Hit the Road, the feature debut from Panah Panahi, has been described as Iran’s answer to Little Miss Sunshine. But this being modern-day Iran, its surface whimsy masks sinister undercurrents and genuine danger.
A young man is driving his parents and his caffeinated 7 year old brother, somewhere. And the film’s easy charm, particularly in its first half, is generated by the things the latter says and does because he’s only seven and doesn’t know any better.
But as the film and their journey progress, we realise that, contrary to appearances, they’re travelling with a very specific destination in mind; a secluded and out of the way border crossing.
Panahi is, as some of you will have surmised, the son of Jafar Panahi, who directed the infectiously charming and genuinely moving Offside, from 2006, about a pair a teenage girls determined to go a world cup qualifying match. In 2010, he was sentenced to 6 years in prison and banned from making films for 20 years.
But a year later, in 2011, he defiantly “made” This is not a Film, which was smuggled out and shown internationally (reviewed by me earlier here). And ever since which, he’s remained there under house arrest and under constant threat of being sent to prison.
Remarkably, as it’s considerably easier said than done, his son here strikes up exactly the same deft balance of producing a fly-on-the-wall window on to intimate, domestic tensions, together with the subtle, unspoken critique of a regime that forces ordinary people to act in ways they would never normally have dreamt of.
All the performances are outstanding, and there’s just the right measure of directorial flourishes to lift the film formally, without allowing it to descend into wanton quirkiness.
Hit the Road is yet another reason to celebrate one of the most vibrant film making cultures in the world. And for lamenting a regime that insists on forever punishing its people for their defiant and steadfast refusal to stay silent.
You can see the trailer for Hit the Road here.
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