Dayereh (2000)

Director:

Jafar Panahi

Writer:

Kambuzia Partovi (writer)

Release Date:

8 September 2000 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Various women struggle to function in the oppressively sexist society of contemporary Iran.

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Hospital | Bus | Iran | Abortion

Awards:

11 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Nargess Mamizadeh	...	Nargess
Maryiam Palvin Almani	...	Arezou
Mojgan Faramarzi	...	Prostitute
Elham Saboktakin	...	Nurse
Monir Arab	...	Ticket Seller
Solmaz Panahi	...	Solmaz
Fereshteh Sadre Orafaiy	...	Pari
Fatemeh Naghavi	...	Mother
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Abbas Alizadeh	...	Father of Pari
Negar Ghadyani
Ataollah Moghadas	...	Haji
Khadijeh Moradi
Maryam Shayegan	...	Parveneh
Maedeh Tahmasebi	...	Maedeh (as Maedeh Tahmasbi)

Also Known As:

Il cerchio (Italy)
The Circle (International: English title)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

Iran | Italy | Switzerland

Language:

Persian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Malaysia:U | South Korea:All | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | France:U | Iran:(Banned) | Norway:11 | Peru:14 | Singapore:PG | Spain:7 | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:PG | USA:Not Rated

Company:

Direction du Développement et de la Coopération (DDC), Département Fédéral des Affaires Etrangères

Trivia:

This movie was banned in Iran.

Movie Connections:

References La ronde (1950)

Made interesting and engaging by the anger at the system within each story – but that focus takes away from the narrative

I have seen several Iranian films in the past few weeks thanks to a short season of the films screened in the UK by Channel 4 – a channel that can rise above the level of reality television when it puts its mind to it. Having seen them in a compact space of time, I had quickly gotten it in my head that many of those screened had come to international attention and various degrees of acclaim because they were "issue" films that looked at some aspect of Iranian life with at least a semi-critical eye. However none of them came close to the sort of anger with the system that was evident throughout this film.

The plot sees several stories that weave around one another to produce a film that looks at several women, all of whom are suffering in some way or other due to the general treatment of women in Iran. As a dramatic device it doesn't totally work because too little time is spent with each character to really get to know them or get into their stories and situations, but this struck me as being the film's second aim – with the first quite clearly being the injustice with which women are treated. As such, the narrative never really engaged me in terms of the people in the story, but the general picture painted was interesting enough to hold my attention and make me care for the characters generally, even if I would struggle to put names to faces.

The actresses are all pretty good and most come off pretty natural and convincing, with only the odd moment here and there not really working. They all strike a rather tragic note with each of them trying to make out the best they can in life but really oppressed in so many ways – whether it is small things like not easily moving in the streets by themselves or being rejected by their families to save honour. The direction is good, with different styles used for some of the characters – but done in a subtle way to the point where I didn't notice until somebody pointed it out to me.

Overall this is a good film but not a brilliant one mainly because the narrative comes secondary to the criticism of the system. However it is worth seeing mainly because, without really ranting, it holds a lot of anger at the status of Iranian women and their treatment and the injustice within the system – it may not be balanced but it is interesting and engaging.