A Masterpiece!

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

I'm not that much familiar with Iranian cinema, yet as most people around, I already knew women had serious social problems in the contemporary Iranian society. When I was living in Turkey, we had an Iranian lady staying with our neighbors, a refugee who fled the '79 disaster and was trying to find serenity and freedom in Turkey.Beginning there, it's very easy to figure this film is not even exaggerated. It's deadly obvious that the actors are amateur, but then again, this proves us mediocre acting doesn't necessarily make a movie bad. Dayereh has considerable might in its ways of depicting the problems women could face in Iran, and the picture selection is exceptional. But all in all, it could have been significantly better with better actors.I wonder how the Iranian government allowed this motion picture to be shot without giving any trouble to the director, and especially to the women. Hopefully this is a sign indicating things are getting better in Iran!This movie could have been stronger with better actors, but it's still well worth your 90 minutes. I'm already looking forward to seeing other films of Mr Panahi. 7.5/10

A baby girl is born, and the grandmother regrets for the sex of the baby. Three women are released under probation from the jail and get lost into the crowd, without courage to come back home and having no money. A woman escape from the jail to make an abort and is expelled from her own home by her family. Another woman left her daughter of about six years old alone on the street. A prostitute is arrested with her client in his car, and the man is released by the police later while the woman goes to jail. All of these individuals and disconnected situations are presented to show the repressive situation against the women in the Iranian society. In the end, like in a circle, all of them ends arrested in the jail. I am not aware of the behavior of the Iranian society with their women, but this movie portraits a horrible picture. The women are showed without freedom, depending on her husband or her family even for simple actions, like traveling in a bus. If their society works this way, how are these actresses daily treated after their performances in this movie? The camera and the direction are excellent. It is amazing the capability of the Iranian filmmakers in making simple but touching films. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): `O Círculo' (`The Circle')

A bleak movie that reminded me of Kafka. As a westerner this was a real culture shock, I had no idea why these three women at the beginning were so scared of the police - I couldn't work out what was going on, or even what the buildings were supposed to be.Gradually things start to make sense - it's hard not to watch this film without getting angry at the numerous ways that women are kept down in the society, often at the expense of men - for example, the "John" is let go, while the prostitute goes to prison, the women are continually subjected to harrassment from anonymous men in the streets, they are trapped by pregnancy and its consequences.I liked how cigarettes were used throughout the film - you don't often see Iranian women smoking - and while nearly all of the leads seemed to smoke, it wasn't until right at the end that one of them was actually allowed to smoke - a powerful image.The final part in the prison cell where everything falls into place is a moment right up there with the film La Kabina (The Telephone Box). Recommended.

I saw that movie in Toronto and, at the time, I had in mind a few other movies from Iran that I really enjoyed: Gabbeh, A Time for Drunken Horses and Children of Heaven. You could say that I had big expectations for The Circle.I must admit that halfway through The Circle, I wasn't too pleased. So many characters, what's the link between them, and other questions. Then, I saw the light! We don't need to see what happen with the first characters that we get to know in the movie. We know what is happening to them. We know that they're stuck in a society where they're next to nothing. It's somekind of a circle for those women, never mind what they seem to try, it always come down to the same situation for them.The movie is informative since it shows us the situation of women in the Iranian society. In the last few years, we have seen some opening from the Iranian government of Khatami. Hopefully, the situation of women will get better, even though there's a lot of resistance from the Islam and the men.The acting in this one, like in other movies from Iran, is excellent. The actors are no superstars and they play their role naturally. The beautiful Fereshteh Sadr Orfani is excellent in the role of the four month pregnant women who's wishing for an abortion since she's not married.The camera work in this one is also good even if it sometimes make you a little dizzy. Just like Scorcese in a few scene of Goodfellas or in The Blair Witch Project, the camera is always in movement. We feel like we're part of the action.A film to open the eyes.7 out of 10.