Too much of everything

Let's be realistic.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

I envy Iranian movie industry. Cuz, it provides movies so classy. The production team certainly qualifies with the class as they've given a good movie taken in a limited budget. Nice to see the policemen behaving so good to the women in Iran unlike here. But, I was surprised to see the restrictions imposed upon them like denying them to see a sport played by men. Women are treated as somewhat lower to men. Don't find any demerit in the movie except acting was OFFSIDE (not up to the mark), IMO. But the director had hidden it tactfully with social and political satire, which is the winning formula for most Iranian directors and that makes me say ------ " I can trust a Tehrani! cuz, he gives a good movie..."

On December 20th in 2010, an acclaimed Iranian director Jafar Panahi was sentenced to six years in prison and banned for the next twenty years from film-making, political activity, traveling or giving interviews to the media. This incident brought the already well-known director to new popularity. Therefore, his films have been recently watched and studied again and again. In 1995 he started with his cheerful debut The White Balloon and continued making such films. Although, The Mirror (1997), his second film, was a much more complex study about the illusionary reality of film it was still a comedy focusing on a child. His next film -- and to my mind his finest -- The Circle (2000) differed a lot from his earlier works. It was a ruthless and dark film about the depressive situation of Iranian women. Panahi continued this desolate vision in Crimson Gold (2003) which was also banned by the Iranian governance. However, in this case, Offside marked a turning point for the director. Even though it was still characterized by melancholy and oppression, it was a warm satire about women who wanted to watch football.In Offside football means a celebration of solidarity for men to which women aren't invited. Because of this, they try to invent wacky methods that would get them into the stadium. The others are inexperienced and the others are braver than most men. All the women who are caught for doing this are put behind bars, guarded by a group of young soldiers, until the game ends -- after which they will be transfered to jail or, in worst case scenario, death row. At its heart, Offside is all about the verbal battle between the women, or girls actually, and the soldiers. In this battle, the girls have a better position because the soldiers don't really have any real reasons for their acts. They have no explanations nor answers. There are no valuable reasons for the oppression of women and even they have to accept it. In fact, soon we find out that the soldiers don't like their job either.Not surprisingly, Panahi doesn't blame the people for this, and all the characters -- even the soldiers -- are very sympathetic and loyal. The mindlessness of the social situation is most brilliantly illustrated in one scene where a soldier must take one of the girls to the toilet. She must hide her eyes, so she wouldn't see the fierce writings on the walls of the men's room (because there is no ladies' room at the stadium). It is obvious that Panahi criticizes the system, not the people. He loves his land but dislikes the governance. As a comedy, Offside doesn't rise to the level of Panahi's finest works but it is a delightful film; yet filled with horrible things. It carries light to the dark, so to speak, and therefore can easily be associated with the neo-realist films in postwar Italy. Offside, as Panahi's last film before his imprisonment, is a sparkler in the dark.

I find this film very boring, like almost all the Iranian cinema I have watched.Despite Iran's political stance, Iranians have a reputation for making world-beating cinema. I must have missed that meeting, because every Iranian film I've seen has been a complete and utter snoozefest, and Offside is no exception.With the film mostly set at Azadi stadium in Tehran, the scenery hardly changes, meaning that the brunt of the film needs to be carried by the actors, playing their characters in a humorous and entertaining way. On the whole, they fail to achieve the entertainment factor, meaning that like the characters in the film, I really wanted to see what was going on in the match itself.Of all the Iranian films I've seen, this one is by no means the worst. I just find it ridiculous that Iranian cinema is seen as an art-house leader, when at the end of the day, it's the same old boring rubbish.

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.