Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes,It Was Just An Accident is a fearless tour-de-force from cinematic luminary Jafar Panahi. Both urgently political and deeply humane, this new moral classic confronts truth and uncertainty, revenge and mercy, head-on.
“This is the pertinent hypothetical at the forefront of the Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi’s mind, as he was one of those people who was arrested, placed in custody under spurious charges and made to suffer the gross indignities of physical and psychological torture because he dared to resist the régime. His brilliant new film,It Was Just an Accident, extrapolates and dramatises his wavering, post-incarnation thought patterns as he ponders the true value of mortal revenge against his“patriotic” oppressors.” – New York Times
When auto mechanic Vahid unexpectedly encounters the man who may have been his torturer in prison, he kidnaps him with the intention to exact vengeance. But since the sole clue to Eghbal’s identity is the distinct squeak of his prosthetic leg, Vahid turns to a loose circle of other now-freed victims for confirmation. And the danger only escalates.
As they deal with their past and diverging worldviews, the group struggles to decide: Is this him, without a doubt? What would retribution mean, in actuality?
Unraveling against the ever-present backdrop of authoritarianism,It Was Just An Accidentcoalesces into a climactic act of resistance by an Iranian auteur who is no stranger to unjust detainment himself. Powered by thrilling momentum and peerless craft, France’s Best International Feature Film entry to the 98th Academy Awards® asks us to consider – and reconsider – the line between right and wrong.
Starring:
Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten
Directed By:
Jafar Panahi
Running time:
106 mins