Circumstance, as written on the movie posters, is outrageously sexy; this is the only special thing about it. Roger Ebert on his website and Chicago Sun-Times clearly states that this is a very shallow movie, the movie begins with the story of two teenage girls in love, but instead of focusing on their relationship and the impossibility of them being together in today's Iran which is a very unique and new look at Iran's modern society, it tries to emphasize on eroticism. The director, who is also the writer, is ignoring important facts about Iran for the sake of sexy scenes; only since this is the first Iranian movie showing lesbians. She vividly tries to manipulate the audience by distracting them with absolutely irrelevant insignificant details, like the scene showing the girls and two of their friends dubbing a movie making erotic sounds. A.O.Scott in The New York Times says the movie "lacks the artful, headlong immediacy of The Circle and The Offside by Jafar Panahi and No One Knows about Persian Cats by Bahman Ghobadi". It certainly does. There is no point in this comparison.
There are defects in the story, it is unintelligible and there many scenes which are irrelevant to the main flow of the story. Mehran, as Scott in The New York Times perfectly calls ,is the serpent in their garden. The point is he would be more felt as the so called serpent if he was able to play his role more realistically. The other downside is his character in the story itself. In a very early shot he is shown smoking heroin but no longer in the movie anything is shown about his addiction or the rehab and the way this could affect the plot. He used to be a musician but turns into a spy videotaping all happening in their house and then changes into a spy for the Morality Police and says long loud prayers. All these are absolutely incoherent. By the end of the movie we see he influences the father of the family, Firouz, who is very open-minded and reasonable, a musician and wants his wife and daughter sing in a party. He says prayers at one of the lasts scenes of the movie beside Mehran. This is another flaw in the story, How could a father as intellectual as that change with no obvious reason?
The guy who is working for Morality Police as the movie calls, is shown in the mosque later in the police station as the investigator and then at their family party at the end of the movie. How rational is it to invite such a guy to such a party?
Gary Goldstein in the Los Angeles Times believes Keshavarz is less successful managing the film's sometimes choppy narrative although she is very willing to take risks. There is something more that should be mentioned, Keshavarz tries to add Persian spice to her movie by Persian dance, Persian music, Persian rugs( under the piano) , Persian beautiful girls , but she is absolutely unsuccessful in showing the real contemporary Tehran and to larger scale Iran. The underground party, the way Police arrests the girls in the car for no obvious and logical reason, the tea which is served everywhere exaggerating the fact that Iranians always drink tea as opposed to westerns drinking coffee or anything else, the situation at school where Atefe wants to pay Shirin's tuition in cash right out of her purse are just unreal. They are fake and flawed. If there is any step to be taken to improve Iran's cinema or to familiarize the world with Iran's culture or even to show what is going on inside Iran under the harsh pressure of the government or the wrong stereotypes of the society, it must be realistic. Eroticism, nudity and sexual attractions are not what Iran's cinema, society and people need; a clear reflection of the real life of people will be much more effective.
There are defects in the story, it is unintelligible and there many scenes which are irrelevant to the main flow of the story. Mehran, as Scott in The New York Times perfectly calls ,is the serpent in their garden. The point is he would be more felt as the so called serpent if he was able to play his role more realistically. The other downside is his character in the story itself. In a very early shot he is shown smoking heroin but no longer in the movie anything is shown about his addiction or the rehab and the way this could affect the plot. He used to be a musician but turns into a spy videotaping all happening in their house and then changes into a spy for the Morality Police and says long loud prayers. All these are absolutely incoherent. By the end of the movie we see he influences the father of the family, Firouz, who is very open-minded and reasonable, a musician and wants his wife and daughter sing in a party. He says prayers at one of the lasts scenes of the movie beside Mehran. This is another flaw in the story, How could a father as intellectual as that change with no obvious reason?
The guy who is working for Morality Police as the movie calls, is shown in the mosque later in the police station as the investigator and then at their family party at the end of the movie. How rational is it to invite such a guy to such a party?
Gary Goldstein in the Los Angeles Times believes Keshavarz is less successful managing the film's sometimes choppy narrative although she is very willing to take risks. There is something more that should be mentioned, Keshavarz tries to add Persian spice to her movie by Persian dance, Persian music, Persian rugs( under the piano) , Persian beautiful girls , but she is absolutely unsuccessful in showing the real contemporary Tehran and to larger scale Iran. The underground party, the way Police arrests the girls in the car for no obvious and logical reason, the tea which is served everywhere exaggerating the fact that Iranians always drink tea as opposed to westerns drinking coffee or anything else, the situation at school where Atefe wants to pay Shirin's tuition in cash right out of her purse are just unreal. They are fake and flawed. If there is any step to be taken to improve Iran's cinema or to familiarize the world with Iran's culture or even to show what is going on inside Iran under the harsh pressure of the government or the wrong stereotypes of the society, it must be realistic. Eroticism, nudity and sexual attractions are not what Iran's cinema, society and people need; a clear reflection of the real life of people will be much more effective.