Offside

This is an accessable film for everyone to watch. Please do not dismiss this a femminist arthouse movie. It is far from that. This is a mainstream movie with high quality acting and camera work.

The plot is pretty simple. A collection of cheeky young Iranian girls want to get into a vital world cup qualifier. Those who are caught enter a battle of witts with the young army guards. They endless try and persuade the guards to let them see the game, escape home or get whatever favours they can. Playful as the girls are, there is always an undercurrent of fear and excitement. Excitement at what is happening in the football match, and fear about what the consiquences of having been caught are going to be.

To describe the plot further would be to spoil the film. I will simply say, all who watch this film will get something from it.

One of the best social comments to come out of global cinema , about the status of women in 'sport and society', this Iranian movie really rejoices in ordinary humanity and the kindness of ordinary human beings to each other despite the restraints of the beaureucracy .

The relationship which develops between the women spectators caught by the army soldiers who are posted at the football stadium ,in a bid to stop all women trying to illicitly enter the football match, is both extra-ordinary and shows the resilience of the great Iranian people ,shown to have a mind of their own even when under threat from higher authorities .

The movie is a satire on the sexual segregation imposed by religious hierarchy which forbids the mingling of the two sexes in a public place and here it is a national event which is an esteemed international football match which is a symbol of national esteem and patriotic spirit .

In short this movie becomes a great socio-political commentary on the Iranian milieu but also a very optimistic and entertaining movie about the morality and behaviour of the iranian character,where the victims and perpetrators enter into a delightful collaboration that is a sign of sexual vulnerability as well as human nature depicted at it's best .

The fact that they all care so much about each other as individuals even when pitched on opposite sides is extremely touching and heart -warming .

There is a patriotic element to the movie but the human element exceeds that and makes it on the mark rather than off it.

The most humorous part is set in the men's toilets in the stadium , where Panahi shoots a terrific scene which hints at both 'homosexual social phobias' and the plight of the disabled individuals forced to use ordinary toilets not adapted for specialised facilities .

Also the minimalist technique with neo-realistic camera-work makes it look totally believable, and this is great art by any criteria .

I got this based on the favourable reviews and the fact that all of my friends who had heard of it said that it is reckoned to be very good.

The plot is excessively simple in that a group of disparate young girls want to see the Iran World Cup 2006 qualifier against Bahrain. Women are not allowed to sporting events lest they hear some swearing from the over excited men. The girls therefore adopt a number of less than believable disguises in order to get in. The match is being `policed' by army conscripts who manage to detect a number of them and coral them out of sight but within ear shot of the match. Tension is continually ramped up by the on field antics, as described by some of the guards and the crowd reaction.

Jafar Panahi has done an excellent job of getting around the censors in order to make this and it does come across as believable (sadly it was banned in Iran) even for a non football lover like myself. However, it does not diminish the totalitarian approach the state has and peoples attitudes to accepting the straight jacket of conformity that is required. Jafar actually was inspired to make this after his daughter decided she wanted to attend the match herself.

The performances are all good or excellent, but then there is little to stretch in such a simplistic plot and the humour is incidental and not `hilarious' as the cover note says. If you are interested in world cinema then this should be on your list, but a rollicking adventure full of high jinx and laughs this most certainly is not. Ultimately it does have a feel good factor in the ending as Iran beats Bahrain (now part of history) and as such is a metaphor for uniting the country. The toilet scenes were particularly interesting as a lot of the graffiti is in English keep an eye out for a scrawled `Metalica', I really liked such human touches.