Ein einfacher Unfall

There are many kings of cinema, but few emperors. Since Cannes, Jafar Panahi has been one of the latter: “It Was Just an Accident” won him the Palme d’Or — making him, after Michelangelo Antonioni, only the second director to triumph at all four major A-list festivals. For Panahi it is both vindication and a fresh start: after years of bans and imprisonment he returns, no longer in guerrilla mode but with a thriller that draws all his themes together.

The story begins unremarkably: a family’s car breaks down and they end up at a garage. One of the mechanics, Vahid, marked by prison and torture, recognises in one of the customers the man who once tormented him. What follows is a moral chamber piece of tremendous force. Is this really the man? Should Vahid take his revenge? With the help of former prisoners he abducts him — but the questions remain: does revenge make any sense? Or does it turn victims into perpetrators?

“It Was Just an Accident” is a furious film about trauma, guilt and forgiveness, about the cycle of violence — and at the same time Panahi’s most personal statement against the Iranian regime. No more improvised realism, but a carefully staged work that shows how large Panahi’s voice is when he is allowed to raise it freely. A triumph, artistically and politically.