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It Was Just an Accident


The latest from Iranian director Jafar Panahi is a simple, yet brilliant story of a chance encounter with a bastard from the past that oscillates between revenge and forgiveness. We start on an almost uncomfortably close mid-shot of a man and a woman driving at night. They run over a stray dog and the mother explains to her daughter that it was just an accident, setting the stage for other events that may or may not have been accidental.

Panahi fills the frame with his protagonists, faces, mostly in states of distress, to the extent that when the screen opens up to show a man digging a makeshift grave in a long shot with vast, lumpy hills in the distance, it's a massive relief of tension. This man is Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri), who thinks he has stumbled upon Eghbal, (A.K.A. Peg Leg or the Gimp) (Ebrahim Azizi), an Iranian intelligence agent who tortured him years ago. Doubt forces Vahid to enlist other victims to help identify Peg Leg, before any retribution is taken.


The film is riddled with fine, naturalistic performances, even when things lean to the histrionic side. Wedding photographer Shiva (Mariam Afshari), bride-to-be Golrokh (Hadis Pakbaten) and borderline psycho Hamid (Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr) all have some meaty moments, in service to the fantastic script. Panahi weaves in understandable cases for action on both sides - for example, hotheaded Hamid's wish for violence, versus another victim, Salar (George Hashemzadeh) and his call for mercy.


Amin Jafari's cinematography is documentary-like, shaky cam stuff, with lots of driver POV. There are some really moving scenes, again in tight shots, where the edit leaves it all on screen, we rarely see what's going on out of frame. When someone enters the shot, it brings about a reaction of surprise and you never really know which choice the characters will make.

Parallel to the gravity, the film still has time for moments of levity, namely the culture of 'gifting' to people like security guards, petrol station attendants, nurses, that seems to be a staple of Iranian society. And I can't think of a film this year with a better ending. After winning the Palme D'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, Panahi has been sentenced to a year in prison by the Iranian authorities. The least we can do is watch the excellent film that probably caused this.


It Was Just an Accident runs at UWA Somerville from Dec 22nd to 28th as part of the excellent Lotterywest Perth Festival season.

See also:

I got a lot of Nuri Bilge Ceylan vibes, specifically Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011). Ziad Doueiri's The Insult (2017) also shares some DNA.

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