Circumstance Review
By Rich Cline
Excellent
This provocative drama was far too hot to allow it to be made in Tehran, where the story is set. So filmmaker Keshavarz instead shot it in Lebanon, which gave her the freedom to explore themes forbidden in Iranian cinema. Fortunately, she takes an even-handed approach that never preaches, presenting a resonant side of Iran's society that we have never before seen on screen.
It centres on Atafeh (Noosheri), a teenager who lives with her liberal musician parents (Parsa and Pakkho) in upper-class Tehran. When her older brother Mehran (Safai) returns home after years of drug abuse, the family worries about his newfound devout Muslim faith. Meanwhile, Atafeh spends most nights partying with her poorer best friend Shireen (Kazemy). They meet a couple of guys (Mohajeri and Amedson) and help them dub Sean Penn's Oscar-winning film Milk into Farsi to distribute on the black market. And they also start to fall in love with each other. With the morality police on the prowl, they dream of escaping to live somewhere that's free.
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