Set in Iran but shot in Lebanon, for obvious reasons, the coming-of-age drama "Circumstance" stars two photogenic and expressive marvels, Nikohl Boosheri and Sarah Kazemy, as teenage friends and lovers living under the thumb of an oppressive regime.
Modern-day Tehran comes alive in the underground club sequences of New York-based writer-director Maryam Keshavarz's feature.
Yet the film wages an internal battle between its ripely sensual atmosphere and its often stilted pacing and plotting.
Still, those faces count for a lot. Raised in a wealthy and relatively permissive family, Atafeh (Boosheri) has a brother (Reza Sixo Safai) coping with drug rehabilitation. Brother Mehran yearns for Atafeh's best friend Shireen (Kazemy). And he is not alone — he sees what is developing between Shireen and his sister.
"Circumstance" is a film about keeping secrets, yet it does not keep many from the audience. Mehran's involvement in the volunteer Iranian "Morality Police" leads to ever-more-aggressive surveillance of his family's activities. An arranged marriage between Mehran and Shireen does little to solve anything.
Winner of the audience award at the Sundance Film Festival, Keshavarz's film works best when it accomplishes the least in story terms. The scene, unusually transgressive for an Iranian setting, of four young people dubbing the Gus Van Sant biopic "Milk" along with a standard-issue porno into Farsi works both as dry comedy and sociological commentary. By contrast, Safai's performance as Mehran sits heavily on the picture, and not in an effective way.
But when Boosheri and Kazemy are allowed to share a frame, lighted with supple care by cinematographer Brian Rigney Hubbard, "Circumstance" relaxes and shows us what's at stake here: two human hearts under close watch but miraculously in sync.
'Circumstance' -- 2 1/2 stars
MPAA rating: R (for sexual content, language and some drug use)
Cast: Nikohl Boosheri (Atafeh); Sarah Kazemy (Shireen); Reza Sixo Safai (Mehran)
Credits: Written and directed by Maryam Keshavarz; produced by Keshavarz, Karin Chien and Melissa Lee. A Roadside Attractions release. In Farsi with English subtitles. Running time: 1:46
