It Was Just an Accident

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://fandomwire.com/it-was-just-an-accident-review/

"It Was Just an Accident is a testament to the unwavering courage of Jafar Panahi, a filmmaker who refuses to be silenced.

It's a brave protest executed as a psychological thriller that, despite occasionally stumbling in its own need to be overtly political — with the message sometimes delivered too directly — manages, in its conclusion, to transcend its narrative and raise moral questions that are difficult to ignore.

An intense and intrepid invitation to confront the inconvenient truth that, under an oppressive regime, the line between justice and fatality is often drawn by chance."

Rating: B

The desire for vengeance is indisputably a toxic force, one that can lead us to engage in unspeakable acts whose despicable nature is often on par with the wrongs committed against us. Consequently, we can’t help but ask ourselves if this is an acceptable, justifiable course. What’s more, no matter how much we may wish to seek retribution, are we truly capable of following through on such acts, especially if we can genuinely appreciate the harm those heinous deeds may have had on us? Those are the thorny questions raised in this latest offering from acclaimed Iranian writer-director Jafar Panahi, showing us how a simple mishap can spiral out of control, creating a chain reaction of problems that grows progressively difficult to contain. What begins as a minor traffic accident involving Eghbal (Ebrahim Azizi), a young husband and father, quickly snowballs into a progressively dangerous, intricately complicated scenario in which he’s unexpectedly spotted by Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri), a onetime-persecuted Azerbaijani dissident who believes that Eghbal is the Iranian government intelligence officer responsible for having tortured him while in captivity. But is he? Vahid is uncertain, but he nevertheless avails himself of the opportunity to kidnap the suspected culprit, threatening to bury Eghbal alive to get his revenge. However, as Vahid zealously digs Eghbal’s grave, he pleads with the kidnapper that he has the wrong man. Given his nagging uncertainty, Vahid gives his victim a reprieve, holding him hostage while trying to definitively prove his identity. This sets off a series of both perilous and surprisingly comical incidents involving other former radicals (Mariam Afshari, Hadis Pakbatan, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr), all of whom struggle to determine whether the suspect is who Vahid contends. And, as this increasingly madcap situation plays out, additional complications arise that prompt Vahid and his peers to question if they can carry out this dubious venture. Having be...

With no shortage of feral dogs roaming the desert at night, it’s no real surprise that a family heading home manage to hit one with their car. This upsets the daughter, but with her mum reassuring that her dad didn’t do it deliberately they manage to get their vehicle closer to home before it gives up. Luckily, they are outside a shop where a kindly soul offers to help with some temporary repairs. Upstairs, preparing for a wedding next day, is “Vahid” (Vahid Mobasseri) who begins to act furtively when he hears their guests. He follows them home, stakes them out and then follows “Eghbal” (Ebrahim Azizi) as the car is towed for repair next morning. Why? Well things become even more curious when he bashes the man over the head with a shovel and bundles him into a van which he proceeds to drive into the arid wilderness. He digs an hole, he bundles the man into it, he prepares to fill it in burying the man alive. Who is this man? What could he have done? Well his pleading for mercy manages to introduce an element of doubt in the mind of “Vahid” that he is not the man he thinks. As these uncertainties grow, “Vahid” seeks the corroboration of wedding photographer “Shiva” (Mariam Afshari) and it’s from here on in that we begin to get an idea of just who they think their prisoner is and what he is supposed to have done. Initially, she wants nothing to do with his scheme but the couple about to be married also turn put to be connected, as is her ex-boyfriend “Hamid” (Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr) and soon the morals of two wrongs not making a right are being widely discussed by a group united in their loathing of “Peg Leg”. Just to add to their indecision, their captive’s phone is constantly ringing and when they discover his young daughter is concerned for her heavily pregnant mother who has collapsed at their home, the gang of would be assassins face a moral dilemma of their own. As the plot develops, there is comedy here. It’s dark, and not exactly laugh out loud, but it helps co...