Dir. Jafar Panahi, 2006, Iran, 88mins
Cast: Sima Mobarak Shahi, Safar Samandar, Shayesteh Irani, M. Kheyrabadi, Ida Sadeghi, Golnaz Farmani, Mahnaz Zabihi, Nazanin Sedighzadeh
Review by Kevin Holmes
Using a cast of non-actors, the oft-called Iranian neo-realist Panahi is back in his homeland for a simple, comical tale of life’s absurdities, a tale whose struggles are definitely Iranian, but whose voice is universal. The action, as it were, begins when a young girl attempts to sneak into the World Cup qualifying game between Iran and Bahrain, played last year. Young women are banned from entering stadiums in Iran and those that do, if caught, are kept locked up and are dealt with by the authorities.
Filmed on location in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium, the film is shot like a documentary, adding to the realism, with the events mainly focusing on the girls rather than the game, but it still allows for moments that express the passion generated by this sport. One instance in particular reflects the hyper-charged atmosphere of a football stadium well; when one of the soldiers is looking for an escaped girl prisoner and walks out onto the terraces, the super-charged atmosphere hits you like a football in the groin, the deafening roar of the crowd juxtaposing with the muted tone of the girl’s makeshift prison.
Keeping the film focused on what’s going on around the stadium, the story unfolds to give us an often neglected snapshot of a country whose only real publicity at the moment is the mass media’s fondness for telling us that they’ve enriched uranium. The film shows what our media denies us, that the rest of this nation just wants to get on with their lives and enjoy them, like we all do. Iran’s confused, outdated and restrictive laws about women and their rights are displayed here in all their absurd incongruities, but, while the girls may hate these with a rebellious passion, they don’t hate their country. When Iran score, the girls’ patriotic spirit overtakes them as they chant, “Iran is best, Iran is best,” with the universal joy of anyone whose team have just scored a crucial goal in a World Cup qualifier.
So it isn’t their country they dislike, but, as always, the people who run it. The traditionalist elders are the ones causing all the befuddlement and oppression, it’s a classic clash of generations. This is conveyed quite brilliantly by the cast of non-actors who Panahi has a keen eye for, the cast giving great naturalistic performances which they deliver with aplomb. The pioneering girls are witty, liberated and astute; when asked by a soldier if she’s a boy or girl, one retorts, “Which would you prefer?” While the soldiers, at first appearing arrogant, later show their humanity, as we see them manipulated by a system they dislike as much as our maverick maidens do. It’s Panahi’s eye for the details in life that makes the film a joy to watch, and keeps you not just rooting for the girls but sympathising with the soldiers as well. We’re shown life complete with its complex paradoxes and are left at the end with the - not terribly original but still potent – message of the power of sport, particularly football, to provoke, to excite and to unite.
A culture’s art, particularly its film, often reflects its people’s desires, and often, when a country is repressed or at war, these desires are to be unburdened, to seek release, to laugh. And so it goes with this film, a film many Iranians would perhaps desire to see, but sadly won’t have a chance to, as, like most of Panahi’s films, it hasn’t got a release in Iran. It’s not all bad however - perhaps the film has had a subliminal impact. On 24th April this year, Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said women should be allowed into the stadiums to watch sport with the men, claiming the presence of women and families would promote chastity. Something our protagonists, I’m sure, would welcome with open-banner-waving-arms.
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