Rating: 
Summary: social & religious prosecution of women in Iran
Review: 3 stars for the movie, but barely 1 star for the DVD trnasfer quality (from Fox Lorber)..Very dark & grainy, poor quality indeed.
The movie exposes the miserable situation of women in Iran (which also represent the situation in other Islamic nations)..definitely worth seeing for that reason..
Politically, a courageous movie from Iran.
From the critical point of cinema making..the story line is interrupted and incoherent..not well written
Rating: 
Summary: rasitha
Review: A time waster! If you are completely oblivious to the lack of women's rights in the Middle East, then you may find this an interesting documentary.
However, for anyone with prior appreciation of the grave situation, expecting to find an interesting story within the constraints of female society will be immensely disappointed. This film falls well short.
Rating: 
Summary: The Critics' Choice, Not Mine
Review: I viewed this film yesterday in a packed theater at an international film festival. Hundreds of people in the audience seemed to be left wondering "what WAS that?" I stood outside in the hallway listening to comments from a broad cross-section of people and no one was raving, myself included.While it might be politically correct to say that this was a powerful movie, it would also be dishonest for me to write those words. I learned more about women living in an oppressive Islamic culture by viewing the powerful documentary "Beneath the Veil". Someone said that "The Circle" made these women look less than bright. Maybe their behavior can be attributed to the way they are treated, but even so, how does one explain a young woman who is supposedly traveling by train to a place that seems like paradise ---and yet she gets off the train to buy a pretty shirt? The lack of cohesion in this film was another annoyance. As a viewer, I never really got to care about any of the women because they were on and off the screen so quickly. I was sorely disappointed because I am a great fan of Iranian films and had really looked forward to this one.
Rating:
Summary: The Critics' Choice, Not Mine
Review: I viewed this film yesterday in a packed theater at an international film festival. Hundreds of people in the audience seemed to be left wondering "what WAS that?" I stood outside in the hallway listening to comments from a broad cross-section of people and no one was raving, myself included. While it might be politically correct to say that this was a powerful movie, it would also be dishonest for me to write those words. I learned more about women living in an oppressive Islamic culture by viewing the powerful documentary "Beneath the Veil". Someone said that "The Circle" made these women look less than bright. Maybe their behavior can be attributed to the way they are treated, but even so, how does one explain a young woman who is supposedly traveling by train to a place that seems like paradise ---and yet she gets off the train to buy a pretty shirt? The lack of cohesion in this film was another annoyance. As a viewer, I never really got to care about any of the women because they were on and off the screen so quickly. I was sorely disappointed because I am a great fan of Iranian films and had really looked forward to this one.
Rating:
Summary: It's ok...
Review: If you are used to American movies, don't be upset with this one. It's a different kind of movie from a culture very different from the one westerners are used to. A lot of this movie was just watching these women, and seeing their sad lives intermingle. If you want to see a good Iranian film, try The Hidden Half or Leila. They were much more interesting.
Rating: 
Summary: Four stories , one ending and a circle which comes to an end
Review: Iranian movies are truly a challenge for a viewer who is not used to Middle-Eastern cinematography : made with only the basics , with no special effects or soundtrack in most cases , they tell their stories with shocking simplicity and with an anything but polished way . The verdict of what have you seen is based mostly on the essence of the screenplay . The Circle follows various women in Tehran in their effort to runaway , each one of them from something different . Besides telling the tragic tales of these individuals , Panahi manages to make sharp additional comments on Iran's daily reality on the moments you least expect : while one of our female heroes sits at a waiting room at some hospital in the city , a dialogue between two women is being overheard.... - " She has just been brought in . She's a suicide victim "
- " If she survives it will be a huge scandal !... " These women are constantly trying to find a saviour in a reality which seems to be able to provide none . As for the meaning of the tittle , a horrific ending scene will give you the answer .
Rating:
Summary: Bleak
Review: Is there any intelligent, reasonably conscious person left in America that isn't at least vaguely aware that women in fundamentalist Islamic societies are treated, by Western standards, little better than dogs? Well, if you're living in a vacuum, see THE CIRCLE for an education. The film begins at the birth of a baby girl to the daughter of a woman who realizes that this will be cause for divorce - her daughter's in-laws were expecting a boy. From that point, the camera follows several other women (played by actresses U.S. audiences have never heard of) around the streets of an ostensibly Iranian city, one's story leading into that of the next. Each is trying to do something without the permission or accompaniment of a man or the proper identification papers, such as journey to another city, have an abortion, or travel alone at night by taxi. This makes them outcasts furtively slinking about their business, subject to arrest and imprisonment. Even chewing gum or smoking in public is cause for rebuke by the authorities. Their plight is contrasted with the relative freedom of the males in their society. For these women, there's no joy, or laughter, or any facet of what would otherwise be considered a normal life outside of the Third World. The message is clear - life is wretched for the unmarried and unsupervised woman. There's no nudity, profanity or violence in THE CIRCLE. Yet, as I understand it, the film was banned in Iran. It's a bleak presentation, and, I'm afraid, perhaps boring if you're not being shown something you don't already know. But, if you're so inclined out of curiosity about the world around you, give it a look, and then give thanks for your great good fortune for living in the US of A - especially if you're a feminist.
Rating:
Summary: The Circle
Review: Just when you start to wonder where this movie is going, it surprises you with an incredibly abstract ending within a very contrasting traditional setting.
Rating: 
Summary: A True Masterpiece
Review: Movies today, show us things that we have seen a lot of action adventure, suspense, but we are starting to see that outside of our comfort zone there is a whole different world that exists. The Circle Directod Jafar Panahi, gives us a glimpse of what women have to put up and deal with in other parts of the world, like for example where this movie was taken place... In Iran.... I watched this movie for the 3rd time yesterday and I decided to buy the movie.
There is so much behind The Circle that it will leave you amazed every time that you watch this movie, I know it did to me...
If there is one movie that you are buying today make it this one because I know it will be one of the best movies you will ever see. This movie got 4-1/2 stars, and was almost on every Top 10 list for best movies of the year... It also got "two thumbs up"....
I thought this movie disserved a 5 out 5 and no less.....I hope that you will watch the movie to understand where I am coming from...
Rating:
Summary: A Disappointly Lame Hatchet Job
Review: no i'm not muslim, or iranian. i'm an american born, roman catholic, indo-carribean liberal. i'm disappointed because i wanted to see a good indictment of the terrible repression of women in iran. but this movie fails to deliver. first, the movie was "banned in iran" the only target audience is western. yet there's no effort to make things easier on western viewers. second, the story jumps from one woman to another without properly developing any of them. unfortunately, that makes the women just seem silly. the exact opposite effect was intended. but since we have no idea what their motivation is, and we don't come to know any of them, they just seem dumb. contrast this with the brilliant "el norte," where even though you didn't really know what the family was running from, you identified with their struggle to go north because you knew them so well. here the running seems aimless. it's hard to empathize with anyone, if you don't understand them or their goals. [isn't it universal!?! no! if it were universal then why tell this particular story?] this material could have made a good thriller. the world of an iranian woman must itself be a bit like film noir. you wake up into an alienating world. the government is after you. you don't know why. what crime have you committed? cast a beautiful iranian woman, add a few near misses, maybe a "l'homme fatal" (a hard bitten cop perhaps) and you have an interesting, and inspiring movie. after seeing that, i'd want to want to write my senator. [the director wasn't trying to meet your expectations, you arrogant american dim wit! well then what the point of making a film that's only going to be released in the west?] anyway, barring that sort of hollywoodization, the director should have focused on telling a sensitve, detailed drama of one woman's struggle so that we better understood the motivations of everyone (including the perhaps twisted views of the religious establishment). thus we could see why iranian society is the way it is. instead what we got was a lame and sadly one-dimensional view. i mean we already KNEW that life sucked for iranian women, so what did this film add?
| 
