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| Offside @ Montreal World Film Festival
Director: Jafar Panahi By: Carey |
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| Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi has already explored the issue of the repression and mistreatment of women in Iranian society. His previous film "The Circle" looked more at the physical and mental punishment of Iranian women because of their behaviour. This time he takes a different approach, but the film has the same strong effect. "Offside", a film originally released in 2006 and playing at the festival this year as part of the tribute to Iranian cinema, is the story of six girls who try through different methods to get inside a soccer stadium in Iran to watch their national team play. Instead of shocking us with violent images this film uses humour to attack the silly societal rule that says that women cannot enter sporting arenas because men use foul language while watching sports and women should not be exposed to that. It is June 2005 and the Iranian national soccer team is playing Bahrain in a World Cup qualifying match. Women, who in Iranian society are fans of the national soccer team, are not allowed inside to watch the game. Outside the stadium the army works trying to locate women disguised as men who are trying to sneak into the stadium to watch the game. As the match begins they discover one such young woman and they bring her to a penned off area outside of the stadium. There she and other women who are caught are to wait for the vice squad to pick them up. The captured women wait outside while the game takes place. Achingly close, but still not able to watch the game. They hear the cheers and moans of the crowd, but don't know why. One of the nicer soldiers provides the ladies with a play by play of what is going on. They are able to now follow along and express joy at the ups and disgust at the downs. Arguing amongst themselves about the strengths and weaknesses of the team and players, the ladies are able to take part in the match in their own way. As time goes by it becomes more apparent that the soldiers who are holding these women are not really interested in punishing them for their "offence". They are just biding their time until their obligatory service time in the army is over. It seems as if they don't even agree with the idea of punishing the women for trying to watch the soccer match. The vice squad finally comes and collects the women. Piling them into a van they are taken away. The soccer game is being listened to on the radio. These soldiers and the women even stop for a drink to celebrate the seemingly in the bag victory of the Iranian soccer team. Like "The Circle" before it "Offside" was banned in Iran. Though it uses absurdist humour the point is very clear and does not show Iran society in a very good light. On a basic level it is about the ecstasy and the agony of being a sports fan. This is a universal theme. What is not universal is the idea of excluding women from certain public activities in order to "protect" them from certain evils. The film demonstrates that the younger generation in Iran might be more open to being more inclusive. The soldiers don't seem to have a problem with the women being around. A hint of change in Iranian society? Maybe. Not fast enough for present day women, though. What, besides the message, is the strongest part of the film is its realism. It was shot on hand held video cameras in one day during the actual soccer game and the actual celebrations on the streets of Tehran afterwards. It was filmed on the sly so the government and police could not stop it. This resulted in director Panahi shooting long uninterrupted shots that allow for the viewer to forget that they are watching a film. It seems like it is unfolding right in front of us. The film unravels in real time and that makes it all the more powerful - despite the amount of tongue-in-cheek humour involved in it. There is not one moment in the film that does not feel authentic. Important film that portrays an Iranian society that seems ready to change and also shows the insanely frustrating and chaotic world of sports fandom. | ||||||||||||||
