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The Circle Jafar Panahi Director |
Film director Jafar Panahi made his directorial debut with the screenplay for a juvenile film called The White Balloon (95), written by his film mentor, Abbas Kiarostami. Panahi's talents in capturing the lively expressions on a child's face shone just as much in The Mirror, and established the style that started to bring him fame in Iran's film world. His latest film, The Circle, however, is bound to change his image. "When I make films about children, I am always thinking of the kind of hope children are trying to grasp in the adult world. The Circle is a film about the hardships that people face in society. All hardships come in a form of circle. The size of the circles depends on the social climate and economic situation of the individual, and I think everyone lives in some kind of circle at all times."In the film, we see many women who have committed a crime: an 18-year old girl who dreams about married life; a woman, pregnant with a child whose father's identity is unknown, who escapes from prison to get an abortion; a mother who tries to abandon her daughter whom she feels she is no longer capable of taking care of anymore; and a prostitute who seems to know everything there is to know. "Although we see different women in the film, they can all be one woman rolled into one. This is because things that occur to every one of them can occur to any woman. Their lives have been compressed into half a day. The camera work is also synchronized to match each of the characters. When filming the 18-year old girl, the camera follows her moves closely in a handheld style, and as the women age with time, the camerawork loses momentum. The last scene of the bus was shot on a fixed camera. The same goes with the lighting: at first, the teenage girl is seen in the light of the day but it gradually gets dark and day becomes night. In the end, the light disappears completely and only sound remains to be heard." Each woman's episode remains unresolved and the film moves on to the next character. And in the last scene, all the women finally meet each other all at once. When all the women who have tried so hard to live their lives end up going to prison in the end, one might conclude that this is an ending without hope. But by capturing the beauty of rain falling outside the window before panning to the women, the camerawork shows us that all hope is not gone. "It seldom rains in Iran and when rain falls, it brings joy. The rain outside the window is a blessing and it brings new life. The women have either tried hard to escape from the circle or try to survive in it. I think their efforts are nonetheless beautiful, no matter where they end up in life eventually." The Circle garnered six awards including the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and has been screened in over 30 countries throughout Africa, Asia, and North America. It is, however, still banned from screening in Iran. "We were confronted by various problems in making this film and as a result, it took us three years to complete this film. First of all, our proposal met with strong opposition when we requested for permission to film, and initially we were not allowed to film in the country. The political climate in Iran right now does not allow women's issues to be discussed. We finally got the permission to film after 9 months, but were told that the completed film would have to be carefully scrutinized before it could get final approval. We tried to complete the film in time for the Iran Film Festival, but it was not approved for screening. All I could manage was to screen it at the Venice Film Festival and show it to seven people including Mr. Ichiyama. It was also a tough call shipping the film out of the country to the Venice Film Festival-- we did not get the final approval until three days before the festival." One could wonder whether screening the film here in Tokyo will help the film make a breakthrough. "The Iranian media is starting to raise questions about why the film is being screened at film festivals abroad but has yet to be shown in the country. A few days ago, the film was secretly screened at the University of Teheran, known for its movement opposing the Iranian government. The situation is slowly changing. To me, this film is not complete until it is screened in Iran. My crusade continues." Fumiko Tsuneishi (Film Critic / Curator, the National Film Center)
Director's Profile: Born in Mianeh in Iran in 1960. Studied theater at the National Iranian Radio and Television School in Tehran. Before making his feature film debut, made short films and longer features for television. Assistant director on Abbas Kiarostami's Through the Olive Trees (1994), Panahi won praise at film festivals worldwide for The White Balloon (1995), winner of the Tokyo Gold Prize at the Tokyo International Film Festival in 1997. Other works include The Mirror (1997). |
