Film Reviews

Offside

• Rating:
• Director: Jafar Panahi
• Starring: Ayda Sadeqi
• Details: Iran, 93mins, PG.

2005, and a crucial World Cup qualifier between Iran and Bahrain is taking place in the capital Tehran. Knowing that a nil-nil draw will see Iran through to the finals, the atmosphere in the ground is electric and everyone is on edge - but no one is as fanatical as the five women trapped in a pen around the back of the main stadium. Due to religious laws that ban women from entering the stadium because they might hear men swearing, these five women are kept under close guard by a small group of weary soldiers throughout the game.
A good-humoured, easy going and sometimes touching comedy about women's blatant disregard for religious laws and the lack of respect shown to the soldiers keeping them imprisoned, is not one you'd normally expect from Iran but Offside is a little treat. Director Panahi injects several humorous scenes to keep the laughs coming: one woman is asked to place a poster of a footballer - with the eyes cut out - over her face when she is escorted to the men's bathroom, another woman appears handcuffed wearing a soldier's uniform after she sneaked into the officers box (her only mistake being she stole the wrong uniform) and the crappy commentary by one soldier as he tries to regale his captives with his explosive remarks on the action. The downside is that the acting leaves a lot to be desired at times and the dialogue gets a bit clunky in places (it could be the language barrier) but Offside will have you grinning at the end.

Review by Gavin Burke