When the phrase “brave” filmmaking is thrown around, many people do not know what it means. They believe that making a highly political film is brave filmmaking. Simply making a political film is not an act of bravery. What is an act of bravery is when you make a film that will have real consequences to the entire filmmaking team such as imprisonment, censorship, torture, and even execution due to the subject matter in the film. Last year, writer and director Mohammad Rasoulof and several members of the cast and crew of The Seed of the Sacred Fig had to flee Iran due to fear of being prosecuted by the Iranian Regime. Writer and director Jafar Panahi has been previously imprisoned by the Iranian Regime due to the contents of his film. He was subject to torture and censureship because of his filmography, but it doesn’t stop him from making them. So in his latest feature, It Was Just an Accident, he takes all of the rage, anger, and frustrations he has towards the Regime and delivers a cinematic experience that will make you question your morality and ethics in the face of your alleged torturer.
We follow Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri), a mechanic who has permanent health problems due to his imprisonment and torture by the Iranian Regime. One day his family comes into his garage late at night asking for help with their car. Immediately, Vahid recognizes the squeaking sound of the patriarch’s false leg as the intelligence officer who tortured him in prison. Vahid stalks the man and eventually kidnaps him and drags him into the desert to bury him alive. However, he soon raises doubts about the man’s identity so he seeks the help of others to verify his identity. What follows is a contemplation of morality and ethics as they debate on killing their alleged torturer.
Filmed entirely in secret with documentary/gorilla style filmmaking filled with wide shots and long takes, It Was Just an Accident is a tightly knit thriller about morals and ethics. Asking the question; does killing your alleged torturer relieve you of your trauma or does it make you no better than the regime? This question is asked through our band of former prisoners debating, bickering, and even physically fighting each other as they question what to do with their alleged torturer. Some of them immediately want his head on a spike, others want to torture him in the same way that he allegedly tortured them, while some just want an apology asking him to renounce the regime. Nearly all of these debates happen in the hot, claustrophobic environment of a van where emotions rules the conversation. And in all of those emotions, you can feel the anger and disdain that Panahi has towards the Iranian Regime. From the Sharia Law forcing women to be secondary citizens, to the normalization of capturing and torturing civilians in the name of fear, this is a very emotional and deeply personal film to Panahi as he was tortured and imprisoned by the Regime.
Led by one of the best ensemble performances of the year, their performances will haunt you as they explore the trauma the brutal Iranian Regime causes to its own people. The tears, the anger, the pain, and the hatred you see from this cast feels so impeccably real, that it’s haunting. And their performances are not the only haunting part. It Was Just an Accident has one of the best endings of the year that will haunt you about your actions and consequences. Overall, It Was Just an Accident is a worthy Palme d’Or winner that will leave you speechless.
My Rating: A
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