Review of Circumstance (2011) by John O — 21 Apr 2012

Something different... a movie which is supposedly Iranian in which we follow a life of a pretty girl Shireen (Sarah Kazemy) and her privileged classmate Atafeh, (Nikohl Boosheri). Their friendship turns erotic as they navigate a circuit of illicit parties offering drink, drugs, and dancing, loud Western music and banned films. The situation becomes even more complicated when Atafeh's troubled older brother, Mehran (Reza Sixo Safai), also falls in love with Shireen...

First I'd love to clarify something: the director Maryam Keshavarz is actually American, Sarah Kazemy lives in France, Boosheri in Canada, Safai in California... claiming that the movie is Iranian (without Iranians) is a little bit too much... they all have Iranian background but the movie is definitely not IRANIAN even if events were supposedly happening in Iran. I actually found it extremely anti-Iranian (government). It was definitely made for exiles created by the Iranian revolution, not for people who live their everyday life in Iran. Made for less than $1 million with an international cast of Persian-speaking exiles, Circumstance is in many ways an achievement... but its mix of documentary detail and melodramatic plotting mixed with very yo-yo type paced scenes didn't do much for me.

It seems that a screenplay was made controversial just for the sake of being controversial not for carrying some message for certain population (and to be honest with you guys, I am sick of the "gay rights" movies - everyone has a right to express what they think but going overboard with it usually reverses the effect of the actions). The screenplay was like a journal with notes on side: I did this... I pissed my father... My brother is a zealot... Why is my father against drugs?... Iranian government sucks... United Arab Emirates is the solution (hahahahahaha)...

The funny things is that every actor was afraid that they won't be allowed back in Iran to visit the relatives... did you asked yourselves WHY? Probably for the same reason other countries (like Australia or UK or USA) do not allow foreign citizens to enter their countries - THEY BROKE THE LAW OF THAT COUNTRY WILLINGLY AND THEY ARE ON THE BLACK LIST. I wish I could watch this movie with less "political influence"... It wasn't a bad movie, but nothing special, either!

Iranians have a great cinematography; it's petty that we don't have a chance to see the REAL DEAL!