Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Circumstance (2011)

Circumstance (2011)
Circumstance (2011)

Genre: Drama
Director: Maryam Keshavarz
Starring: Nikohl Boosheri, Sarah Kazemy, Reza Sixo Safai
Language: Persian, English
Duration: 107 min.
Rating: 6.4  

Summary:
Atafeh and her brother, Mehran, have grown up privileged, in a home filled with music, art, and intellectual curiosity. While Atafeh dreams of fame and adventure, and she and her best friend, Shireen, explore Tehran's underground scene with youthful exuberance and determination to be themselves, her brother returns home from drug rehab, renounces his former decadent life, and replaces his once obsessive practice of classical music with more destructive pursuits.



Circumstance is the debut feature film from writer and director Maryam Keshavarz, a graduate of the NYU Tisch School of the Arts.  It premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, winning the Dramatic Audience Award.

Set in modern day Tehran but filmed in Beirut, Lebanon, it is the story of two teenage girls from different backgrounds, Atafeh (Mikohl Boosheri) the daughter of an affluent family, and Shireen (Sarah Kazemy) an orphan whose parents were political dissenters, best friends who fall in love amidst an oppressive and intolerant society.

Keshavarz displays a keen visual eye, for it's a stylish, and at times an incredibly sultry, and sensual film that unravels with passionate scenes of stolen touches and sly caresses.  The handheld camera positioned ever so close, on long lingering glances, and dimly lit shots of bare skin, lips, and fingertips, creates a fantasy world where the characters escape to be free.  Additionally there are several unnerving shots, introduced without explanation, seen from the vantage point of closed-circuit cameras, the implications of which are not revealed until late in the story, but create some effective tension early on.

As a love story same-sex or otherwise, this doesn't really offer anything original aside from its setting.  Young forbidden love complicated by familial and societal expectations, that's a story we've seen time and time again.  So the director tries to mix it up by involving subplots of the girls getting involved with underground political activism, and Atafeh's older brother Mehran (Reza Sixo Safai) overcoming a drug addiction and becoming a 'born again' Muslim.  A ploy that backfires, because the film then gets torn between being either a tragic youthful romance, or an overt political message, and it ends up succeeding at neither.  Eventually squandering the wonderfully erotic aura built up in the opening third, with lazy and unconvincing melodramatic plot turns.  Also, unlike the vastly superior A Separation, you never feel like this is an accurate portrayal of real people or real life in Iran, but a slick fictionalized movie representation of it.

Still, Atafeh and Shireen's relationship is developed and played very convincingly, and the on-screen chemistry between the two actresses is both sweet and sizzling to behold.  This also comes across as a very personal story and subject for the first time director who shows some promise but hasn't quite yet hit the mark.

Bonjour Tristesse

Circumstance (2011)

Circumstance (2011)

Circumstance (2011)

Circumstance (2011)

Circumstance (2011)

Circumstance (2011)

Circumstance (2011)

Circumstance (2011)

10 comments:

Bonjour Tristesse said...

I do remember reading your review from a few months back.  I didn't notice any problems with the sound when I saw it, but I agree about the pacing, there's a few too many pointless scenes that go nowhere.  It also could be that I saw A Separation first, and so this had impossible expectations to live up to.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

They've done a great job of marketing, I'll give them that much.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Yeah there is definitely a distinct poster style frequently used to attract the 'art-house' crowd, and this is one of them. 

Bonjour Tristesse said...

There are a lot of other positive reviews out there, so it is probably worth a look. 

shantanu ghumare said...

It looked good when I first saw the trailer. Atleast I was intrigued by it. Doesn't look too good from your rating.

Mette said...

Incredible how pretentious some posters can look, no matter how good or bad the film. Haven't seen this one so I can't judge, but I mean based on your rating.

Steven Flores said...

I thought it was a pretty good film although I was probably expecting more.  I had a few issues with its pacing while the version I downloaded had the sound mixed a bit too low for me in places.  I still think it's a good film but I'm sure A Separation will be much better.

Cherokee said...

Shame that it doesn't seem to be as good as I first thought the film may be, but I'll still check it out when it comes to the UK shores, for sure. 

d_4 said...

It can be watched. Nothing at all gives the impression of a great film, but if it's around it'll be watchable.

The Angry Lurker said...

I don't think this is for me.....

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