Time of Love

A love triangle gone awry (maybe) is at the heart of one of Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s most sensual works, filmed as a triptych in which each section reframes who is victim or victimizer. A husband, a wife, and a lover: the characters remain the same, but their passions and resolutions constantly change. As in much of Makhmalbaf’s cinema, narrative is as fluid as water, capable of flowing into any number of forms. Makhmalbaf’s most luxuriantly visual work and as lush (and playful) as any Rumi love song, Time of Love was shot in Turkey to avoid censorship issues, yet was still banned in Iran for five years.