Offside
2006: Jafar Panahi
PG – 93 minutes
Vault Rating: 7
Before the current coterie of madmen blow what is now Iran off the face of the earth, we ought to consider good things that originate in that troubled, oil-rich nation.
Today’s independent film, by the brave Iranian director, Jafar Panahi, takes a look at something close to Vault’s heart: soccer and soccer fans. His film, which has not lawfully screened inside his home country, deals with restrictions placed upon Iranian women, who are forbidden to attend men’s sporting events.
In June 2005, Iran defeated Bahrain to qualify for the World Cup. “Offside” deals with female soccer fanatics who disguise themselves as men in order to get into that game. Much of the film, shot in real time, was taken during the subject game and much of the celebration afterward was captured as it transpired.
“The themes of all my films are about restrictions,” says Panahi. “Restrictions set by some people to restrict others and deny their very basic rights. Soccer would serve as an excuse to magnify these restrictions.”
“Offside,” then, becomes a metaphor for Iranian society. In soccer, offside is one of the laws of the game that restricts the movement of players. When a forward is offside, he has gone outside the restrictions of the game and has committed an offense. A perfect metaphor.
Here, we follow a number of women desperate to attend a game and see their nation’s heroes in a match with implications of super-bowl proportions. They have disguised themselves as men, with trousers, face paint or Iranian flags tucked under their caps. Some, despite their best efforts, are arrested and placed in a holding pen outside the stadium.
This is a ludicrous situation for a Western audience and it creates comedy that we both laugh at and think about. We, like our unfortunate captives, who are ultimately turned over to an Iranian vice unit, never get to see the game. The viewer too is thus deprived and shares in their frustration.
We find through director’s commentary that the film itself was not going to receive permission from the Iranian minister of film unless he edited one of his prior films. To get around this, Panahi submitted a fake script using the name of one of his assistant directors.
Panahi says he is operating in the black days of Iranian cinema.
“I believe that in some way I am reporting to history. That we used to live like this. In these conditions.”
And to think the director did an entire film based on the possible outcome of a game. He says nothing can unify the people of his country like a soccer match and, in order to make a hopeful film, they had to bet on Iran winning the game.
“The fate of this film depended on the result of this game. We prayed for them to win. In the end, it was as if the players were playing according to our script,” said Panahi. In the end, the film’s tone was lifted because of a victory, a national celebration and happiness.
As far as sports cinema goes, this case is unusual. The game is the taking off point and the result is important but it is not the heart of the film. Rather, the focus is on the fans true love of the game and on a sexist culture that arbitrarily fences some fans out.
Sports does seem to unify people of all kinds. Inside Iran, it is true. In the best sense of the Olympics it is true. The world around, sports can bring people together. Perhaps, as we head down the path of violence our leaders tread, we might take this away: If we really want their natural resources, instead of blowing people up, why don’t we just play them for it?
Vault has just finished the unjustly terminated television series, “Firefly,” which ran only a short while in 2002 on Fox. There were 14 episodes, played out of order and not all of which aired. Together with its 2005 film version, “Serenity,” if comprises the best science fiction Vault has ever seen and that is no small thing.
There’s “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Star Wars,” and the Trek movies, and this is clearly more fun than all of the above. “Odyssey” is better film, but that film is bigger than just sci-fi.
Watched in order, the series is utterly engaging, leading you on from episode to episode, wanting to find out the secrets and mysteries behind the magnetic crew of the space freighter firefly.
We in the Vault hope sincerely that Fox does the right thing by bringing back the series where it left off. They’ve got the best sci-fi property in the world right now if they still own rights to it and they just totally owe it to us to make things right.
Writer/Director Joss Whedon, of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” fame has spent much of his time telling stories of unusual or dysfunctional families. This is clear in his script for “Toy Story” as well as in the present case. Vault even went out and found an X-Men graphic novel by Whedon that also fits the bill and is high quality work.
Many of the spies have been big “Buffy” supporters for a long time and now that I’ve run out of “Firefly,” I’ll be onto the Buffy TV series for sure.
And until my trial of Alli runs out … Enjoy!