The House Article | “Remarkable”: Lord Stevenson reviews ‘It Was Just an Accident’

Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr as Hamid, Majid Panahi as Ali, and Hadis Pakbaten as Goli | Image by: BFA / Alamy

3 min read28 January

Anyone interested in the events currently ongoing in Iran must be frustrated by the recent blocking of the internet and clampdown on international calls and messaging.

Presumably the facts will eventually emerge but, in the meantime, we should be grateful that – not for the first time – we can learn a great deal about the current situation from an excellent film currently on release. It Was Just an Accident is written and directed by Jafar Panahi, who has been trying to make films about the appalling situation in his home country for over two decades, during which time he has been banned from filmmaking and travelling, and imprisoned twice.

It Was Just an Accident is a direct attack on the current regime in Iran. The characters in the film are fictional, but their stories are based on real-life conversations Pahani had with fellow prisoners during his own incarceration. The film is uncompromising and direct about how the current regime has treated those who want change, but it is also a comedy, explicitly referencing Waiting for Godot and echoing that play’s sense of the powerlessness we all feel when faced by unchallengeable authority.

The film explores the futility of revenge

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The lead character is a garage mechanic, Vahid, who abducts a man who may – or may not be – the guard who viciously tortured him when he was arbitrarily imprisoned a few years before. But, as prisoners were blindfolded, he only has memories of Peg Leg’s voice, and the sound made by his prosthetic limb when walking, to rely on.

Vahid decides he needs confirmation that this really is the guard, so he calls on fellow victims of Peg Leg’s reign of terror: a mixed group, who are crammed together into the back of a van, driving round Tehran while they try to decide whether the captured man is indeed their tormentor, and what they should do if he is. During this sequence, the women play a dominant role, reflecting changes in Iranian society in recent years.

Many of the following scenes feature daily life in Tehran, including references to the widespread corruption and petty regulations which are commonplace: the camera work and acting here are excellent, particularly as they must have been incredibly difficult to obtain, given the restrictions placed on the director.

The film has a compelling conclusion, exploring the futility of revenge – and the wisdom of repeating the endless cycle of brutality which characterises the current Iranian regime. Its final scene is both powerful and ambiguous – a chilling ending to a remarkable film.

Lord Stevenson of Balmacara is a Labour peer

It Was Just an Accident

Written & directed by: Jafar Panahi

Venue: Selected cinemas