Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

No Bears Blu-ray Movie Review

Jafar from afar.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III March 22, 2024

A meta-docudrama neatly tied into the director's own personal life, Jafar Panahi's No Bears famously premiered at the 79th Venice Film Festival while he was stewing in an Iranian prison for protesting police brutality. (Panahi was released about a year ago, two days after beginning a hunger strike.) It wasn't the director's first time behind bars and No Bears was far from his only film made "guerilla style", with a few earlier efforts -- some written with fellow Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami -- made illegally or banned before release. And while its backstory and admittedly clever gimmicks outpace the actual narrative, No Bears is a good effort from a director in command of limited resources.

Opening with a scene from a movie-within-the-movie, we're introduced to Bakhtiar (Bakhtiar Panjeei) and Zara (Mina Kavani), who are hoping to leave Iran via fake passports after enduring oppression from the government. Though he's able to secure the proper "paperwork" for his sweetheart, Bakhtiar hasn't taken care of his own yet and Zara, abhorred at the thought of leaving the country alone, storms away. It's a fine scene that director Jafar Panahi (playing a fictional version of himself) is remotely watching via laptop, offering a bit of advice to the actors until his wi-fi signal drops out. Annoyed by the lack of reception in his temporary surroundings -- a small room in the village of Jaban, near Turkey's border -- he attempts to reconnect but ends up wandering around to photograph the locals instead.

It's a simple and intriguing setup for a film that soon takes no shortage of left turns, some of which may pique the interest of -- or possibly just confuse -- total outsiders to this particular corner of the world. After his kindly neighbor amusingly fails an impromptu photography assignment, Jafar's assistant director Reza (Reza Heydari) informs him that he'll need to enter Turkey to finish his film as the cast and crew are tired of speaking with him virtually. Fear prevents Jafar from actually crossing the border without the proper paperwork, setting him up for an internal conflict not unlike the plight of his film-within-the-film's main character. It's exacerbated by the photographs taken of the villagers, at least one of whom may get into serious trouble for what (on in this case, who) was captured on camera.

Decently acted and well-constructed given its obvious behind-the-scenes restrictions, No Bears will perk up a few ears with its meta-format that ambitiously pulls in the simultaneous real-life plight of its director. That only takes the film so far, unfortunately, as it falls a bit short of intended greatness by an overreliance on said gimmicks that actually grow in number as the film progresses. This makes for a somewhat confusingly layered production that, as much as I hate to say it, employs most of its parlor tricks to distract from the shortcomings of its actual plot. (Think Dunkirk and certainly Inception, albeit on a much, much smaller scale.) It's still an engaging film for the most part and certainly earns points for its mere existence under the circumstances, but there's probably a more emotionally satisfying -- and dare I say more accessible -- production lurking underneath some of No Bears' showy smoke and mirrors.

Now available on Blu-ray as part of Criterion's new "Janus Contemporaries" line alongside such films as EO (which my colleague Jeffrey Kauffman loved) and the impressive Tori and Lokita, this budget-priced disc might be good enough for a blind buy as the decent A/V presentation and permanent supplements beat its streaming counterpart on the Criterion Channel. But given the nature of its story, No Bears is the kind of film you may want to try before you buy.

No Bears Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Like the film within this film (and understandably so, given the "under the radar" production of both), No Bears was shot digitally and has thus made a relatively smooth but not quite seamless transition to Blu-ray from Criterion. Fine detail is startlingly good under the right conditions -- bright light sources, outdoor footage, etc. -- with indoor locations occasionally dipping in quality but rarely to a distracting degree. One exception occurs early during a scene in Jafar's bedroom (see screenshot #9), where detail drops dramatically and the picture takes on a waxy, filtered appearance. Given its short duration and the relatively high quality of almost everything else, I'll chalk this up to an issue with the original source recording. Elsewhere, it's relatively smooth sailing aside from some of the absolute darkest hours of night, where mild to glaring amounts of banding, macro blocking, and other compression artifacts can be spotted on these rare but noticeable occasions (see the sky above). With these limitations in mind, though, No Bears is a overall still a good-looking film and, as such, Criterion's 1080p transfer carries most of the weight accordingly.

No Bears Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This DTS-5.1 Master Audio track (mislabeled as stereo on the Blu-ray back cover) is presented with its original audio intact, which is a mixture of Persian (Farsi), Azerbaijani, and Turkish dialogue with optional English subtitles. Much like the visuals, it favors "you are there' realism and, unlike the script, is mostly straightforward with no clever tricks. This means what we get is an essentially front-loaded affair with mostly subtle urban ambiance and crowded conversations creeping into the rears. Very few if any audio issues could be picked up along the way, which is admirable considering the conditions under which everything was likely recorded. A solid effort; nothing more, nothing less.

No Bears Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in Criterion's typical clear stocky keepcase with poster-themed cover artwork and a folded insert with a brief essay by film critic Michael Joshua Rowin. Think of it as a slightly stripped-down version of their usual output, which applies to the slim but appreciated bonus features as well.

• On Panahi's Films (18:13) - Filmmaker Ramin Bahrani gives us a brief guided tour of Jafar Panahi's life and career, which obviously includes his political resistance and subsequent conflicts with the government. Fittingly, supportive clips from several of his films (beginning with 1995's The White Balloon), as well as those of his contemporaries, are also included and discussed. Presented in Farsi with optional English subtitles.

• Panahi Speaks from Prison (2:00) - Though disappointingly short, this brief piece reminds us about Panahi's 2022 imprisonment and includes a brief audio statement from the director to patrons of that year's Miami Film Festival as an acknowledgement of him receiving the event's Precious Gem Award for No Bears.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:08) - This politically-charged promotional piece emphasizes the director's numerous clashes with authority and, like the previous extra, mixes English text with subtitled Farsi dialogue.

No Bears Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Outlaw director Jafar Panahi's meta-docudrama No Bears shrewdly blurs the line between his personal and filmmaking life, ambitiously mixing fact with fiction in an interesting way. While the end result feels overcooked and dependent on sharp detours, it's still worth watching and is an admirable effort under the conditions in which it was made. Criterion's Blu-ray offers some support with decent A/V and a few thoughtful extras, and any shortcomings are mostly alleviated by the low price tag. Recommended to established fans of the director, but most should try before they buy.