Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26428 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-03-25
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: Farsi
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 87 minutes

Special Features
Farsi
Region 2
Dolby Digital Farsi
Dolby Digital
Theatrical Trailer
Production Notes
Filmographies
English

Synopsis
Banned in Iran, Jafar Panahi's THE CIRCLE is set almost entirely on the busy streets of Tehran - a place where women are restricted by numerous laws, including a repressive dress code, and can only travel accompanied by a man. The beginning of the film focuses on two women, Arezou (Mariam Palvin Almani) and Nargess (Nargess Mamizadeh), who have been given temporary leave from prison and have no intension of returning. They attempt to flee to Nargess's hometown, which she claims is as beautiful as a Van Gogh painting, but are deterred by police. Meanwhile, their friend Pari (Fereshteh Sadr Orfani), who has just escaped from jail, is pregnant and needs an abortion. Panahi's lens continues to shift from one woman to another as this eye-opening tale circles back on itself. More serious in tone than the director's brilliant, lighthearted debut, THE WHITE BALLOON, THE CIRCLE shares many of its technical and narrative flourishes, making it another example of Iranian cinema at its best and most politically aware.

Customer Reviews

Living in the shadows
The Circle is an interesting and extremely elusive film. It follows a number of different women who have been punished by the state for crimes of immorality. Intitially the personal stories of these women appear to be unrelated but as the film unfolds we see how they are all entagled in a very large web. Although the film is dealing with the issue of sexual inequality in a particular society and the price they pay for any form of deviance it is also concerned with individual courage and the resistance against conformity. The women are portrayed through strong characters, making immense sacrifices when necessary, such as abandoning a child to give her a better life.
It is unclear in the film what the 'crimes' of some of the characters are, there is a suggestion of prostitution in some of the cases.
What is fascinating is the external uniformity, all the women cover themselves with black shawls and lose themselves in a mass of black anonimity, these same women crouch behind cars to have a quick cigarette. It leaves you wondering how easy it can be to fall into a state correctional facility and what lies underneath the Black cover.

lost in a vicious cycle of monotonous repression
repressive regimes -femininine victims -unwanted girl childs -forbidden abortions and convicted women -are the debatable themes here .

the acting is spectacularly good and the camera work is amazing except the theme sinks into such trite trifles you wish panahi had struck a chord and not just try to be so cynical as there was not a single happy soul in iran ,

a very pessimistic view of not just iran but humanity itself as if all human beings are bereft of any emotion or love because they live in a certain milieu .

was there no love or joy in stalinist russia -not that iran considered a democracy by even americas admission is even comparable to the ussr in the dreadful purges or usa itself in the mccarthy era witch hunts .

of course as it shows how miserable every woman in iran is and their barbie doll western counterprts live luxuriously and happily ever after with hugh heffner in playboy mansions- this is a celebrated iranian movie loved by the critics of every other PSEUDO INTELLECTUAL publication on he face of the so-called civilised democratic world .
despite the fact iran is a democracy unlike saudi or egypt and has women serving as judges the bigots only want to indulge in this monotonous and intellectually impoverished vicious circle .
well good luck to the critics circle as i think panahis off side was much better both in theme and execurion compared to this drab and stereotyped iranian thelma and louise and white balloon is a classic too .

The stories that haunt us
A dramatic and often painful portrayal of the existence of women in modern day Iran. A well crafted film with excellent script and cast. It leaves the viewer with the question, do men really treat women this way? The day will come when men will have to pay for this.