I'm making up a bit for past clubs I haven't posted for.
Offside
I've had the disc in my collection for a half a decade, but I never took the time to see it. I appreciate this opportunity to catch up to a film I've been wanting to see.
I've seen a fair number of Iranian classics. I generally think of Iranian cinema as that which mixes the perception of reality and fiction. Not always, but so much of the time that it seems to be a trope of modern Iranian cinema. I think that perhaps it reflects the forced perception of the Iranian people and their reality, which seems easily mixed. There is an agreement to live under a strict rule, as well as a disagreement as to how strict that rule should be, and reality itself seems hypocritical, not following its own rules.
All of that comes in play in Offside, about a group of girls that want to attend a World Cup playoff that is only open to men to enter. Beside the fictional premise, there is the real game that was filmed with real fans excitedly participating. While the girls agree to some of the limits placed upon them, they do not agree that they should not participate with the male fans. They see no harm, and a false boundary is placed between male fans and female ones.
What surprised me the most, however, is how many comedic elements there are. This is, in a sense, a protest movie. So much a protest movie that it has not been allowed to be publicly shown in Iran. But I would call it a comedy. The situations are clearly absurd and the restrictions are shown to be as silly as many of the restrictions placed on women are. Beneath the surface there is the real hypocritical standards that women are forced to endure, but on the surface the situation is laughable, ridiculous, comedic. For this reason, this is one of the most enjoyable Iranian films I have seen (although my favorite is still The Mirror). Charming, a number of laugh-out-loud moments and an enthusiastic joy that cannot be contained. Not even by the censors.
4/5