Circumstantial 'Circumstance'-- Making the Case for Independent Films

As we approach Hollywood's award season (which is much like the NBA basketball season-- the fix is always in); and films start putting little asterisk's in their advertisements noting that they are, in fact, NOMINATED for something mildly important in their own eyes; or even better-- they WON some random and obscure award: I am going to count down films I find worthy of their attention (who is 'they'?  I think I am... I need to check my SAG dues)

That said-- here is my first choice for your consideration in all categories:

CIRCUMSTANCE.

I just found out that 'Circumstance' was nominated for the John Cassavettes Award in the Independent Spirit Awards.  That's great, but it still deserves a larger audience and here is my treatise as to why it hasn't gotten it-- but why it still deserves one.   The DVD was just released, and if you haven't seen it, I hope this encourages you to put it in your netflix cue.


First, the reasons it has not caught fire:

1)     It has been dubbed ‘The foreign lesbian movie’ which is not only a misnomer; it is categorically unfair and completely inexact. 

a.       First off the film is not foreign, that is like saying that “The Passion of the Christ” was a foreign film because it was filmed in Italy in the Arabic language; or “Avatar” was an international film because it took place on a fictitious planet with a made up language.  This film was made in a very American way of filmic storytelling by an American.  It has western sensibilities and pacing.

b.      Second, the lesbian part.  That is a quick way of dismissing it on context as having an agenda (which, you know, we Americans HATE…); which, of the many films I’ve seen in my lifetime that didn’t involve fake vomit or Leslie Nielson or both; this one is very clearly not agendigmatic (I think I just made up a word).  It is way too dense for that.  Even “Rocky IV” had a greater agenda than this film. 

2)     It has been pegged by other Persian-Americans as inaccurate.  This argument is old: it's like saying (I’ll use my own territory here) that “Fargo” is inaccurate because the Coen brothers grew up in Minnesota but left long ago and no longer ‘get it’. And that because Frances McDormand’s portrayal of Marge Gunderson must be dismissed because she required a dialect coach for her over the top Minnesota accent.  The truth is, the characterizations, though large and over-done, were TRUE.  And their commentary (the Coen’s) on our lives just riled we Minnesotan’s up… that is until it became an international hit.

3)    The writer assumes that you have a brain.  We all know this is a critical error, for most of us do not.

4)    It stars two unknowns instead of the likes of Hilary Swank and Natalie Portman… which, by the way, would have killed it.  Also, there isn’t buzz for the awards season… just a good film barely on the radar, and we all know that there is nothing like peer pressure for us to go see an ‘art film’.  If Dan and Linda Johnson are talking about it down on Morrill Lane, then, by gum, we need to go see it to be a part of the conversation… for pete’s sake.

Here though, are reasons the film should be given notice; no, not 'NOTICE' but ACCOLADES:

For symmetry, I’ll give four:

1.   It stars two unknowns instead of the likes of Hilary Swank and Natalie Portman… which, by the way, is what makes the film work.  We believe Nikohl Boosheri and Sarah Kazemy ARE Atefah and Shireen because we don’t know them to be anything else, certainly not Queen Amidalah or Amelia Earhart, and this story NEEDS that.

For the record, I am an actress, so I’m thus the harshest critic on acting and actresses in particular; these two were nothing short of sublime.  Nikohl Boosheri and Sarah Kazemy were fearless.  Fear-less.  Without a doubt they made the film.  Looking back, if the script and plot were the same, but the leads different, it would be nearly impossible to work.  It would feel forced and even embarrassing. 

It’s hard to believe that this was Sarah Kazemy’s first role.  She probably didn’t know enough to stink.  The nuance of her performance sticks with you on so many levels, and there isn’t one moment that you don’t believe her utterly.  She is so relaxed and trusts that a look is enough (which, from her, it is).  The depth of emotion she needs to play is like a mountain range, and yet she slides into one moment from the next like slipping into bathwater.  For you non-actors out there, you don’t just do that, it’s really hard to not be transparent or over-the-top.  She was neither. 

Meanwhile, Nikohl Boosheri was equally revelatory.  In many ways, she needs to drive the narrative of the film, not an easy task with such heady material for a younger actress.  Again, you have no idea she’s acting.  She cripples you with her honesty and fearless approach.  She turns a jovial and reckless girl into a tormented and trapped woman in 105 minutes without giving anything away; without folding her cards or tipping her hand.  Not a task for the faint of heart.

The two together transferred something on the page that could have been dripping with overt-sentimentality and turned it into heartbreaking truth.  If they WERE Hilary Swank and Natalie Portman, they would be releasing the film in January (except NYC and LA) and be talking to designers.  Let’s hope circumstance doesn’t get in the way of these two being properly noticed…

2)      The writer assumes that you have a brain.

Unlike most films that push their plot points with the deft hand of a sledge hammer, Maryam Keshavarz’s script assumes that you can take leaps from scene to scene and keep up.  She gives you the opportunity to fill in certain leading gaps with your own thoughts on how one thing transpired to the next, and in doing so, she creates a world where you are now an integral player, not just a bystander at a crash site.  Also, the script has several layers to it; but none of them are ham handed.  I have seen countless love stories where after about 20 minutes you want to scream at the screen, ‘we get it, they’re into each other!’—you never get there with this because you are never totally sure what is next going to happen.  You root for them even as you expect the guillotine to fall upon them at any moment. 

In the few critical reviews I’ve read, the major device people balk at is the use of the brother as the villain, to that I say ‘phoey!’  He is not the villain, he is just another plebe under the circumstances of the state.  We are not told his total back story; but we can assume it was similar to that of his sister and Lord knows what happened to him in rehab.  If the reality of putting security camera’s all through the house is substantive or not; the point is, we have someone clearly unbalanced—who is also a peeper, let’s not forget—and his efforts (from the filmgoer’s perspective) give another level of  uncertainty and fear for the girls’ safety.  They’re always being watched: they may not know it, but you do.

3)    As a Director Maryam Keshavarz also packs a dense punch in her first feature, and is deftly up to the task.  It’s not just the risk taking script, the button pushing rawness or the amazing acting performances which make this a film to watch: it’s a great FILM.  A film is more than a script and actors, if it were not, it would be a play.  Maryam Keshavarz and her cinematographer Brian Rigney Hubbard, make the camera a third person in every scene, creating not only a sense that you, the audience member, are THERE; you actually start to feel you a participating voyeur.  Wither you are sneaking a forbidden peek at the two girls or getting insider information from Mehran, the camera makes you feel a part of it all, as if you have an active role in what you want to look at next.  They also create a sense of the place: it is not so far from what we might know, yet it is also not so close. 

I could go on about the editing as well, cutting off scenes just when you want more, or clipping to the right look at just the moment you’re curious to see it; but it would take so many superlatives that it would become another diatribe entirely. 

Finally the soundtrack is perfect.  I don’t need to say much more than to watch the trailer, do that and you’ll see how powerful the music and sound also are to the overall film experience.

4)      The fourth reason this film deserves to be watched and deserves to be a success is the least artsy of them all.  The cold hard fact is everyone involved with this film was exceptionally brave.  Now, no, they’re not on Seal Team Six or running into a burning building; but if there is one great truth I’ve learned in life it is that we are creatures of extreme insecurity.  We would rather run into a burning building than be thought a pariah.  We fear people judging us for mis-pronouncing a word, having broccoli in our teeth at the wrong moment or sweaty palms.  We fear possible reprisal of being a social outcast, of not making the right amount of money at the right job.  We fear snickers behind our backs if our teeth aren’t straight or our hair is cut badly…

In the film world, these similar fears (and the desire to not fully let your guard down) show up in over the top narratives, car chases, period pieces and accents.  It is very hard, VERY HARD to create a piece in the contemporary world that has true emotion and doesn’t rely on it’s leads being part of a secret cult or an underground drug ring or thinking a blow-up doll is a person.  Writers like to have their emotives be found in cathartic triumphs of mountain climbing or standing after a lifetime in a wheel-chair or a happy couple meeting the same day every year for their livees.  Actors LOVE to hide behind make-up, costume and accents.  There is great bravery in presenting a present day narrative, all within the confines of a single family with nothing over the top that people don’t recognize in their own live (if a strobe light is unrecognizable to you, I’m sorry) and PULLING IT OFF.  It requires real honesty. 

There is a part of the film I love, very early on, where Atefah’s mother watches her laughing with Shireen and understands what is going on immediately with her daughter and her best friend even as her husband and son go for a clueless swim.  It is just a glance; but that is all that is needed.  At that point in the movie, I sort of feel the director drawing a line in the sand: do you see or do you not?  The moment becomes a dividing line on how you view the rest of the film: through the mother's eyes or the father's.  Do you see, or do you not?  It’s perfect.

Finally, we all know film is film and story is story.  There have been attempts to dismerit this film's intents and artistry as being inexact; to which I say, 'get a life'.  Did Charles Foster Kane really exist?  Did he build Kubla Kahn?  Did anyone remotely like him walk this earth?  barely...  but does the film touch our hearts?  does it ressonate with us long after we've walked out of the theater? or turned off the blue-ray?

and THAT, my friends, is how I define art (independent or accompanied), how do you?