oscar jubis
09-12-2007, 06:59 PM
OFFSIDE
Young women defy Iranian law and attempt to sneak into the soccer stadium where Iran and Bahrain play for the privilege of representing the region at the 2006 World Cup. Six are caught trying to pass as males and ordered to remain in a detention area where they can hear the roar of the crowd but not join it. Offside's writer/director/producer is Jafar Panahi, whose major theme is cultural and institutional discrimination within the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Mr. Panahi took a leaf out of the life of Luis Bunuel and got his start as a filmmaker by calling his idol, Abbas Kiarostami, to offer to help in any capacity. Kiarostami allowed him to assist on the set of Through the Olive Trees and agreed to collaborate on the script of The White Balloon, Panahi's debut. That film brought Panahi instant fame when it won the Camera d'Or and the Critics' Prize at Cannes in 1995. It's significant that Panahi's favorite scene is the one in which little Aida replies to a man who warns her about girls watching snake charmers: "I want to see what is not good for me to watch".
Any of the six soccer-loving, proudly-Iranian girls kept "offside" could be little Aida all grown up. The first one we meet panics when she's about to be hand-searched, gets arrested, and brought to a holding area on the stadium's upper level. It's a sort of "penalty box" (another of Offside's many soccer metaphors) formed by metal barriers where three girls are already awaiting transfer to the police station at game's end. Offside decisively sides with the trespassers but, faithful to Panahi's established humanism, also regards the soldiers keeping watch as victims. They are basically kids just out of high school ordered to enforce absurd laws as part of their military service. They wish they could be sitting in the stands or watching the game on tv from their provincial hometowns.
Two other girls are found out while the game is in progress, including one with very short hair wearing an ill-fitting military uniform. Offside explores the dynamics within and between the two gender groups. The scope is broadened by the inclusion of a middle-aged character who boards a bus going to the stadium to look for his daughter, a college student. He claims he wants to find her before his sons do, to avert a beating. But when he recognizes his daughter's best friend among the six arrested, he scolds her and attempts to slap her. The conversations between characters may seem improvised at first, because of the film's naturalism and how skillfully Panahi creates the impression we're watching a piece of cinema verite. Closer scrutiny reveals a detailed and carefully devised script that seems to approach its central theme from every possible angle.
Besides dismantling any possible rationale for gender discrimination, Panahi manages to broach cultural and regional differences and to serve up a healthy dose of humor. The comedic aspect is situational, stemming from the absurdity and surreal predicament of its characters (although I imagine Iranians are less likely to find the film as funny). The moods generated by Offside are complex_an awesome, long scene in which a soldier has no choice but to escort a girl to the (men's) bathroom is alternatively and sometimes simultaneously jocular, sad, suspenseful and, ultimately, uplifting.
Offside brilliantly combines footage taken during the actual soccer match and scenes shot during the following days. Panahi's mise-en-scene and the addition of real crowd noise into the sound mix give the impression the film was made in a day (the shoot lasted 39 days, according to Panahi). Perhaps the most amazing scenes, technically, take place inside cramped vehicles: a public bus taking fans to the game and a police van taking the girls, and a boy caught with illegal firecrackers, to the station. This is virtuoso filmmaking and Offside as a whole seems quite a revolutionary feat of low-budget, populist cinema.
Jafar Panahi has developed a style that yields deep, resonant films that are accessible to all audiences. It's ironic then, that the only one of Panahi's masterful movies to play at Iranian theaters is the debut. However, the sale of pirated VCDs of Offside is estimated at over 100,000 and the film has entered the nation's collective consciousness. The film's title has even been appropriated by a group called The White Scarf Girls in their protests against gender apartheid.
Young women defy Iranian law and attempt to sneak into the soccer stadium where Iran and Bahrain play for the privilege of representing the region at the 2006 World Cup. Six are caught trying to pass as males and ordered to remain in a detention area where they can hear the roar of the crowd but not join it. Offside's writer/director/producer is Jafar Panahi, whose major theme is cultural and institutional discrimination within the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Mr. Panahi took a leaf out of the life of Luis Bunuel and got his start as a filmmaker by calling his idol, Abbas Kiarostami, to offer to help in any capacity. Kiarostami allowed him to assist on the set of Through the Olive Trees and agreed to collaborate on the script of The White Balloon, Panahi's debut. That film brought Panahi instant fame when it won the Camera d'Or and the Critics' Prize at Cannes in 1995. It's significant that Panahi's favorite scene is the one in which little Aida replies to a man who warns her about girls watching snake charmers: "I want to see what is not good for me to watch".
Any of the six soccer-loving, proudly-Iranian girls kept "offside" could be little Aida all grown up. The first one we meet panics when she's about to be hand-searched, gets arrested, and brought to a holding area on the stadium's upper level. It's a sort of "penalty box" (another of Offside's many soccer metaphors) formed by metal barriers where three girls are already awaiting transfer to the police station at game's end. Offside decisively sides with the trespassers but, faithful to Panahi's established humanism, also regards the soldiers keeping watch as victims. They are basically kids just out of high school ordered to enforce absurd laws as part of their military service. They wish they could be sitting in the stands or watching the game on tv from their provincial hometowns.
Two other girls are found out while the game is in progress, including one with very short hair wearing an ill-fitting military uniform. Offside explores the dynamics within and between the two gender groups. The scope is broadened by the inclusion of a middle-aged character who boards a bus going to the stadium to look for his daughter, a college student. He claims he wants to find her before his sons do, to avert a beating. But when he recognizes his daughter's best friend among the six arrested, he scolds her and attempts to slap her. The conversations between characters may seem improvised at first, because of the film's naturalism and how skillfully Panahi creates the impression we're watching a piece of cinema verite. Closer scrutiny reveals a detailed and carefully devised script that seems to approach its central theme from every possible angle.
Besides dismantling any possible rationale for gender discrimination, Panahi manages to broach cultural and regional differences and to serve up a healthy dose of humor. The comedic aspect is situational, stemming from the absurdity and surreal predicament of its characters (although I imagine Iranians are less likely to find the film as funny). The moods generated by Offside are complex_an awesome, long scene in which a soldier has no choice but to escort a girl to the (men's) bathroom is alternatively and sometimes simultaneously jocular, sad, suspenseful and, ultimately, uplifting.
Offside brilliantly combines footage taken during the actual soccer match and scenes shot during the following days. Panahi's mise-en-scene and the addition of real crowd noise into the sound mix give the impression the film was made in a day (the shoot lasted 39 days, according to Panahi). Perhaps the most amazing scenes, technically, take place inside cramped vehicles: a public bus taking fans to the game and a police van taking the girls, and a boy caught with illegal firecrackers, to the station. This is virtuoso filmmaking and Offside as a whole seems quite a revolutionary feat of low-budget, populist cinema.
Jafar Panahi has developed a style that yields deep, resonant films that are accessible to all audiences. It's ironic then, that the only one of Panahi's masterful movies to play at Iranian theaters is the debut. However, the sale of pirated VCDs of Offside is estimated at over 100,000 and the film has entered the nation's collective consciousness. The film's title has even been appropriated by a group called The White Scarf Girls in their protests against gender apartheid.