Circumstance: Young and Fearless

Movie: Circumstance

Director: Maryam Keshavarz

Rating: ****

Iranian-American director Maryam Keshavarz’s ‘Circumstance’ is not a film about the love between two young lesbians or a prison-returned junkie or two young gay men talking about human rights. It’s a story about few characters struggling to find freedom in a repressive land. Freedom to a teenager, about 15 or 16 years of age, is being rebellious and indulging in all that every teenager at least once in their life time would’ve hoped for. This familial drama, set in Iran but shot in Lebanon, does manage to emotionally hijack you with incidents that feel very much credible.

Two young girls, Atafeh and Shireen, born and raised in an affluent family, are classmates and best friends. Shireen’s parents were killed several years ago by political and thus she’s typecasted as the child of the enemies of Islamic revolution. Because of which everybody including her teacher and fellow students in school abhor her except Atafeh. Both manage to develop such intense feelings for one another to the level of actually satisfying their sexual pleasures, as they snuggle and kiss sometimes. They abide by the rules of their parents’ during day however succumb to all sorts of temptation considered taboo by their religion at night. The immune life of Atafeh and Shireen is shaken by the entry of Mehran, older brother of Atafeh who’s returned after doing time for drug addiction. Recovering from addiction, Mehran turns to religion for support. With time, his religious zeal increases and he begins to impose his values on his family, by installing surveillance cameras to spy everybody, including his sister and her torrid relationship with Shireen.

What you see in the film is not alien at all in any angle. Today, most wealthy families are struggling to keep their children away from so called ‘westernized lifestyle’ which according to many youngsters is hip and happening. Many believe that embracing such a lifestyle actually makes one independent and confident. ‘Circumstance’ goes a step further and brings to light how religious values actually instigate youngsters to do things that they aren’t supposed to do.

The film depicts everything that’s considered forbidden in Islamic religion through the eyes of Atafeh and Shireen. The film throws glimpses of moments that scream out loud the emotions of two youngsters, things that they badly want to do but are forbidden. The film is at its best while portraying these moments. There are several such moments. One in particular is when the girls are at the beach, covered in hijabs. Then they strip down and take the prohibited swim knowing that men are busy reciting morning prayers. In another, Atafeh and Shireen lie next to each other on the bed and dream of running off to Dubai to do everything that they’d wished for without restriction. Or in another, Shireen is forbidden from singing in public by her husband. Moments like these make the film less entertaining but highly emotional and sensible.

Having spent most of her life in the US and only few visits to Iran, director Maryam captures the essence of the lives of many in this country torn apart by youth-culture, drugs, sex and everything else. The documentary style melodramatic narrative differentiates between religious values and human desire. The thin line between real and fiction is intelligently weaved by the director. The world that Atafeh and Shireen dream of is fiction and the world they live in is real. ‘Circumstance’ in many ways is hardcore truth that most of us fail to accept or believe in.

Few reasons to watch this gem: (Courtesy – Wikipedia)

‘Circumstance’ has won over a dozen international awards including Best First Film at the Rome Film Festival and the Audience & Best Actress Awards at Outfest. Described by the New York Times as “Swirling and sensuous,” by the Wall Street Journal as “Supremely cinematic,” and by the Hollywood Reporter as “Amazingly accomplished,” Circumstance is one of the most critically acclaimed independent films of 2011.