IslandGuru Who payed the critics

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Sayantan Dutta Well I am not an expert in the field of Iranian so called "New Wave Film" movement. The reader should not expect here an expertise discourse.I'm not an expert. I've not yet managed to see a lot of Iranian films, made by leading directors like Abbas Kiarostami, Majid Majidi of Jafar Panahi. My relationship to these movies is through just one man. Jafar Panahi, the rebel. Rebel, but not the prototype like Guevara, or artistic rebel, like Beethoven. He is Jafar Panahi. And that's all. Any work of art can be judged by two aspects. Either It can be judged by putting it into its context. That type of judgment deserves a lot of research, better for a book. Another type, may be, not completely out of context at all, but judging a work of art through its sheer brilliance and universality solely offered by the unique work which it to be judged. I've seen two of Jafar Panahi movies before Offside. They were post-banned film, 'This is not a film', and 'Taxi'.I think in order to discuss Offside, above mentioned two is not very much important, because from offside to Taxi, there are a sea change in the style. But content matters. And here again, in offside, the form and content merged in an unique 'Panahian' way, just like other two. Narrative style of story telling unfolds the characters, the conflicts, and ends with a joy, mixed with a little bit of ambiguity.In the disguise of the story, the director managed to put some very strong arguments, that is necessarily important, and universal. That's why, even not being a Iranian, not being a Muslim (here important, because the treatment of women in Muslim is quite different), I can relate with the simple disguised words. I'm not going to discuss the story. But the way of treating the story deserves a word of two. The time span is very compact, that's why the tone and rhythm is almost managed through out the movie. Any nation wants to treat their citizens in their own self-made way. The most powerful scene in this movie happened, when one of the prisoner girl argued with the soldier, why they are not allowed inside the stadium. This single sequence is enough for Panahi to reveal the paradox in the mind of nation's bodyguards. The director is here unique, because of his treatment to the soldiers. He didn't make them villains, but a simple friendship created throughout the 'prison'-'out of prison' game. This friendship is very important. The Nation should know there are the relationships between a man and a woman, that may be, and in general more that sexual desire.A must watch movie even for non movie lovers.

Framescourer A remarkable film, Offside is basically a documentary, filmed on location prior to, during and after an actual game in Tehran. The cast are half a dozen girls who try to steal into the stadium to watch the game and the soldiers who, having caught them, must take charge of them. The acting, particularly from the men, is variable, but there is a nice variety of character in the cast of young women to whom the camera naturally gravitates.In fact, this film isn't really about the girls at all. Rather, it's about Iran and the Iranian people. It's a hugely compassionate film and Panahi's skill is in managing the sorority between the girls, the erosion of the soldiers' discipline and the city-wide joy at victory on the pitch as entirely natural, co-dependent outcomes. He also refuses to introduce a single character onto whom blame for the frankly ridiculous exclusion of women can be pinned.Panahi is not a militant, rather a sharp observer of contradictions (often coming over as humour). My favourite sequence involves a soldier agreeing to chaperone a captive girl to the men-only lavatory just before half-time. There's a sense of danger, but one cannot tell who or what is actually in danger. It's very fluid and unstable.The idea that this film and it's creator can be imprisoned (Dec 2010) by the country for which it clearly bursts with affection is preposterous. 5/10

Lee Eisenberg Jafar Panahi's comedy-drama "Offside" portrays some women trying to enter a Tehran sports arena from which women are banned. The official reason: lots of foul language, and the soccer players have their legs showing. But of course, it's really a case of sexism. So, most of the movie consists of mild comic relief as the women try to ask the men serious questions about why women are banned from the stadium, and one woman even comes up with her own scheme to defy the men.As I understand, all of Jafar Panahi's movies (this one included) are banned in Iran. The real tragedy is that the CIA's 1953 overthrow of the prime minister and subsequent backing of the brutal shah gave Ayatollah Khomeini an excuse to use his narrow interpretation of the Koran to establish a chauvinistic society, and that George W. Bush's current policy towards Iran gives Mahmoud Ahmadinejad an excuse to act the cowboy and tighten censorship.Above all, this is a neat look at people coming up with ways to challenge the system. Not a great movie, but worth seeing. Considering that all Jafar Panahi's movies are banned, I wonder how he's able to even make them.

Roland E. Zwick In Iran, women are not permitted to attend men's sporting events, apparently to "protect" them from all the cursing and foul language they might hear emanating from the male fans (so since men can't restrain or behave themselves, women are forced to suffer. Go figure.). "Offside" tells the tale of a half dozen or so young women who, dressed like men, attempt to sneak into the high-stakes match between Iran and Bahrain that, in 2005, qualified Iran to go to the World Cup (the movie was actually filmed in large part during that game)."Offside" is a slice-of-life comedy that will remind you of all those great humanistic films ("The Shop on Main Street," "Loves of a Blonde," "Closely Watched Trains" etc.) that flowed out of Communist Czechoslovakia as part of the "Prague Miracle" in the mid 1960's. As with many of those works, "Offside" is more concerned with observing life than with devising any kind of elaborately contrived fictional narrative. Indeed, it is the simplicity of the setup and the naturalism of the style that make the movie so effective.Once their ruse is discovered, the girls are corralled into a small pen right outside the stadium where they can hear the raucous cheering emanating from the game inside. Stuck where they are, all they can do is plead with the security guards to let them go in, guards who are basically bumbling, good-natured lads who are compelled to do their duty as a part of their compulsory military service. Even most of the men going into the stadium don't seem particularly perturbed at the thought of these women being allowed in. Still the prohibition persists. Yet, how can one not be impressed by the very real courage and spunk displayed by these women as they go up against a system that continues to enforce such a ridiculously regressive and archaic restriction? And, yet, the purpose of these women is not to rally behind a cause or to make a "point." They are simply obsessed fans with a burning desire to watch a soccer game and, like all the men in the country, cheer on their team.It's hard to tell just how much of the dialogue is scripted and how much of it is extemporaneous, but, in either case, the actors, with their marvelously expressive faces, do a magnificent job making each moment seem utterly real and convincing. Mohammad Kheir-abadi and Shayesteh Irani are notable standouts in a uniformly excellent cast. The structure of the film is also very loose and freeform, as writer/director Jafar Panahi and co-writer Shadmehr Rastin focus for a few brief moments on one or two of the characters, then move smoothly and effortlessly onto others. With this documentary-type approach, we come to feel as if we are witnessing an actual event unfolding in "real time." Very often, it's quite easy for us to forget we're actually watching a movie.It was a very smart move on the part of the filmmakers to include so much good-natured humor in the film (it's what the Czech filmmakers did as well), the better to point up the utter absurdity of the situation and broaden the appeal of the film for audiences both domestic and foreign. "Offside" is obviously a cry for justice, but it is one that is made all the more effective by its refusal to make of its story a heavy-breathing tragedy. Instead, it realizes that nothing breaks down social barriers quite as efficiently as humor and an appeal to the audience's common humanity. And isn't that what true art is supposed to be all about? In its own quiet, understated way, "Offside" is one of the great, under-appreciated gems of 2007.