Offside (2006) User Reviews

Very enjoyable film by an important director

[paulmartin-2 · 8/10 · 30 October 2006]

This film is being described as a comedy, but it wasn't a comedy at all. Like any Panahi film, it was a very realistic drama depicting the common thread of social inequity and hypocrisy. But it was very funny; much lighter than the director's dark and serious The Circle (my favourite Iranian film). The resourcefulness of the girls and the banter between them and the soldiers was both completely believable (as if it were a documentary) and completely hilarious.

The filming the actual match and aftermath was astonishing. It added a realism much like Australia's Kenny, of course a very different film.

The performances from all the non-professional actors – soldiers and girls – were very credible. It was very moving to see the passion, disappointment and excitement of these girls. Anyone in this country who thinks Muslim girls wearing a chador are any different to their own daughters should go see this film – it will be a real eye-opener.

To me, the soldiers represented the current paradigm. They started out with stock-standard official policy responses to all the pleas of the girls. As the film progressed, they found it more and more difficult to maintain this stance. When what seems like all of Teheran breaks out into wild celebration, everyone is caught up in it, and the ridiculousness of the current policies is obvious to one and all.

It was a very moving and unexpected ending, and gave the film a really nice blend of emotions, frivolity, drama and social commentary. Though it's adult cinema, I think mature-minded children from about seven onwards would really appreciate this film (as long as they can read subtitles).

It is remarkable that a repressive country like Iran is able to produce films of such quality by the likes of Panahi and Kiarostami. Perhaps the constraints there force directors to be extremely resourceful. Australian (and other) film makers could take a leaf out of their book.

comedy can lighten pretty much anything

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 14 January 2008]

Jafar Panahi's comedy-drama "Offside" portrays some women trying to enter a Tehran sports arena from which women are banned. The official reason: lots of foul language, and the soccer players have their legs showing. But of course, it's really a case of sexism. So, most of the movie consists of mild comic relief as the women try to ask the men serious questions about why women are banned from the stadium, and one woman even comes up with her own scheme to defy the men.

As I understand, all of Jafar Panahi's movies (this one included) are banned in Iran. The real tragedy is that the CIA's 1953 overthrow of the prime minister and subsequent backing of the brutal shah gave Ayatollah Khomeini an excuse to use his narrow interpretation of the Koran to establish a chauvinistic society, and that George W. Bush's current policy towards Iran gives Mahmoud Ahmadinejad an excuse to act the cowboy and tighten censorship.

Above all, this is a neat look at people coming up with ways to challenge the system. Not a great movie, but worth seeing. Considering that all Jafar Panahi's movies are banned, I wonder how he's able to even make them.

An exuberant comedy with a message

[howard.schumann · 8/10 · 2 October 2006]

In Iran women are prohibited from attending live sporting events because of the fear that they will be "corrupted" by bad language, close proximity to thousands of men, and the fact that there are no toilet facilities for women in the antiquated stadiums. Based on an actual incident involving the daughter of the director, Jafar Panahi's Offside follows six girls, disguised as men, who are refused entry into the soccer match in 2005 between Iran and Bahrain, a match that will decide whether or not Iran goes to the World Cup. In a departure from the bleak, minimalist films we have been accustomed to from Iran over the last ten years, Offside is an exuberant comedy that has a patriotic fervor and a universal appeal but contains enough subversive social commentary to warrant its prohibition from screenings in Iran.

Shot with a digital camera using non-professional actors who are more than up to the task, the girls try to sneak into Azadi Stadium in Tehran but are arrested and placed in a holding area outside of the stadium. They are guarded by three young army conscripts (Safdar Samandar, Mohammed Kheir-abadi, and Masoud Kheymeh-kaboud) who express ambivalence about their task but are pledged to follow the rules. The women are soccer enthusiasts, not political activists and cheer for Iran's victory but this does not deter the soldiers from detaining them while they wait for the girls to be transported to the Vice Squad and an uncertain future.

Outspoken rather than acting like victims, they continually question the soldiers about the rationale behind the restrictions, making their absurdity quite obvious. Although they can hear the crowd noise, the women cannot see the action but achieve a minor victory when they persuade one of the soldiers to provide a running commentary on the game. One of the funniest sequences takes place when a female "prisoner" is escorted to the men's room by a soldier. The young recruit then must cope with a near riot when he has to prevent anyone else from using the facilities while the girl is still inside.

Little by little, to paraphrase Adlai Stevenson, that which unites them turns out to be greater than that which divides them and the unlikely antagonists rally behind their country and root for the victory that will send Iran to the World Cup. Although the point is made early and often and the film sags a bit in the middle, Offside makes a telling point about a society where a political elite with a medieval social mentality has to contend with an growing group of educated and politically astute citizens. One can only hope that world pressure and the awakening of its own people will force the Ayatollahs to come to terms with the 21st century.

A Microcosm of Life in Iran?

[mcnally · 9/10 · 26 December 2006]

I saw this film at the Toronto International Film Festival. Filmed during an actual qualifying match for the 2006 World Cup, Offside works brilliantly as both a comedy and a tragedy. The film follows the fortunes of a group of young women who are caught trying to sneak into a football match at Tehran's Azadi Stadium. The country's Islamic religious leaders have decreed that women may not sit with men at sporting events, lest they be exposed to cursing and other morally questionable behaviour. This hasn't stopped the country's young female fans, who continue to sneak in using various tricks. But Panahi focuses on a small group who have been caught and are being detained agonizingly close to the action. They beg the bored soldiers guarding them to let them go or at least to let them watch the match. The soldiers tell them they shouldn't have tried to get in, that they could have watched the game at home on TV. They banter back and forth in almost real-time as the game continues, just off- camera.

There is one very funny sequence where a young soldier accompanies one of the girls to the restroom. Since there are no female restrooms at stadiums, he has to clear the room of any men before he can allow her to go in. Plus, he makes her cover her face so no one can see she's a woman. This is accomplished using a poster of Iranian soccer star Ali Daei as a mask, with eye holes punched out.

You get a real sense that even the soldiers are baffled by the prohibition, and are only carrying out their orders so as to hasten the end of their compulsory military service. One soldier complains that he was supposed to be on leave so he could take care of his family's cattle in the countryside. Little by little, the girls and the soldiers talk to each other, and there are numerous small acts of kindness on both sides to show that these are basically good people living in terrible circumstances. However, the soldiers' constant reminder that "the chief" is on his way lends a sense of menace, since we don't know what sort of punishment the women will face.

Unlike most Iranian films, which are known for their strong visuals, Offside is filmed in a realist style with no artifice. In fact, the film was made during the actual qualifying match against Bahrain that took place on June 5, 2005. The "plot" in many ways was determined by the result on the pitch. If Iran won the match, they would qualify. If they lost, they would not. Since the World Cup has come and gone, I don't think it is a spoiler to say that Iran won the match. The scenes of celebration at the end of the film were real and spontaneous, which gave the film a real authenticity. Seeing how much this meant to the people of Iran was deeply touching.

As well, one of the young women makes reference at the end of the film to seven fans who died during the Iran-Japan match on March 25, just a few weeks before. They were trampled to death after police began to spray the crowd with water to move them in a certain direction. Knowing that this was a real-life tragedy added another level of poignancy to the celebrations.

I don't want to go off on a long political tangent, but this film gave me real hope that there are those in Iran who are hoping for change and working at it. Iran is a nation of young people, and it is only a matter of time before they take the place of their elders in the political sphere. Films like this one show the proud spirit of the Iranian people in spite of their present difficulties, and it's my sincere hope that there is a brighter future for them.

A Surprising Comedy From Jafar Panahi

[marclay · 9/10 · 22 May 2006]

Several young Iranian women dress as boys and try to get into a World Cup qualifying match between Iran and Bahrain. When they're caught, they're penned in an area where the match remains within earshot, but out of sight. The prisoners plead to be let go, but rules are rules.

Given the pedigree of its director, Jafar Panahi, it was disarming to discover that Offside is a comedy, and a frequently hilarious one. In 1997's The Mirror, Panahi presents two versions of Iranian girlhood and leaves the audience to wonder which one is "real". In 2000's The Circle, several Iranian women step outside the system; their transgressions are different, but they all end up in the same tragic place.

However, thinking now about Offside, it's hard to imagine it as anything other than a comedy, because the situation it presents is so obviously ridiculous. As the women demand to know why they can't watch the soccer match and their captors struggle to answer, the only possible outcome is comedy.

What makes Offside most affecting is that the young women are not portrayed as activists attacking the system. They are simply soccer fans and patriots, and despite the fact that they are clearly being treated unfairly, they never lose their focus on the match and the historic victory that is within their nation's grasp.

Charming little film with subtle point

[samwagar · 7/10 · 15 April 2007]

In Iran, the Islamic Revolution has shaped all parts of life, including everyday things. But people still go on living their lives, generally just doing the things you'd expect, like go to soccer matches to cheer on the national team as it's in the running to qualify for the World Cup. Except women aren't allowed to go to the soccer stadium to watch the game.

A frequently funny little film follows the small group of women that were caught sneaking into the soccer stadium and the little group of bored soldiers assigned to guard them in a holding pen just outside the stadium. The absurdity of the situation, the simple wish of these women to cheer on the team (nothing subversive there), and little human touches about the lives of everyone adds up to quite a fine comment on humanity versus the ideology.

Amateurish acting, good script and dialogue, a really enjoyable film. Bend It Like Beckham, sort of - a warm heart and a joy in the daily interests and pleasures of people.

Brilliance

[twistedsister-2 · 10/10 · 24 July 2006]

Finally! An Iranian film that is not made by Majidi, Kiarostami or the Makhmalbafs. This is a non-documentary, an entertaining black comedy with subversive young girls subtly kicking the 'system' in its ass. It's all about football and its funny, its really funny. The director says "The places are real, the event is real, and so are the characters and the extras. This is why I purposely chose not to use professional actors, as their presence would have introduced a notion of falseness." The non-actors will have you rooting for them straightaway unless a. your heart is made of stone b. you are blind. Excellently scripted, the film challenges patriarchal authority with an almost absurd freshness. It has won the Jury Grand Prize, Berlin, 2006. Dear reader, it's near-perfect. WHERE, where can I get hold of it?

What are we to make of this other country?

[johnpetersca · 21 April 2007]

After seeing Offside, I searched the Internet for a definition for of the term in soccer. Some entries were vague, referring to such things as "an invisible line past which it is forbidden to go." There was one definition that was more specific, however, in a Salon.com article by Andrew O'Hehir on soccer and the World Cup. O'Hehir defines the "Offside Rule" as a rule in soccer that "prohibits an offensive player from running past the last defensive player until the moment the ball is passed forward." The reason for the rule is to prevent an offensive team from breaking though the defense en mas and bringing the ball to the goal without interference. However, defensive and offensive players are usually in close proximity and the exact moment that a ball is passed, relative to the positions of players, can be hard for a referee to determine.

This is pretty sophisticated stuff, and points to the remarkable ability of Jafar Panahi, Offside's director, to use casual scenes with non-professional actors to establish large metaphors. He does this beautifully. In Offside, the metaphor is one that relates several young women who separately disguise themselves as boys to get into a male-only championship Iranian soccer game to the situation of a player caught offside.

Like an offensive player who advances too aggressively, these women violate traditional assumptions about their position in society. At the same time, they continue to be participants in the national drama. One of them paints her face with the colors or the Iranian flag. None of them is entirely convincing as a man. They flirt, like real women, with the male guards who capture them. Their shared enthusiasm for Iran's team and for their country appears quite genuine (although such sentiments are always in doubt in works of artists in regimes that censor them).

As they are recognized as female and taken into custody, they girls are kept (by guards who are primarily concerned with staying out of trouble so as not to increase the length of their military service requirements) in improvised pens, put together outside the stadium and from which they can hear the roar of the crowd but not see the action. At one point, a guard who can see the progress of the game reports it to them. The guards are more rural and far less sophisticated than the smart, mouthy, urban women. All the same, the two connect. And they connect with us as well. Finding equivalent American roles is not that difficult.

Things end happily as Iran's team is victorious. The girls are herded into a spiffy government van to be taken to the Vice Squad. They expect that they will be reprimanded and released to their parents but they cannot be entirely certain. Not explicitly stated but hovering in the background are rape, torture, and lengthy imprisonment as real possibilities (has happened, know someone it happened to). Then the van driver and the soldiers on the van are pulled into the victory celebration. They abandon the vehicle and the girls take off. End of story.

For Americans, the best thing about Offside may be the way that it brings us into the everyday life of a strange and foreign place. And we discover that the place is not what we expected. People are strange and unpredictable – like us.

Good, but Panahi's done better

[zetes · 7/10 · 2 September 2007]

In The White Balloon and Crimson Gold, the two other films by Jafar Panahi that I've seen, the director mines surprising amounts of depth in subjects that seem, on the surface, slight. In Offside, Panahi's seriocomic tribute to Iranian women standing up for their rights, I don't think he's as successful. Not that what he's saying isn't important, of course (and it's too bad that, like pretty much every other Panahi film, Iranians can't see it). But, after a while, the film feels a tad flat, and it feels long even at 90 minutes. Not saying I didn't like it, though. The actors are all fantastic, and the celebration at the end of the film is infectious. But it's not an important work, in my opinion.

a simple plot woven into a brilliant movie.

[eksentrik-me · 10/10 · 7 January 2009]

I don't know how and where do the Iranian directors get their inspiration in coming up with a plot like this. In fact, it's a very simple plot that many directors could come up with --- but may not be able to project it onto a movie the way Jafar Panahi did.

The film is like 2 worlds revolving at the same time, one connected to the other - the football match and the battle between sexes that's going on behind the walls of the stadium.

It makes you feel like you are in the movie and you're one of the characters, and while watching the movie, as if you also would like to have a glimpse of the football match. You will feel exactly the same excitement and sentiments as those female actors in the movie. It's gripping in a way that you wanted to see the ending, you will want to find out the verdict, you'll be dying to see what will happen to the girls.

I like the intermittent conversations between the smoking girl and one of the military trainee. It's like venus VS mars, it really shows the difference in the thinking of men and women and the struggle of women to get equal rights and opportunity especially in a very patriarchal society like Iran.

This is the second movie of Jafar Panahi that I have seen (the first being Crimson Gold) and am looking forward to watching some more.

Am already hooked with Iranian movies and this one is a must-see!

soccer fans

[talkfest · 7/10 · 13 August 2006]

This was the first of Panahi's films that I have seen, I saw it at Melbourne film festival. I was totally absorbed by the different characters that he creates and how differently they react and behave compared to Aussie kids and yet on other levels how similarly. I think perhaps if more people could see movies like this, they could see people as individuals and avoid racism that can often be fueled by the fear of the unknown. There are the obvious large political differences between Oz culture and Iranian culture, but I found the more subtle differences between the characters, that this film fleshes out so successfully on screen, extremely fascinating. There are idiosyncrasies in the characters that seem to me, so unique. I found it made the characters compelling viewing.

The Wonderful Passion for Soccer

[claudio_carvalho · 9/10 · 14 July 2008]

In Iran, women are officially banned from men's sporting events. In June 2005, the Iran's national soccer team has an important game against Bahrain in the Azadi Stadium for the qualification of the World Cup. A group of Iranian girls and lovers of soccer dresses like boys and unsuccessfully attempts to enter in the stadium being arrested.

Soccer (and Flamengo's team), beach and movies are my greatest passions; therefore I loved this little gem about a group of girls and their passion for soccer. The director Jafar Panahi, from "The White Balloon", "The Mirror" and "The Circle", shot this movie on the day that Iran defeated Bahrain and qualified to the World Cup in Germany. The dramatic and funny adventure of these Iranian girls is one of the most delightful movies I have ever seen. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

A funny look at the oppression of women

[lastliberal · 7/10 · 4 March 2008]

There are enough sad stories about women and their oppression by religious, political and societal means. Not to diminish the films and stories about genital mutilation and reproductive rights, as well as wage inequality, and marginalization in society, all in the name of Allah or God or some other ridiculous justification, but sometimes it is helpful to just take another approach and shed some light on the subject.

The setting is the 2006 match between Iran and Bahrain to qualify for the World Cup. Passions are high and several women try to disguise themselves as men to get into the match.

The women who were caught (Played by Sima Mobarak-Shahi, Shayesteh Irani, Ayda Sadeqi, Golnaz Farmani, and Mahnaz Zabihi) and detained for prosecution provided a funny and illuminating glimpse into the customs of this country and, most likely, all Muslim countries. Their interaction with the Iranian soldiers who were guarding and transporting them, both city and villagers, and the father who was looking for his daughter provided some hilarious moments as we thought about why they have such unwritten rules.

It is mainly about a paternalistic society that feels it has to save it's women from the crude behavior of it's men. Rather than educating the male population, they deny privilege and rights to the women.

Seeing the changes in the soldiers responsible and the reflection of Iranian society, it is nos surprise this film will not get any play in Iran. But Jafar Panahi has a winner on his hands for those able to see it.

Great premise but didn't work for me

[imdb-5596 · 3/10 · 19 March 2008]

I'm fascinated by many of the ideas in Offside. The political and social context is a winning formula for a film. The lead character is interesting and her passion and her dilemma are relevant and intriguing, but I found the film itself ever so dull.

My theory on this is that Iranian (and possibly other Islamic) storytelling is a hard medium for me, as a westerner, to relate to. I expect film to be designed, to look the way it does on purpose, and because of that, to be different from walking around in daily life, and different from a home video made by a teenager. I've been left with the same feeling about every Iranian film I can remember except for "The Cow", and about several other stories from a similar cultural background. "Offside" has at least finally lead me to spot this pattern, and sadly I may not bother with any more Iranian films because of it.

Soccer transcends gender restrictions

[Chris Knipp · 9/10 · 27 September 2006]

Panahi, whose previous films such as The Circle and Crimson Gold have seemed to range from dour to grim, has produced in his new Offside a funny, obstreperous, joyously chaotic ensemble piece that ends on a note of liberation and heartfelt fun – yet the movie deals with material quite as challenging and relevant as anything else he's done. By focusing on a group of ardent girl soccer fans caught sneaking into the pre-World Cup Bahrain-Iran match in Tehran stadium, Panahi brings up issues of national spirit and independent-mindedness, and the contradictions – and sheer absurdity – of the regime's religious gender apartheid in a world of modern competition with a majority youth population and urban girls who increasingly think for themselves.

As the film opens we breathlessly join one of the girls in a bus, with a father pursing a lost daughter. This one has a disguise and has national colors as warpaint, but we cringe with her in the knowledge of what's going to happen: she's still easily spotted. The thing is, most of the men around don't really care. Still, rules are rules, and once they try to make it through the various checkpoints on the way into the big stadium the would-be soccer girls, or some of them anyway, get rounded up and held in a little compound upstairs in the stadium by some mostly young, green, and rustic soldier-cops who have no idea how to deal with these big city girls' independent ideas and would rather be watching the game – whose roar we constantly hear in the background – themselves. Each girl is different – represents a different set of reasons for wanting to break the rules and different ways of doing it. One wore a soldier's uniform and got into the officers' section. One is tough and masculine and mocking and provocative (she could pass for a pretty boy, and teasingly hints at that: "Are you a girl or a boy?" "Which would you like me to be?"). One doesn't care very much about soccer but went to honor a dead comrade. One (Aida Sadeghi) is an ardent soccer player herself – and so on. These Tehrani girls are stubborn and smart and they walk all over the uptight rural lieutenant in charge of them (Safar Samandar). One of the rural cops (Mohamad Kheirabadi) takes the girl soccer player to the men's restroom (of course there's no ladies'), forcing her to wear a poster of an Italian football star as a mask. A comedy of errors and chaos follows in which the girl escapes.

Later a spiffy looking van comes with an officer who directs the cops to take the girls to the Vice Department – violating sexual segregation rules qualifies as vice. A male gets mixed in with them – a kid who's chronically guilty of smuggling fireworks into the games. The van turns out not to be so spiffy: the radio aerial is broken. But one cop holds it in place so they can listen to the increasingly heart-stopping reportage. Cops and prisoners are all joined in a common excitement now. There's no score, the game goes to penalty kicks, and the winner will go to Germany.

In the background through all this is a real game, a real stadium, and real masses of young men crazy about the outcome of this event. The excitement is tremendous, and the streets are jammed with cars and flags and a milling mob of supporters praying for an Iranian win and united in their excitement.

What makes this film so good, as may be clear by now, is that it's shot during the evening of an actual game with a real finale that turns everything around. This, in contrast to Panahi's previous highly calculated narrative trajectories, is spontaneous vérité film-making that improvises in rhythm with a captured background of actual events and sweeps you into its excitement in ways that are quite thrilling.

The essence of Offside is the disconnect between modern world soccer madness and retro-Islamic social prohibitions repressing women – the latter existing at a time when young Iranian women are becoming part of a global world in which females participate in sport and share in the ardor of national team spirit. How exactly do you reconcile the country's ambition to become a modern global power with social attitudes that are medieval? A lot of Offisde is astonishingly real, including the way everybody tries to talk their way out of everything. The director's decision to inject young actors into an actual sports mega-event leads to a stunningly effective blend of documentary, polemic, and fiction that is too energetic to seem to have a bone to pick, and that ends in a way that's brilliant and moving.

I've had reservations about Panahi's films before, but this one kicks ass. Panahi does something remarkable here. He critiques his society, presents an unusual drama, and touches our hearts with a sense of a nation's aspirations.

Just smart

[vicentiugarbacea · 9/10 · 7 October 2006]

"Cinema is dead, long live the cinema!" said Peter Greenaway, one of the most innovative and productive contemporary directors, at the last year's Romanian film festival Anonimul, which got to the third edition and takes place in the Danube Delta. This year the direction prize went to Jafar Panahi's "Offside". I got to see it this evening in Bucharest at the festival's retrospective. Cinema is dead but still very lively. Panahi's film tells in a compelling manner how Iranian society looks. Digitally filmed, "Offside" is a story inspired by a real-life event happened to Panahi's daughter: the trouble and risk took when decided to attend a football match. This is forbidden in Iran as we are informed. What Panahi manages to do is to render with few means, but with, probably, a lot of work, intelligence and humor the cultural patterns in a society that places women at a distinct level. The absurdity of the laws becomes comical. The film has a happy end, after all because Iran's team goes to the World Cup. What I appreciated most was the concept, the idea behind this film. I would be very interested to see Panahi's other films that were forbidden in Iran as well. I guess that he can be thought as an activist director.

A Sparkler in the Dark

[ilpohirvonen · 7/10 · 16 September 2011]

On December 20th in 2010, an acclaimed Iranian director Jafar Panahi was sentenced to six years in prison and banned for the next twenty years from film-making, political activity, traveling or giving interviews to the media. This incident brought the already well-known director to new popularity. Therefore, his films have been recently watched and studied again and again. In 1995 he started with his cheerful debut The White Balloon and continued making such films. Although, The Mirror (1997), his second film, was a much more complex study about the illusionary reality of film it was still a comedy focusing on a child. His next film -- and to my mind his finest -- The Circle (2000) differed a lot from his earlier works. It was a ruthless and dark film about the depressive situation of Iranian women. Panahi continued this desolate vision in Crimson Gold (2003) which was also banned by the Iranian governance. However, in this case, Offside marked a turning point for the director. Even though it was still characterized by melancholy and oppression, it was a warm satire about women who wanted to watch football.

In Offside football means a celebration of solidarity for men to which women aren't invited. Because of this, they try to invent wacky methods that would get them into the stadium. The others are inexperienced and the others are braver than most men. All the women who are caught for doing this are put behind bars, guarded by a group of young soldiers, until the game ends -- after which they will be transfered to jail or, in worst case scenario, death row. At its heart, Offside is all about the verbal battle between the women, or girls actually, and the soldiers. In this battle, the girls have a better position because the soldiers don't really have any real reasons for their acts. They have no explanations nor answers. There are no valuable reasons for the oppression of women and even they have to accept it. In fact, soon we find out that the soldiers don't like their job either.

Not surprisingly, Panahi doesn't blame the people for this, and all the characters -- even the soldiers -- are very sympathetic and loyal. The mindlessness of the social situation is most brilliantly illustrated in one scene where a soldier must take one of the girls to the toilet. She must hide her eyes, so she wouldn't see the fierce writings on the walls of the men's room (because there is no ladies' room at the stadium). It is obvious that Panahi criticizes the system, not the people. He loves his land but dislikes the governance. As a comedy, Offside doesn't rise to the level of Panahi's finest works but it is a delightful film; yet filled with horrible things. It carries light to the dark, so to speak, and therefore can easily be associated with the neo-realist films in postwar Italy. Offside, as Panahi's last film before his imprisonment, is a sparkler in the dark.

Superb film!

[boatista24 · 9/10 · 12 March 2008]

The US State Dept. would not like us to see this movie, because they have a beef with the Iranian govt. However, it shows us just how civilized Iran really is, despite the content of the film, which centers on the struggle of women there for equal rights in the simplest of terms: the ability to watch a soccer game at the stadium, which is strictly limited to male audiences alone. The film is hilariously funny, and in and of itself is proof of freedom of speech and expression in Iran. I enjoyed this movie intensely. Five girls try to penetrate the police border at the ticket gates to a soccer match between Iran and Bahrain. The ensuing comedy is too funny to describe, from the bus trip to the stadium, to the interceding of the police and subsequent detention of the girls, to the resulting end. Don't miss this classic film. It's a MUST see. One of the best foreign films I've seen in years.

Funny and perceptive

[paul2001sw-1 · 7/10 · 25 April 2012]

The innate absurdity in Iran's laws relating to the separation of the sexes is mercilessly teased apart in this gently riotous comedy: the story may be slight, but the modesty of the story (some young women attempt to gain entry to a forbidden football game) is perfect for making the point. The film intelligently puts the laws in the context of the normal uneasy fascination that exists between young people of opposing sexes in any country; and thereby makes the secondary point that the laws are not such an anachronistic tradition, but very much also a modern framework by which men can control women (and in which the young male soldiers are actually much less at ease, because of their ambiguous relationship with the law, than the female fans, who feel no respect for it whatsoever). For those of us who live in "the west", it's hard to imagine exactly what life in an Islamic state might be like: this movie, with its focus on the everyday and the universal, gives some insight. And while it's not the greatest film I've ever seen, every time it was in danger of losing my attention, something happened which made me laugh, which is what all comedies should do.

Comedy about a tragedy

[stensson · 8/10 · 2 July 2006]

In Iran, women are not admitted to soccer games. Officially it's because they are to be spared from the vulgar language and behavior of the male audience. But of course it is about sexism. Women are lower forms of human beings.

Some brave girls oppose this and try to get into the stadium by using different tricks. They are caught by soldiers and hold in a kind of cage, until the police will come and pick them up.

Despite the insane situation, this is a film with lots of humor. It's also encouraging to see how people always find different ways of fighting oppression. You'll get touched at the same time as you have lots of laughs. Good job by director Jafar Panahi. This is in many ways a heroic comedy.

An enjoyable socio cultural comedy

[SumanShakya · 7/10 · 1 December 2020]

"Offside" is a witty and enjoyable social comedy from a prominent Iranian film-maker, Jafar Panahi, whose films were mostly banned from screening in Iran. It's the story of a group of soccer-loving teenage girls, who pass themselves as boys, to watch the qualifying match between Iran and Bahrain for the 2006 World Cup against the rule of the country that restricts the women from entering the stadium. The girls are caught and detained by police, yet their persistence to watch the match doesn't subside. The theme seems something serious in the beginning; but by the end, the film proves to be a joyful ride, with all celebrating the victory of Iran. The quirky moods of the teen characters and the jugaad they make are what make it a jovial watch yet presenting a satire to the sex based deprivation from the basic human rights.

Rating: 2 stars out of 4

Positive Iranian Film

[habibi99 · 8/10 · 4 October 2006]

Another fantastic film from a country, where due to decades of oppression from fundamentalist regimes, has no problems in creating passionate subject matter. Panahi takes a different approach this time around with a blend of ironic comedy and an endearing, non-professional cast. While still getting across his message of what he sees as being inherently wrong with his country, he does so without the need of a heavy storyline. It is a positive take on a country, in particular its people, that the Iranian population desperately need. The greatest pity is it won't be released domestically. The insular, paranoid Iranian government assert that this fine film maker is only successful overseas because he is part of a global conspiracy to embarrass them. After growing up amid revolution and watching the academics, artists and educated 'disappear' over the last 25 years he shows great bravery in continuing to put his work out there. The realism achieved by shooting at the actual world cup qualifier really transports you to the event. The fact he shot it on 35mm is amazing as most would only attempt this project using a digital format. It looks fantastic. His insistence in only using non-professional actors also really works in this film. Fine performances all round. After watching many films showing the problems Iran has and also the news media reporting the facts we can tend to demonise the people as well as the government. This film does the opposite. It shows us they still love the same things and that by laughing at themselves and the absurd rules of sharia law that maybe a change for the better isn't too far away. Some call Panahi a feminist film maker but I think he just fights for the most oppressed demographic in Iran. Young, independent women.

Starts strong but fizzles

[oneloveall · 6/10 · 27 August 2007]

Walking through one busy day for a young Iranian girl smuggling herself into her country's most important soccer match comes across with decidedly mixed results. Despite hardly a second of actual soccer footage focused on, Offside could very well be in the running for best film covering the subject. Deciding to film during the actual match was a brilliant idea, giving some sequences the textured realism they need to flourish. The movie starts out strongest, offering it's most palpable scenes during the first twenty minutes documenting the girl's journey to the stadium. I must admit however, after this impressive intro things fall into a downward lull. Much of the movie takes place in a single location and Panahi simply does not have the depth to cover these scenes in a truly captivating way. Likewise, a few of the film's later sequences felt stretched out a bit. Regardless, this is still a worthwhile watch, if nothing for it's fleeting moments of ethical clarity amidst an occasionally well-exploited set piece.

Typical Iranian Film - Extremely Boring - Nothing Happens...

[thomas-hardcastle-2 · 5/10 · 17 March 2009]

I find this film very boring, like almost all the Iranian cinema I have watched.

Despite Iran's political stance, Iranians have a reputation for making world-beating cinema. I must have missed that meeting, because every Iranian film I've seen has been a complete and utter snoozefest, and Offside is no exception.

With the film mostly set at Azadi stadium in Tehran, the scenery hardly changes, meaning that the brunt of the film needs to be carried by the actors, playing their characters in a humorous and entertaining way. On the whole, they fail to achieve the entertainment factor, meaning that like the characters in the film, I really wanted to see what was going on in the match itself.

Of all the Iranian films I've seen, this one is by no means the worst. I just find it ridiculous that Iranian cinema is seen as an art-house leader, when at the end of the day, it's the same old boring rubbish.

A football film that non-fans can enjoy

[Tweekums · 9/10 · 28 November 2009]

On the face of it a film about women wanting to see a football match wouldn't appeal much to somebody with little interest in football such as myself however this isn't about football it is about discrimination and the women's enthusiasm for the sport they love.

The film opens on the day of a crucial World Cup qualifying match between Iran and Bahrain, a girl is trying to get in to Tehran's Azadi Stadium by dressing like a boy, it looks like she will get in until a soldier tries to search her. Once caught she is taken to a small enclosure high up on the outside of the stadium where there are a handful of women who had already been caught, here they are guarded by a small group of conscript soldiers who's leader would rather be back home tending his livestock. We never learn the character's names but we get to know them as people as the girls plead with the guards to let them watch though a nearby gap in the wall and when refused try to get them to at least provide a commentary.

As well as making an important point about the rigid gender segregation in much of present day Iran the film contains many hilarious moments such as the "disguise" one of the girls is made to wear when going to the toilet and the girl who disguised herself as a soldier and was only caught because she chose to watch the match from a seat reserved for a senior officer. The girls enthusiasm for the game is such that by the end the viewer is likely to be on the edge of their seat hoping that Iran will win and thus get to go to the finals in Germany. The soldiers aren't shown as fundamentalists, they are just conscripts who are there because they have to be and when explaining to the girls why woman can't watch men's sports don't seem that convinced by their own arguments.

It is a shame that this film can't be seen in Iran itself but it is good that the wider world can see it and thus see that ordinary Iranians aren't a bunch of fanatics desperate to wage war on the west but normal people with the same passions and concerns as people everywhere. The cast did a great job in making their characters seem like real people rather than mere caricatures.