Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi delivers a genre-bending thriller with “It Was Just an Accident,” his latest work earning critical praise for its exploration of revenge, morality, and societal corruption. Despite years of censorship and imprisonment by the Iranian government, Panahi continues to create internationally acclaimed films, with this Palme d’Or-winning release marking a especially unrestrained and visually striking entry in his body of work. The film, starring Vahid Mobasseri and Mariam Afshari, blends elements of dark comedy and political satire to deliver a powerful message of resistance.
This review reflects the author’s opinions.
The film opens with a classic thriller setup. A somber man (Ebrahim Azizi) is driving through the dark of night on a deserted road. His pregnant wife sits beside him, attempting to reconcile her husband’s dislike of loud music with their young daughter’s need to dance in the back seat.
Then, a crash! The car hits something – a large dog. The engine sputters after the sudden impact, and the driver manages to coast into a repair shop before the car dies completely. Mechanic Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri) is shocked when he glimpses the stranger – a meeting that sets off a violent and transformative chain of events for many involved.
Over the past 15 years, Jafar Panahi has been imprisoned, interrogated, held in solitary confinement, gone on hunger strikes, been banned from working, and prevented from leaving the country on numerous occasions. Despite this, the Iranian festival favorite has secretly managed to make a number of internationally acclaimed films, including “Taxi Tehran,” “3 Women,” and most recently, “No Bears.”
A career that speaks volumes about the importance of global support for courageous filmmakers from repressive regimes like Iran’s theocracy. But also something about the inherent power of art.
With his latest work, “It Was Just an Accident,” Jafar Panahi delivers his first film in a long time made with relative freedom, albeit without official permits. And he takes full advantage of it! The Palme d’Or-winning film moves wildly and unrestrainedly across almost all genres, from thriller to chamber drama, revenge action, dark comedy, moral drama, road movie, and political satire.
Vahid’s nighttime customer turns out to be none other than his one-legged interrogator, Eghbal, from his time in prison. The desire for revenge flares up, and the former prisoner manages, in a nearly slapstick manner, to kidnap his old tormentor the next day. But just as he’s about to bury his nemesis alive in a desolate desert landscape, he’s overcome with doubt. Is this really… the right person?
Vahid gathers a motley crew of other former prisoners to help him identify his victim. But also to grapple with the moral dilemma. Should they sink to the same level as the regime’s dirty henchmen?
With its unpredictable “It Was Just an Accident,” Panahi has reached his most modern storytelling to date. A visually striking drama with broad appeal, while the Iranian master delves deeply, both psychologically and politically. His use of sound, particularly regarding latent threats, is stylish and illustrates the importance of the prisoners being forced to spend much of their time in prison with their eyes bound.
All the actors deliver outstanding performances, handling the rapid shifts in both tempo and narrative temperature with grace. Especially the two women, the emotionally scarred wedding photographer Shiva (Mariam Afshari) and the aggressive bride-to-be Gola (Hadis Pakbaten), whose pristine wedding dress becomes increasingly stained as the dramatic adventure unfolds.
The darkness at the core is lightened by the entire group’s superb sense of comedic timing. It’s no coincidence that Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” looms in the background as both a figurative and literal reference point. The pervasive societal corruption and the sleazy bribery systems are sharply satirized in a hugely fun and incisive way.
But Panahi doesn’t shy away from the fundamental structural darkness of the story, even as he wants to – and succeeds in – making a film that is also deeply entertaining. “It Was Just an Accident” takes shape as a call to resistance against violence and oppression with a sense of freedom that propagates physically in the body. You want to laugh, cry, and maybe even dance a little.
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