Everybody tosses about their end of year top films lists. Such a cliche. I’ll just say that if I had one, Circumstance would be on it somewhere, as very little else this year moved me at all. Then again I don’t see as many films as a lot of the other guys. Where do they get the time?
Circumstance is a beautifully shot film set in Iran under the current regime. I know, bashing the Iranian regime could be considered propaganda and part of the push to start a suicidal and psychotic World War 3 drawing in Russia and China and ending all life on earth.
Having said that, Circumstance is not like that. It’s more honest and authentic, its writer/director Maryam Keshavarz a product of living in Iran and immersing herself in the world of the underground homosexual community there. The story could actually have been set in any theocratic society that persecutes homosexuals (Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, the Nazis, Mississippi).
Basically Circumstance tells a coming of age tale whereby a brother returns home to find his sister and her friend, but both the brother and the sister are attracted to the friend. In the puritanical society only the brother can prevail despite his unworthiness, and the sister must fail despite her true love for her friend. There are more twists than that, but you get the point that the strict social framework is the target here, and that the characters are victims of this circumstance.
Politically, Keshavarz has opened a can of worms and she fears for her safety, knowing the DVD will be bootlegged and spread throughout Iran. A funny scene in the movie actually concerns bootlegging DVDs in Iran, particularly Milk and Sex and the City. In her DVD commentary the writer/director admits she cannot return to Iran now, and she has lost her homeland. The film itself could not be filmed there but was shot in Lebanon instead.
Circumstance gets high marks for its watchability and strong central conflict, its flawed characters and its theme. This is definitely worth a spot on a rental queue.
