The Past (2013)

Since recording Populaire during a recent screening on BBC4,I've been looking for a second title starring Bérénice Bejo.Whilst looking round on Netflix UK,I somehow stumbled across a title starring Bejo.With having been taken by Bejo's role in Populaire,and also having heard a lot about film maker Asghar Farhadi,I decided that it was the perfect time to look into the past.The plot:Receiving an E-Mail from his estranged wife Marie over wanting an official divorce, Ahmad leaves Iran for the first time in four years to meet Marie again in Paris.Whilst meeting Marie again,Ahmad notices that Marie's children, (from a previous relationship) appear to be closed-off from talking to their mum.Staying in Marie's house as the divorced is processed,Ahmad is surprised to discover that a man called Samir has moved in as Marie's new lover.Unsure over how serious she is taking things with Samir,and noticing that Marie's eldest Lucie is really uncomfortable around him,Ahmad is surprised to discover that Marie is pregnant with Samir's child.View on the film:Directing the entire film via translator,writer/director Asghar Farhadi & cinematographer Mahmoud Kalari give the title an extremely intimate atmosphere,which places the viewer in the backseat listening in on the frosty exchanges,and keeps the audience at a distance that only allows them to hear snippets of dialogue from behind the counter or across the road.Placing everyone in Marie's house, Farhadi delicately reflects the brittle feelings of the inhibitions by covering the house in dry browns and yellows that make it look like it has been worn down over the years.Spending 2 years in France in order to pick up on the speech pattern , the screenplay by Farhadi has an incredible raw heart at its centre,with Marie,Ahmad and Samir speaking to each other in a frank,off the cuff manner that gives the dialogue a powerful quality. Trimming away any exposition, Farhadi impressively places trust in the viewer to build the full background picture,as Marie and Ahmad carry a full awareness of their past relationship,whilst Samir tries to find some level of clarity over where he and Marie stand.Cooling down her witty comedic side,the stunning Bérénice Bejo gives a dazzling,expressive performance as Marie,with the criss-crossing of Marie's feelings towards her children and her lovers being smoothly delivered by Bejo,who gives the scenes with Ahmad a frozen in time edge,and Maire's attempt to raise her kids placing Marie in a world of frustrations.Learning French just 2 months before filming, Ali Mosaffa gives a passionate performance as Ahmad,thanks to Mosaffa bringing the care that Ahmad still feels for Maire to the surface,whilst finding himself in transition towards accepting an end to the relationship,as Marie and Ahmad look back to the past.

The plot of THE PAST (LE PASSÉ) is relatively straightforward: Ahmad (Ali Mosaffa) returns from Tehran to Paris to prepare for his divorce from Marie Brisson (Bérénice Bejo), but finds himself gradually drawn into familial troubles with Marie's boyfriend Samir (Tahar Rahim) and Marie's sixteen-year-old daughter Lucie (Pauline Burlet).The film can be treated as an incredibly sophisticated whodunit, as Ahmad tries to discover why Lucie hates her mother, and becomes involved in a web of intrigue that focuses on why Samir's wife Céline (Aleksandra Klebanska) ended up in a coma. Everyone tells their version of the truth, but they do not explain everything. The action offers a series of revelations that not only tell us what happened, but why it happened: everyone, it seems, was jealous of everyone else in a love-quarter involving Marie Brisson, Céline, Lucie, and Samir, as well as illegal worker Naima (Sabrina Ouazani), who becomes unwittingly drawn into the action.Yet director Farhadi is much more interested in his characters' state of mind. As in his earlier work such as A SEPARATION and ABOUT ELLY, he makes considerable use of interior shots of the characters driving their cars; this not only suggests a kind of insulation (both mental as well as physical) from the outside world, but also a continual restlessness, an unwillingness (or is it inability) to face up to themselves. This is especially true in LE PASSÉ, where Marie Brisson and Samir plan to get married, with little concern for the effect that it might have on their children.As the action unfolds, so it becomes clear that every single character is imprisoned by their respective pasts. However much they might try to escape - by marriage, or moving to another country, or simply running away (like Lucie) - they will always have to face the day of reckoning. Whether they are able to negotiate this process is another story. They would rather pursue lives of continual action: work, household chores, eating out. But Farhadi will not let his characters off the hook so easily; his camera focuses on their expressions in almost forensic detail - making us understand the mental and physical strain they experience. LE PASSÉ is an incredibly intense experience to watch; there is no music to alleviate the tension, and the camera refuses to give us any relaxation - through panning shots, or lengthy tracking shots. Instead Farhadi makes continual use of the close-up and two-shot, forcing us to consider the characters' behavior and relate it to our own lives. What would we do if we were faced with Ahmad's or Lucie's dilemmas?The film comes to some kind of resolution in the end, but still no real questions concerning the protagonists' lives have been answered. Many of them are doomed to lives of perpetual loneliness through their inability to communicate either emotionally or literally.LE PASSÉ is quite simply a modern classic - a brilliant piece of film-making by a master director.

Iranian born director Asghar Farhadi's best Foreign Language Oscar winning feature length film from 2011, A Separation (at the time of writing ranked 102 on the IMDb Top 250) created quite the stir upon release, well and truly catapulting Farhadi into the western marketplace as a directing talent to watch. With Farhadi's experience as a playwright, A Separation displayed a deft hand at emotionally resonate and hard hitting dialogue and while personally I felt A Separation was overrated there was no denying its power in many respects. With Farhadi's latest Golden Globe nominated release The Past (or Le passé in its native tongue), this power is even more so present.Once more as with A Separation, patience is required by the audience member to wade through what is a very long and at times unquestionably arduous 130 minute run time with a majority of proceedings taking place within the family home, the scope as a feature film is therefore very limited. While Farhadi's feature is dented by its quite solitary locations (no doubt relating back to his work within the stage production world) there is no denying the large arena in which Farhadi's script takes the participants of the film and us the audience to, in an often home hitting manner.Farhadi's script is in my books a large step up from A Separation and it's fantastically played out by his hugely impressive cast, no more so than everyone's favourite The Artist break out star Berenice Bejo as feisty and determined twice divorced mother figure Marie Brisson. Bejo shows a previously untapped skill in this picture and her performance showcases what could be a future Oscar winning leading lady mastering her craft. Marie is by no means an easy role, she is a hard person to warm to completely but there is enough within that makes her relatable and against all odds likable. Farhadi also struck gold with his casting of the ever good Tahar Rahim (a favourite of mine after his stunning work in A Prophet) as Marie's new squeeze Samir and there is a very impressive performance from teenage actress Pauline Burlet as Marie's daughter Lucie that in a Hollywood picture would have brought her far more plaudits. All these elements combine to make The Past very much a movie deserving to be on your to watch list.As previously mentioned The Past is by no means an easy watch, I would compare it to sitting through A Separation or even Amour in terms of tone and pacing, yet it all comes together to create one of the most simply beautiful film endings in recent memories and a story that will inspire debate amongst film lovers. Once Farhadi combines technical filmmaking to go along with his world class script work the results will be quite mind blowing, yet as it stands there's still a whole lot to like about this talent who seems to have his finger on the pulse of the human condition as good as anyone else out there.3 and a half bottles of perfume out of 5 For more movie reviews and opinions check into - www.jordanandeddie.wordpress.com

After the Oscar success of 'A Separation', Iranian Director Asghar Farhadi was left with the difficult task of following up such a well received Film. To make things more difficult, he decided to make the film in France. Although I have never seen 'A Separation', I am happy to say that on it's own merits, 'The Past' is an excellent film for many reasons.Asghar Farhadi manages to weave together a complex family drama dealing with a myriad of feelings and reactions to a tragedy without being difficult to follow or without the self aware ambiguity which is now becoming a cliché. The story focuses on Marie (Berenice Bejo) who is divorcing her Iranian husband Ahmad (Ali Mosaffa) as she has entered a new relationship with Samir (Tahar Rahim). Samir is a conflicted man whose wife is in a coma after an attempted suicide which may or may not be the result of his affair with Marie. The possible reasons for her suicide are slowly revealed in the many beautifully scripted scenes. Marie's daughter Lucie (Pauline Burlet) is heavily involved in the whole debacle as she reveals initially to her adoptive father Ahmed that she exposed the affair to Samir's wife. Blame is shifted to a number of people involved as these revelations come to light and the issue of all this past trauma is making it difficult for all the characters to move on with their lives. In Marie and Ahmed's case, there is still a little something in their relationship, even though they are getting divorced, and in Samir's case, he may be still in love with his unconscious and possibly dying wife. The film ends with a lasting image that is subtly heart breaking, but with a hint of hope for a few characters who have resolved their issues and have moved on.Each character is well formed and very believable with excellent performances by everyone to match. You feel for every character in the film, including the young children who are played brilliantly by the evidently talented young actors. The film is very dialogue driven and reveals itself at a leisurely pace giving way to some emotionally hard going scenes without resorting to many obvious cliché's. It is a well balanced film which shows how tragic events of the past can effect peoples lives in the present. It is certainly one of the surprise gems so far this year and will hopefully get the praise it deserves because it is outstanding.See my Film Review Blog - www.projectionistreview.wordpress.com