Offside (2006)
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
Starring: Ida Sadeghi, Mohammad Kheyrabadi, Shayesteh Irani, Safar Samandar, Sima Mobarak Shahi
DVD Info
Release:
Aug 28, 2007
DVD Features:
- Keep Case
- Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 - Farsi
- Subtitles - English, French - Optional
Additional Release Material:
- Interview - Jafar Panahi - Director
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
Engaging, insightful, and crowd-pleasing comedy sports drama.
A plea for cultural evolution that doesn't point fingers, instead only hoping that the next generations will wake up and take the sensible steps towards the future.
A phenomenal work... the sort of satire where reality is its own punchline.
A protest film that disarms the opposition with a feather, not a cudgel...
If you like to see an inspirational sports film, with an amusing spin on the genre, then Offside is well worth the watch.
From the Western perspective, the feisty protagonists' predicament might seem silly, until it gradually sinks in that this treatment is business as usual in a backward land that seems to have gotten stuck in the Middle Ages. Alley Oop lives!
Jafar Panahi's film is disarming because it presents a mostly good natured, at times humorous, approach to issues that are extremely serious.
A film of masks . . . Droll comedy and wry ironies artfully disguise Panahi's poignant questioning of national pride, governing the public good, and even the sadness mixed in with past victories.
The rare Iranian film that is not only thoughtful and thought-provoking but also a lot of fun.
Its ruminations on secular Iranian nationalism are effectively couched within the characters, and the film, which won the Berlin Film Festival’s Silver Bear but is banned in Iran, has a refreshing slyness to it, as if it’s getting away with something too.
Although the game is not seen, it provides a kinetic, real-time, documentary-like backdrop for a story structured like a game itself, albeit one where neither compassion nor logic apply, and at which everyone loses.
It’s not exactly exciting material, but Panahi’s gentle humor and sense of realism keep it from becoming dull.
If you're seeking a movie that entertains while introducing you to uniquely different ways of life, Offside scores.
Offside is a slow slog through bloated scenes with little happening. Framed and shot like a crude documentary, it proceeds in long, clunky takes, as if an editor couldn't be bothered.
Humanizes the Iranians and shows that they're just as crazy about their sports as Westerners, if not more. If anything, it proves that soccer is truly an international language, providing an arena where anyone can communicate.
With gentle humor, Panahi exposes the camaraderie of these female soccer fans, who thrill to a game they are not allowed to watch.
The film laughs at the absurdity of banning women from stadiums and tells a slight, droll story in the process.
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