Directed by Jafar Panahi — Screenplay by Jafar Panahi.
For some, making art with something to say is a vocation that means risking your life if you decide to pursue it. Such is the case for renowned Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi. Panahi, a veteran of the art form, has had a career that has seen him come into direct conflict with the Iranian government, which has, over the years, censored, detained, imprisoned, and punished him for making films that criticize the people in charge of the country, the politics of said government, and the effects of the system in place on Iranians. A former political prisoner who has been banned from making films in his home country, Panahi has frequently been supported by organizations, politicians, and filmmakers from all over the world, and he consistently tries to find loopholes to get around the extreme difficulty of being a filmmaker in a country that has no interest in seeing him make films. To make his Palme d’Or-winning and Oscar-nominated film It Was Just An Accident, he had to film in secret without a permit and be inventive with where and when to film so as not to be approached, arrested, or worse by authorities. As the accolades won by him attest, Panahi succeeded in making something worthwhile. I finally saw it earlier today, and I thought it was a fantastic film (and important text) made even more impressive by the difficulties he and his crew had to overcome to make it.
Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just An Accident follows Vahid (played by Vahid Mobasseri), a mechanic and former political prisoner, who, while on the job, hears the squeaking sounds coming from the prosthetic leg of a customer. Vahid instantly recognizes the sound and believes that this man was his former tormentor. He thinks he was the person who injured him and ruined his life. Therefore, Vahid follows him and eventually kidnaps him. His initial instinct is one of revenge, to bury him alive. However, when the man protests and claims that he isn’t the man Vahid thinks he is, our protagonist hesitates and needs answers. So, he starts searching for someone else who can verify that this is the man who tortured and interrogated him. But finding someone who can say with absolute certainty that this is him becomes difficult, and so, on Vahid’s quest for revenge, the group of people looking for payback grows larger and larger. As these people start to realize what exactly they may be getting themselves into, questions about right and wrong start to materialize.
It Was Just An Accident is a truly gripping revenge-quest political thriller that is easy to get emotionally invested in. It even has a few well-placed moments of comedy related to an engaged couple and the power dynamics thereof. Although not everyone is well-versed in what it means to live in Iran, with the background knowledge that undoubtedly makes this an even richer text, you need to know only the basics, as Panahi’s film shows you plainly the everyday struggle of Iranians without ever hitting you over the head with it. So, if you’re film literate, you’ll immediately recognize and be able to understand the portrait Panahi is painting of living under the Iranian government, which includes focusing on the trauma felt over having been a political prisoner in the country, the way the characters are being watched by authorities, and the systematic gender inequality that we see them encounter and live in. If you know how difficult it was for them to film this film, you’ll feel that anxiety emanating from the film. Frankly, even if you don’t know this, the way the camera is used inside Vahid’s van when they’re in the city might even give you a similar feeling, given the fact that the characters, like the film crew, were driving around the city in Iran while they were actively breaking the law due to what was going on inside of the van (for the film crew, it’s the fact that they’re shooting a film, and for the characters, they literally have someone tied up in the van).
I mentioned how gripping the film was, but I should also mention how well-controlled it is. This is a perfectly paced film that never runs out of steam and never feels too slow over the course of its 104-minute runtime. Stylistically, I should mention the use of long takes, which help to make the events feel immediate, passionate, important, and private. For example, there is an interesting long take inside a car that gives you the only glimpse into the daily life of the guy Vahid thinks ruined his life. There’s a long take in the desert, where questions of morality, justice, and revenge come up. However, the most memorable long take comes towards the end of the film, when our characters get to interrogate the mysterious man, who, in this emotionally-charged scene, is bathed in red light from the car nearby. That right there is a great stylistic choice and utilization of everyday lighting to increase intensity and importance. It’s a fantastic scene where these characters interrogate and point the finger at someone whom they believe to be a personification of those who oppress them.
In addition to painting a picture of what it means to live in Iran as a former political prisoner, Panahi also tells a somewhat more well-worn story of looking for an eye for an eye, a circle of violence being a potential outcome, and how we risk losing our humanity if we act in a way that resembles the actions of those who put us through hardship. It is a film about the desire and need for closure, and the collective wounds of everyday people in the country (the working class, artists, old generations, and younger generations trying to start their lives) who are desperate to wash away the trauma inflicted upon them by their oppressors. I thought this aspect of the film, i.e., the specific Iranian politics and trauma of it all, prevents the film’s revenge quest from feeling overused or unoriginal. I’ll also add that the way the film ends is masterful. Without getting into spoilers, I’ll say that it is a great moment of tense thriller filmmaking that doubles as a hard-hitting moment of political filmmaking that reminded me a little bit of the end of Quo Vadis, Aida? — Jasmila Žbanić’s great and unforgettable film about the Srebrenica Massacre — which, similarly, was about how even though something has been put behind you, it remains an ever-looming threat as these people are still around you.
All in all, I thought Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just An Accident was a deeply fascinating, gripping, and brave piece of filmmaking about the state of his country and the collective trauma of the populace. At the same time, even without the political background knowledge, it’s also just a really well-made thriller-adjacent narrative. It’s easy to see why the Cannes jury adored the film and felt the need to give it its highest honor.
9 out of 10
– Review written by Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.
