About Elly (2009)

Asghar Farhadi is one of the most influential foreign Directors today. About Elly, recognized his position in the film lovers of the world.The film starts with a usual family picnic. With a sweet tune, it goes through the fun and troubles we usually have during the picnic. By this time, all the characters are cool and equally imprinted on the audience. But, the sudden and unexpected disappearance of the title character changes the mood of the film. Every person's basic character comes out. All the little lies and made up stories comes back to them. This movie is different from the usual Iranian films. The beauty of an international Independent movie was can be seen.Don't miss this amazing movie. A must watch. #kiduMovie

Awful, boring, slow, disgusting, rubbish movie.There is no story, no twists, nothing interesting.I did not enjoy 1 minutes of this movie.This movie was just made for the sake of making a movie.No purpose, no meaning, nothing to conclude.Stupid story that does not make sense.

The Iranian movie Darbareye Elly was show in the U.S. with the title About Elly (2009). It was written and directed by Asghar Farhadi. This excellent movie has been presented as a mystery, but I don't see it that way. I see it more as a film about the interaction of group of friends getting away from the constraints of Tehran to a vacation area on the Caspian Sea. The only person who is not part of the group of friends is a kindergarten teacher, Elly. She teaches the daughter of one of the friends in her class. A member of the group is back from his home in Germany, and has asked one of the women to help him find a wife. The unofficial leader of the group--Sepidah--suggests that Elly come along to meet this man. Elly is reluctant--for reasons we don't understand--but she finally decides to go along with the plan. However, after the first day, she wants to go home. What happens next isn't so much a mystery as it is a study of a group of friends responding to what may well be a tragedy.Taraneh Alidoosti plays Elly. Alidoosti has been named the greatest Iranian woman actor of the decade. (She may also be the most beautiful.) However, the real star of the movie is Golshifteh Farahani as Sepideh. Sepideh is obsessed with keeping Elly at the resort, and when things turn sour, she is obsessed with trying to hold the group together and make the best of the situation. Whether she will ever again be accepted as the group's unofficial leader is uncertain. Whether the group will even keep together is another uncertainty.My spouse pointed out that the ensemble acting in this movie is amazing. We expect it from "Friends," because that group of actors worked together year after year. But how did director Farhadi get such superb acting from a dozen actors who have never acted together as a group? I assume the answer is an immensely talented director working with highly skilled professional actors.The person who introduced the film is from Iran. She pointed out some very important facts that we would not have otherwise known. For example, the Caspian Sea is renowned in Iran as a attractive, exotic resort area. On the other hand, the surf is extremely treacherous. So the area is not only beautiful, but also dangerous.The introducer also remarked how difficult it is for sophisticated, educated people to maintain a sense of identity in the repressive culture of theocratic Iran. One aspect is that people lie easily, because telling the truth can sometimes lead to serious trouble. Everyone lies easily, even on minor matters. (They don't lie very well, but they still lie all the time.)We saw this film in the wonderful Dryden Theatre at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, NY. Some of the sea scenes will work better on the large screen, but the film will work on the small screen as well. Find it and see it!P.S. As I write this review, About Elly has an excellent IMDb rating of 8.1. I love to see a great movie appreciated by the IMDb audience.

I believe that in ancient Persia telling the truth was the central virtue. Obviously Iran has come a long way since then.I thought this came out in 2015, since that's when it hit theaters in the US, but I see it's 2009. Why a 6-year wait? Because the director's other two films, "Separation" (which I loved) and "The Past" (liked, but not loved) came out later, and someone is looking for a big payday?Let me talk about the press conference at the Berlin Film Festival, which is on the DVD, first. Farhadi, the director, acted like a politician--he didn't answer one question directly or truthfully. Not only was he evasive, he even gave answers that had nothing to do with the questions. When the actresses were asked directly if Farhadi "imposed his vision" on them, they sucked up big time and talked about how collaborative it all was. Right. I need to sell them a bridge. There were no fewer than three questions about the film having a "problem" in Iran. What the problem was is never discussed. The director denied there was "a problem." I can see why he directed a movie where everyone lies! He wouldn't know the truth if he fell over it.At one point the director talks about trying to make the movie "universal." Really? Constant lying? Treating women like dogs? That's not universal. And the first scene--some slot with something being put in at intervals. "What the hell is that?" I said to myself. In the Q&A in the press conference, Farhadi explained it was an alms box that travelers put money in before a trip to ask for a safe trip, and yes, there was some dialog about Elly putting money in an alms box, but I never connected it to the opening scene. How can it be "universal" if the opening scene is a strictly Iranian custom that no one else knows about????Also, I see that Golshifteh Farahani ("Sepidah") was exiled (i.e., threatened with bodily harm) from Iran in 2012 and now lives in Paris. She's going to be in the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean, so obviously it's hurt her career… (more sarcasm). Good for her.OK, now the movie. You know those horror movies where all the people do really, really stupid things? And you yell at the screen, "Don't go into that room!" That's exactly what happens here. Everyone--yes, everyone--tells lies constantly. Why? Is this some sort of metaphor for Iran? A country where you have to lie constantly to get along? I don't know. The woman are treated like crap: "Get the salt." "Get the tea." "Watch the children." "Clean the house." At least in the subtitles there are no "Pleases" or "Thank yous." Then there's the scene where Amir throws his wife Sepideh to the ground and starts beating her. Charming. And then when thing start to go wrong, everyone blames everyone else in an infinite chain. Lovely. Gosh, I want these people as my friends!! (more sarcasm.) Then they talk about the "honor" of Elly…what, because she bundled up in a ton of clothes and went for a day at the seaside with friends? And of course the women plunge into the ocean with all their clothes on. They would drown in less than a minute--the wet clothes would drag them down. Then there were the multitude of "holes" in the movie--they're covered on the message board threads, so I won't list them all, but there were lots and lots. Stuff that didn't make sense, stuff that had no meaning but just "happened" to be in the shot. This is supposed to be "art"--everything's supposed to be there for a reason. Again, see the message boards. And if you notice, at the end of the movie all the adults are in the house discussing what to do, what their next lie should be, etc., and where are the children who almost drowned the previous day? Oh, they're playing in the ocean. What kind of parents ARE these? The final scene: everyone trying to push the car that's stuck in the sand. This does sum up the movie--why pull the car out with the 4-wheel drive vehicle or jack up the rear wheels and put something under them? No, that's too easy. Let's all push. Dumb and dumber.I will say the acting was excellent. However, they deserve to be in a better movie.