the sacred sites of Jews and Christians where he finds many similarities with the Islamic society he grew up in.

Play trailer2:45

1 Video

15 Photos

Documentary Drama

The Gardener is a surreal film made using documentary-style techniques via the cameras of father and son (the Makhmalbafs) who go to Israel to learn about a religion (Baha'i faith) that they... Read allThe Gardener is a surreal film made using documentary-style techniques via the cameras of father and son (the Makhmalbafs) who go to Israel to learn about a religion (Baha'i faith) that they don't know much due to its taboo status in the country of both the filmmaker and the fait... Read allThe Gardener is a surreal film made using documentary-style techniques via the cameras of father and son (the Makhmalbafs) who go to Israel to learn about a religion (Baha'i faith) that they don't know much due to its taboo status in the country of both the filmmaker and the faith's birth - Iran.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.1/10

325

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Videos1

Trailer 2:45

Theatrical Trailer

Photos15

More like this

7.2

The Cyclist

6.7

Shirin

7.5

Lenny

7.0

Songs My Brothers Taught Me

7.2

Chop Shop

7.8

A Moment of Innocence

7.3

7.4

7.3

7.4

7.4

6.7

Storyline

Edit

Did you know

Edit

Trivia
Based on current travel laws of Iran, the filmmaker is sentenced to five-years in prison for traveling to Israel.

Connections
Follows Gabbeh (1996)

User reviews5

Review

Featured review

9/10

Touching and Thought-provoking

The Gardener contains several scenes that raised intriguing questions about the role of faith in humanity's evolution and other scenes that answered those questions through the unfiltered testimony of individual believers. The cinematic style was a little surreal for my taste, but it accentuated the moments of realism, like comets occasionally streaking across a crowded night sky. Hopefully the film will be shown in southern California again. It created quite a buzz in the Baha'i community, but many were not able to make it to LA during its one-week run. I know I would see it again...and bring friends! To me, the most amazing thing about the film is the director's courage to put his career, awards, and life on the line to make a documentary film about a Faith that is not his own.