Offside (2006) 

Directed by Jafar Panahi

A very simple storyline belies some complex issues. Several girls are individually caught trying to get in to see Irans match with Bahrain, a draw or win will see Iran qualify for the World Cup. While the match is played out the girls are held in a pen with a couple of conscripts watching over them, although they cannot see the game they convince one of the guards to describe the action, at least this way they can feel involved. 

Towards the end of the match the girls are loaded into a minibus to be taken to the vice squad, while travelling through Tehran they stop outside a caf where they can see the dying seconds of the match on a television. Suddenly the streets are full of crowds chanting and celebrating, Iran have won the match and qualified, the girls and even their guards get caught up in the joy of the festivities.

Filmed with a non-professional cast, Offside is a tragicomic social realist drama which at times gives the impression of being a documentary, its hard to believe this wasnt actually filmed during the match.

The start is reminiscent of Panahis The Circle, a father of a girl who has gone straight from college to try and get into the match is desperately searching for her. He explains the situation to the taxi driver and says he fears what her brothers will do to her if they find out. 

The film then switches to a girl on a coach, disguised as a boy but still very obviously feminine, one boy points her out to his mate only to be told to leave her alone. He knows itll be very hard for her to get past the guards and into the match, like the majority of the male characters he doesnt appear to have any objections to females attending and enjoying the game.

As for the girl, a tout sells her a ticket at a very marked up price knowing damn well that she will almost certainly get caught, what does he care as long as he makes a good profit. She is arrested straight away because the crowds are frisked on their way into the stadium and she refuses, accompanied by a conscript, she is taken to a pen where other girls have already been caught, more will soon be joining them.

Among the other girls, one is slightly older and far more cocky, she has obviously run the risk several times before and knows the form. Another plays soccer for a womans team, at one point she convinces the guards that she desperately needs the toilet. Since there are no womens toilets she is accompanied by a guard to the mens, this leads to one of several moments of humour, as she has to wear a disguise, a poster of an Iranian player with the eyes removed. 

There is also a moment of sadness for one of the girls, the only reason she's attended the match is because a male student friend of hers was one of seven people crushed during the Iran v Japan match, apart from celebrating Iran's victory, the film also pays respect to those who lost their lives during this incident. 

One thing that becomes increasingly obvious throughout the length of the film is that although the girls are victims of one of Irans many unwritten laws. Their guards, conscripted into the army and removed from their families, farms etc live under the same cloud of fear, if anything goes wrong they will be in serious trouble. The girls are there because of their love of football and the need to feel the atmosphere. The soldiers are there because orders have been given and have to be obeyed. 

The film raises a lot of questions regarding laws and the treatment of women in particular. It also shows a remarkable generation gap between the males, the strict controlling father as opposed to the guards and the majority of the crowd at the match, several of whom try and help one girl escape into the stadium. Offside is full of optimism for the future, a future where women will receive fair treatment and not be excluded from things that we take for granted, I for one truly hope Panahis optimism bears fruit. 

Offside gets a high recommendation, it's a provocative, thoughtful film that is humorous and entertaining as well. 

Cheers Trev.

BBFC rated PG

R2 dvd will be released by Artificial Eye.