With his third film The Circle (Dayereh , 2000) , Jafar Panahi , the Iranian film maker, earned the international stature as one of the world's most courageous artists. The 90 min visual treat in Farsi language dealt with the attrocities faced by Iranian women. Fantasy or artificial environment have nothing to do with the movie. Yet, it is taken to the heart of the spectators because of his real nature.
Kambozia Partovi wrote the screenplay for the movie.
We cannot point out a single plot or a single protagonist in the movie. The film is all about different women whose causes are different but the sufferings alike. So , when it was asked to write a film review which exhibits a feminine issue, the title The Circle popped in my mind, as it deals with all feminine phases and its issues.
Circle-it is a closed loop , likewise Panahi's The Circle also begins and ends with the same image . A woman talking to someone through an opening of a closed door. It's a girl - is the first words spoken in this film. Rather being celebratory the mood of the scene is mournful. Here, begins the issues as one more life sprouted but a baby girl. The scene took place in a maternity ward where an elderly lady is informed that her daughter gave birth to a baby girl whereas the ultrasound scanning resulted in a boy. The grandmother fears that her daughter being abandoned by her son in laws. The biological fact that the sex of a baby is determined by the male germ cell is totally rejected and considered as a weapon against the female. The grandmother asks one of her daughters to inform her uncles. It's evident from their facial expressions that they don't want another one to be suffered like them being a girl. Here , at this point the narative diverts . The first is left open and without any solution. To be frank this portrays real life. We are driven into situations one by one in our life whether it's happy or sad. Our life cycle doesn't wait for the completion of one event to start the other.
The narration turns to three women, Arezou, Nargess and Pari. They appears as they are from jail and they want to be free from the authoritarian patriarchal norms. They wander along the street without any particular aim and away from the cob and they too lack proper identity.Arezou and Nargess is trying to get bus fare inorder to get into Nargess's home village. Arezou managed to put Nargess on the bus and they two get separated. As the law was against women travelling alone without a male relative, Nargess left the bus in search of Pari , another fugitive . She was also afraid of being arrested again. Then , the second narrative thread picks up the story of Pari and abandons Nargess. As her husband was executed Pari wants to get away from her pregnancy. Because it will be severe than death for a fatherless child to live in such a society. Pari eagerly met Elhalm, another prisoner now a nurse seeking help, 
Unfortunately the nurse denied Pari's request . We cannot blame Elhalm because she reluctantly denied the request screaming that her background will be known to her spouse ,a doctor. At the street , Pari met a mother who left her daughter in front of a hotel due to economic instability. The words of the mother is really provoking. She says, " this is the third time I've tried to leave her". What will be the conditions lead the mother to do so? Where is her husband? All these are questions which are left without any answers in the film . The mother hopes her daughter being with some respectful family. Then another woman who was arrested as a prostitute is taken to prison. But the problem lies where the cob leaves the man freely. Only the woman is arrested. Prostitution is definitely an act deserving severe punishment but both men and women are equally prone to punishment. Hereby the camera focus on the cell concluding that all the women characters from the earlier three narrative threads are at the prison. They failed in their efforts to be free. The closing shot resembles the opening shot ,(a guard calling out Solmaz Gholami, the woman with the baby in the first scene), completing the story circle.
Circle-it is a closed loop , likewise Panahi's The Circle also begins and ends with the same image . A woman talking to someone through an opening of a closed door. It's a girl - is the first words spoken in this film. Rather being celebratory the mood of the scene is mournful. Here, begins the issues as one more life sprouted but a baby girl. The scene took place in a maternity ward where an elderly lady is informed that her daughter gave birth to a baby girl whereas the ultrasound scanning resulted in a boy. The grandmother fears that her daughter being abandoned by her son in laws. The biological fact that the sex of a baby is determined by the male germ cell is totally rejected and considered as a weapon against the female. The grandmother asks one of her daughters to inform her uncles. It's evident from their facial expressions that they don't want another one to be suffered like them being a girl. Here , at this point the narative diverts . The first is left open and without any solution. To be frank this portrays real life. We are driven into situations one by one in our life whether it's happy or sad. Our life cycle doesn't wait for the completion of one event to start the other.The narration turns to three women, Arezou, Nargess and Pari. They appears as they are from jail and they want to be free from the authoritarian patriarchal norms. They wander along the street without any particular aim and away from the cob and they too lack proper identity.Arezou and Nargess is trying to get bus fare inorder to get into Nargess's home village. Arezou managed to put Nargess on the bus and they two get separated. As the law was against women travelling alone without a male relative, Nargess left the bus in search of Pari , another fugitive . She was also afraid of being arrested again. Then , the second narrative thread picks up the story of Pari and abandons Nargess. As her husband was executed Pari wants to get away from her pregnancy. Because it will be severe than death for a fatherless child to live in such a society. Pari eagerly met Elhalm, another prisoner now a nurse seeking help, Unfortunately the nurse denied Pari's request . We cannot blame Elhalm because she reluctantly denied the request screaming that her background will be known to her spouse ,a doctor. At the street , Pari met a mother who left her daughter in front of a hotel due to economic instability. The words of the mother is really provoking. She says, " this is the third time I've tried to leave her". What will be the conditions lead the mother to do so? Where is her husband? All these are questions which are left without any answers in the film . The mother hopes her daughter being with some respectful family. Then another woman who was arrested as a prostitute is taken to prison. But the problem lies where the cob leaves the man freely. Only the woman is arrested. Prostitution is definitely an act deserving severe punishment but both men and women are equally prone to punishment. Hereby the camera focus on the cell concluding that all the women characters from the earlier three narrative threads are at the prison. They failed in their efforts to be free. The closing shot resembles the opening shot ,(a guard calling out Solmaz Gholami, the woman with the baby in the first scene), completing the story circle. The end circle is formed even the narrative threads are incomplete in themselves. Several questions still prevail : what were the crimes done by the escapees? Who are the real culprits? Was it only because of being a woman?. The dark look of the film with occassional splash of colours ( the Van Gogh and the little girl's dress which signifies hope) and the dialogue make the movie readable and communicated the theme very well. The Iranian movie provides much information on the plight of women in Iran who have done nothing wrong except to be female. But I heard Iran is much liberal than Afghanistan under the Taliban rule. Khaleid hosseini, the prolific writer pays tribute to the plight of Afghan women. Let's speak for the world peace and Whoever crucify my holy religion with their deeds and poison it with their words must be brought in front of the world and punished without hesitation.
