El pasado

From one of world cinema's highly respected filmmakers & the writer-director of Iranian film classics like Fireworks Wednesday, About Elly & A Separation, The Past (also known as Le passé) is Asghar Farhadi's first film that isn't set in his native country or language yet just like his earlier features, it manages to work effectively as a staggering masterpiece of intricate human drama.

The Past is an observation of our own past lives & how it always retains an ability to seep into our present n alter the course of our future for better or worse. It concerns an Iranian man who arrives in France to finalise the divorce procedures with his estranged wife who's in a relationship with another married man. Things are set in motion when his stepdaughter makes a shocking revelation about the wife of her mother's lover.

Once again, Asghar Farhadi has done a fabulous job with the script & direction as The Past makes effective use of all his trademarks in the same impressive manner as his previous works. The meticulously crafted screenplay uses just truth & lies to build up doubts in our minds, which is further complicated by the cleverly executed twists & turns in its narration. All other aspects are wonderfully carried out & never distracts from the main story.

Coming to the acting department, the wholehearted performances by the entire cast gives this film an authentic feel & makes the drama much more convincing. The cast comprises of Ali Mosaffa, Bérénice Bejo, Tahir Rahim & Pauline Burlet, and everyone chips in with brilliant contributions but the most impressive work comes from Bejo who's absolutely volcanic in her role & her Best Actress Award at 2013 Cannes Film Festival was very well-deserved.

The real beauty of Farhadi's features is that there never is a conflict between right n wrong but two rights instead & that's what makes his stories all the more morally complex. His latest is the first film that brings him out of his comfort zone yet Farhadi proves that he's a master storyteller for The Past is an intriguing portrait of human relationships that carries a universal appeal & its only downfall is its inevitable comparison to A Separation, something it can't do anything about.

Sure the numerous twists do seem to pile up & can become a bit exhausting plus the story feels longer than its 130 minutes of runtime due to its gradual pacing but there is also no denying that it's neat enough to be considered a great piece of cinema. On an overall scale, with its assured direction, original script, talented cast & outstanding performances, The Past is storytelling at its most refined that presents a genius filmmaker at the very top of his game & is one of world cinema's finest films of its year, if not the finest.

Yesterday, I finally watched The Past. As an Asghar Farhadi fan I expected a 2 hour window to the reality of life and I wasn't disappointed. It sure isn't as good as A Separation, but it has many of the defining elements that made A Separation the hit it was.

The acting is great. Not only the adults, but also the child actors perform marvelously. The dialog is quite life-like as in other Farhadi movies and it makes the arguments easy to relate to. What lags behind A Separation in my opinion is the story. It is a mixture of mostly the same elements of tension but not as well crafted. Blame and Judgment drive the plot forward but some of the subplots are a bit loose to the main story. However, I suppose for many of these shortcomings A Separation is to be blamed for setting the bar so high. As in A Separation, conflicts of interest between parents and children are conveyed thoroughly and I admire the movie's engaging representation of these commonplace issues.

All in all, I think The Past is a movie worth watching and I suggest anyone interested in a 2 hour window to some ordinary people's life to watch it.

Drama is beautifully presented through a regular daily life we all have but barely pay enough attention to. The way all characters are involved in the story line, each playing a role in making us look at the story differently is astonishing. Also, the way Farhadi shows us how unreasonable we are when, without knowing a true story, judging, concluding and making decisions and even insisting on them is significant. He is a master, as he showed in his previous works particularly About Eli and A Separation, in combining characters with different mentality and let them complicate a story by their various rationality. Everything is gray in this movie which might be seen lighter or darker by the audience based on what character he or she makes better connection with.

Another Great storyline by Farhadi, I myself always hated movies and loved books, Asghar Farhadi made drama interesting for me, the story telling is amazing in his movies, no character is lost, everything has something to do with the story. All actors are greatly chosen, Berenice Bejo was as amazing as she could be, Samir and Fouad actors were also very good(and they actually looked like each other!), and Ali Mosaffa of course is a wonderful actor! Maybe this wasn't as great as A Separation but it kept me in front of the screen even for credits,.... He is a novelist, a long interesting drama by him again, A Separation, About Elly, Wednesday Fireworks, all amazing, He is in his early forties, We expect a lot more from him!

Ahmad, an Iranian back in France to finalize a divorce procedure with Marie, is going to be the involuntarily detonator of a time bomb by unveiling all the not-said things in an uptight blended family created by Marie and Samir, in the suburbs of Paris. Although he is not perfect, Ahmad is fundamentally empathetic and gets the conversations flowing. Thus, during these few days, he will be like the missing piece of a complex puzzle, and thanks to (because of ?) him, secrets will be revealed. With this growing tension, we sense that this blended family will either come out grown up or either imploded.

I invite you very strongly to discover the end of this beautiful film. During two hours, you will bathe in a tub filled with delicacy, anger, benevolence, love, sadness, respect, betrayal, empathy, ... The whole cast is excellent. Ali Mosaffa, Tahar Rahim and Pauline Burlet are particularly tremendous. Moreover, the photography, the music, the script and the direction are sublime. As a synthesis: 8/9 of 10.