The Circle (2000)

A woman gives birth to a child - a girl. Three women are released from prison. A woman seeks an abortion. A woman escapes from prison. All of these women have committed the same crime - being born female in a society where women are treated as second-class citizens.

Iranian filmmaker, Jafar Panahi, delivered his third feature film in 2000, and went on to win various awards at the Venice and the San Sebastian Film Festivals. It also received critical praise, and audiences by and large, gave it the thumbs up.

The Circle follows the tribulations of a small group of women as they attempt to survive in Iran, presumably Tehran, without much in the way of money or male companions. In a society where women are unable to smoke in public or travel unaccompanied and are required to wear full body-covering garments, amongst countless other oppressive missives, these women are doomed even before the film opens.

The main characters are all women, and although there is no specific male role, Panahi has used the greater male population to represent the oppressors of women. Their every turn is one of personal terror, suspicion, and suspense. They have no identification papers, and in a country where the authorities are less than sympathetic, they run the risk of being discovered at every moment.

The Circle is almost a documentary, as there is no narrative and no denouement for any of the threads, and nor should there be. There is not quite the suspense and the thriller that certain critics and the various trailers that are included would have you believe, but there is more than enough to convey the oppressive mood of Iranian society. The pace of the film is quite slow in parts, though it does build from about the midway point, as several of the women become more desperate.

There are no familiar faces ,as you would expect, and many of the cast are non-actors. This no doubt lends the film a slightly more documentary air. As said, there is no storyline as such, and the camera moves from character to character as paths cross. Regardless of this, the oppressive theme runs through the entire film, and gives westerners an insight into what it must be like to live in a country where your gender alone pretty much determines what your life will be. The fact that The Circle has been banned in Iran should give some indication of how close to the truth this film must be.

This is no Hollywood production, and therefore is not of Hollywood quality. However, things are not as bad as I feared. My fears were initially heightened when an aspect ratio of 1.70:1 appeared on the screen, yet the case declared 1.85:1. The film is not 16x9 enhanced. At least the cover got that right.

There are a number of problems with the video quality of this film, though few, if any, are due to the relatively sharp transfer. Colours are generally acceptable, though bright hues are noticeably absent, but in Iran I suspect that is the way. The film does have a pale look to it, but there are still some instances of colour bleeding. Black levels are mostly good, but some of the indoor scenes appear grey, especially in the shadowed areas, where detail suffers. The over-exposure also plagues the colour and contrast, and skin tones vary greatly.

There is a range of intrusive film artefacts right from the get-go. The opening shot of voices against a black screen immediately throws up numerous white specks, and while they are present throughout the film, they do become less intrusive. There is also quite an amount of grain, and several instances of strange artefacts that occur throughout the entire film. They include some almost unnoticeable blue flecks that run down the right hand side of the screen through much of the film, and a white line that runs the length of the screen at right, through most of Chapter 11.

As bad as it sounds, it should not deter prospective viewers, as the problems are almost entirely inherent in the source. There are almost no film-to-video artefacts, no layer change, and subtitles that are generally easy to read, unless placed against a white background. Hmph!

While this is billed as a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo transfer, and it is, it may as well have been mono. The audio is mostly clear, though missing the odd word or two matters not unless you understand Farsi. Like me, most viewers will rely on the burned in subtitles.

There is almost no separation or panning, very little in the way of music, and not a great range of sound. Low-level sounds are non-existent, but then again they are not missed either. The audio may not be crystal clear, and includes plenty of background noise as all audio is recorded direct to film with no money for post-production touch-ups, but this does not result in any real interference.

A small and mostly irrelevant package of extras round out the disc. The most interesting being Interview: Director which runs approximately 17 minutes (there is no time counter for any of the extras). It is in Farsi (presumably) with clear English subtitles, and offers quite an insight into Panahi's motivations and techniques. He also discusses issues such as casting and directing.

There is also a short text-only Biography: Jafar Panahi which runs to five screens and includes a filmography that takes up half of those five screens, hence the biography is very short.

The Theatrical Trailer lasts a little over a minute, is in a slightly wider aspect ratio and Dolby Digital 2.0. It offers a series of the more dramatic mages from the film, and includes burned in subtitles.

The US Trailer is similar to the aforementioned trailer, but includes one of those overly dramatic and breathy voiceovers extolling the virtues of the film, and references to the awards it has won.

For the trailer junkie, there are two further ones lurking in Madman Propaganda, for Kandahar and Blackboards. Both are short at around 80 seconds and while Kandahar looks interesting, the trailer for Blackboards looks truly bizarre.

As with any films you have to 'read', many will pass it by. There is nothing here that demands a viewing, but an ability to read quickly so as not to miss the on-screen action will be required even though there are lengthy passages with no dialogue. A final word of caution; do not watch this film unless you are in high spirits, for it is sure to bring your mood down a peg or two.