When I say "nothing unexpected", I say it in the sense that -- just like many other Iranian movies by the Masters of the trade such as Abbas Kiarostami, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Majid Majidi and others -- this movie too does not have big protests, shouting, shooting, killing, car chase, lots of emotionally charged dialogs, confrontation, climax.....nothing of that sort. To be honest, nothing unexpected, nothing out of turn ever seem to happen in many Iranian movies and also in this movie. Most of those movies are actually pretty mundane, bereft of extremes and simple....just like real life. And their strength is what Master Kiarostami has honesty pointed out: Minimalism.
I wonder if many people can make movies with a small budget and without any action, special effects and what have you and can still make a nice movie. Some obviously can, and Jafar Panahi is one of them.
Jafar Panahi is one of those master movie makers, who can make one think with his apparently simple and dull movies. I have been able to watch a handful of his movies (this being my 4th) and each time I pat myself for having watched another of his movies. Subtlety, the central ingredient of many Iranian movies, is also something you will find in abundance in this movies. Characters in these movies simply talk, and in their talk, very subtly the movie touches upon the most important issues of their society. If you are used to, and expect to, seeing someone to go with a machine gun and mow down all the oppressors, these movies won't hit the spot for you. But if you want to learn about the Iranian society and the problems (it's like what Master Kiarostami said, "Good cinema is what we can believe and bad cinema is what we can't believe") they have and how traditional orthodoxy clashes with modernity, probably you should watch the movie.
Forget the football (Soccer for the land, where they play football with hands!) part; this movie is not about football (per se). This movie is about many other things and important ones.
I wonder if many people can make movies with a small budget and without any action, special effects and what have you and can still make a nice movie. Some obviously can, and Jafar Panahi is one of them.
Jafar Panahi is one of those master movie makers, who can make one think with his apparently simple and dull movies. I have been able to watch a handful of his movies (this being my 4th) and each time I pat myself for having watched another of his movies. Subtlety, the central ingredient of many Iranian movies, is also something you will find in abundance in this movies. Characters in these movies simply talk, and in their talk, very subtly the movie touches upon the most important issues of their society. If you are used to, and expect to, seeing someone to go with a machine gun and mow down all the oppressors, these movies won't hit the spot for you. But if you want to learn about the Iranian society and the problems (it's like what Master Kiarostami said, "Good cinema is what we can believe and bad cinema is what we can't believe") they have and how traditional orthodoxy clashes with modernity, probably you should watch the movie.
Forget the football (Soccer for the land, where they play football with hands!) part; this movie is not about football (per se). This movie is about many other things and important ones.