Offside
Offside ***
Directed by Jafar Panahi
Written by Jafar Panahi and Shadmehr Rastin
Starring:
Sima Mobarak-Shahi as First Girl
Shayesteh Irani as Smoking Girl
Ayda Sadeqi as Soccer Girl
Golnaz Farmani as Girl with tchador
Mahnaz Zabihi as Female Soldier
Nazanin Sediq-zadeh as Young Girl
Safdar Samandar as Soldier from Azerbaijan
Mohammad Kheir-abadi as Soldier from Mashad
Masoud Kheymeh-kabood as Soldier from Tehran
93 Minutes(Rated PG for language throughout, and some thematic elements.)
-----------------------------------
In Iran, woman are banned from men's sporting events.
In June of 2005, Iran defeated Bahrain to qualify for the World Cup.
These are the bits of information that are presented at the start of "Offside," and they begin a film that is so close to watching real life unfold that it is scary. Adding no music, and working with completely handheld camera-even managing to film on the day of the actual game-Jafar Panahi has crafted a story about being a die hard fan, women's rights, and going against the law into ninety minutes of extreme excitement. Taking a camera cue from the recent "Children of Men," we follow six girls as they try to defy the law and try to get into this soccer game that is so forbidden to them. One may ask: What could possibly be exciting about watching some girls get into a soccer game? The answer is simple-it is exciting if you put yourself into their shoes. This is a film that showcases a bunch of women breaking the law, even though the actual law itself seems pretty ridiculous. We do not know anything about these women-we don't even get their names. All we know is that they all share a common love and a common goal, and will do anything that they can to succeed.
One of the women tries to sneak in with a uniform of one of the policemen around. One of them tries to outrun the security in the front, even after paying a few hundred dollars to even get a ticket. However, one by one, all of them are captured and brought to a holding cell where the only way they could hear about the game is from one of the policeman who shouts everything that is happening from the small view that he gets. One of them asks to use the bathroom, and uses a fight that the policeman gets into with a bunch of kids to try and plot her escape. Eventually the girls are all led onto a bus that is leading them to prison, where they will have their guardians called and then will get picked up to go home. But on the way both the girls and the policemen all listen to the final moments of the game, and for one mere moments everybody-no matter what their gender-are connected by their love of soccer and their love of Iran, and there are no laws that could stop the happiness that everyone in the country shares.
Even though it gives us a very simple story, "Offside" manages to tell mammoth messages and strong concepts. This isn't just about sports, but its also about the right for woman to get the same rights. From afar it seems absurd-women not being able to attend a sporting event. And when asked the reason why the police just say because "women shouldn't have to hear all the swearing that the men yell out." Panahi doesn't have many edits, and during the more tense situations she just circles the girls, or pans slowly as they walk. They ponder, make quick decisions, and do what they feel is right over what they have to do. True to life, there is no background score that could distract the viewer, and the only sound is the music from the stadium or the roaring of the crowd. It is constantly engaging, and the fear that the viewer has for them carries the film from the first minute. Panahi is clearly against the women's sporting event laws, and I'm glad that the script didn"t make all the authorities bad men-many of them felt that the law was bad as well, and would often wish they could help the girls if their jobs weren't at stake. It makes the finale that much sweeter, to know that the law is disregarded for the moment. Iran doesn't win the World Cup, but they will qualify for it, which means that there will be another game to sneak into-but just for a minute all of that is ignored and there is a united people, which is all that is needed in the first place. "Offside" is a mini-masterpiece, and a film for art film fans and sports fans alike.
Directed by Jafar Panahi
Written by Jafar Panahi and Shadmehr Rastin
Starring:
Sima Mobarak-Shahi as First Girl
Shayesteh Irani as Smoking Girl
Ayda Sadeqi as Soccer Girl
Golnaz Farmani as Girl with tchador
Mahnaz Zabihi as Female Soldier
Nazanin Sediq-zadeh as Young Girl
Safdar Samandar as Soldier from Azerbaijan
Mohammad Kheir-abadi as Soldier from Mashad
Masoud Kheymeh-kabood as Soldier from Tehran
93 Minutes(Rated PG for language throughout, and some thematic elements.)
-----------------------------------
In Iran, woman are banned from men's sporting events.
In June of 2005, Iran defeated Bahrain to qualify for the World Cup.
These are the bits of information that are presented at the start of "Offside," and they begin a film that is so close to watching real life unfold that it is scary. Adding no music, and working with completely handheld camera-even managing to film on the day of the actual game-Jafar Panahi has crafted a story about being a die hard fan, women's rights, and going against the law into ninety minutes of extreme excitement. Taking a camera cue from the recent "Children of Men," we follow six girls as they try to defy the law and try to get into this soccer game that is so forbidden to them. One may ask: What could possibly be exciting about watching some girls get into a soccer game? The answer is simple-it is exciting if you put yourself into their shoes. This is a film that showcases a bunch of women breaking the law, even though the actual law itself seems pretty ridiculous. We do not know anything about these women-we don't even get their names. All we know is that they all share a common love and a common goal, and will do anything that they can to succeed.
One of the women tries to sneak in with a uniform of one of the policemen around. One of them tries to outrun the security in the front, even after paying a few hundred dollars to even get a ticket. However, one by one, all of them are captured and brought to a holding cell where the only way they could hear about the game is from one of the policeman who shouts everything that is happening from the small view that he gets. One of them asks to use the bathroom, and uses a fight that the policeman gets into with a bunch of kids to try and plot her escape. Eventually the girls are all led onto a bus that is leading them to prison, where they will have their guardians called and then will get picked up to go home. But on the way both the girls and the policemen all listen to the final moments of the game, and for one mere moments everybody-no matter what their gender-are connected by their love of soccer and their love of Iran, and there are no laws that could stop the happiness that everyone in the country shares.
Even though it gives us a very simple story, "Offside" manages to tell mammoth messages and strong concepts. This isn't just about sports, but its also about the right for woman to get the same rights. From afar it seems absurd-women not being able to attend a sporting event. And when asked the reason why the police just say because "women shouldn't have to hear all the swearing that the men yell out." Panahi doesn't have many edits, and during the more tense situations she just circles the girls, or pans slowly as they walk. They ponder, make quick decisions, and do what they feel is right over what they have to do. True to life, there is no background score that could distract the viewer, and the only sound is the music from the stadium or the roaring of the crowd. It is constantly engaging, and the fear that the viewer has for them carries the film from the first minute. Panahi is clearly against the women's sporting event laws, and I'm glad that the script didn"t make all the authorities bad men-many of them felt that the law was bad as well, and would often wish they could help the girls if their jobs weren't at stake. It makes the finale that much sweeter, to know that the law is disregarded for the moment. Iran doesn't win the World Cup, but they will qualify for it, which means that there will be another game to sneak into-but just for a minute all of that is ignored and there is a united people, which is all that is needed in the first place. "Offside" is a mini-masterpiece, and a film for art film fans and sports fans alike.
posted by Eric at
8:51 PM
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