Le Passé

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.

I just came home from seeing the movie, so it's fresh in my mind right now.

the qualities that this movie has: 1. masterfully directed 2. wonderfully written screenplay (the opening, the ending and the exchanged dialogs are all very well- written.very close to reality.no cheesy scenes.believable) 3. amazing performances

Most of the people who watch this movie, already have "A Separation" in their mind and are automatically comparing the two movies the entire time of watching.I kind of was doing the same thing. but I stopped that thought and tried to enjoy this and focus on this movie only.I'm glad I did so.in my opinion, the two movies are different.this one has a different theme and atmosphere and it's romantic at times. there was more tension in "A Separation" and almost all scenes were showing a stressful moment.but this movie has some scenes in between that are calmer.so it might be considered slow by some, which again I think, is because it's being compared with the director's previous work.

I personally think "The past" is a very well-made movie with an interesting story and a must see.I definitely recommend it to all movie lovers.

I give it a 10, cause I can't really think of anything in the film that I was bothered by, or any weaknesses.

The past / Le passé / Asghar Farhadi, 2013. Past Or future by Hossein Aghaee. Caught "The past" Asghar Farhadi's latest work last night in Isfahan" Farhadi's hometown" I gave ten star to the past like A separation but i confess that i like A separation more than this movie. The film was a masterpiece of Asghar Farhadi just like other film from this director. I hadn't been swept off my feet for a while, and The final sequence of the film had me amazing where name of Bérénice Bejo And Ali Mosaffa was appear in Céline and Samir hands masterfully. I will be shocked if this movie doesn't win an academy award and I hope heard the name Of Iran and Asghar Farhadi when the pocket will be open in this ceremony. This film start little late but when Ahmad and Lucie meet together for second time Farhadi enters first shock to the viewer. From this moments we can see specific signature of Farhadi's drama in this movie. Farhadi never talk about his movies explicitly but I guess purpose of The Past sending an alarm to the selfish man who's always run from his past or in other words its past decisions. This past decisions is impact in our life and the others that we like them to much and Farhadi says "Be careful of Bad effect" maybe for this Marie never let to Ahmad to explain the reason for departure because She believe That decisions is the starting point for adventures that occurred four years later.Similarly, we can determine to the relationship between Marie and Samir or decision of Lucie or Naïma's decision and Or even the Céline's decision.

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!

Asghar Farhadi is fast becoming my favourite storyteller of the century. Bringing Le Passe into the screen after his success with A Separation (I haven't watched Elly yet), I am happy to see the same elements (which made Separation memorable) existent in this film.

Both films at the core are focused on family drama, but different challenges altogether. Separation deals with the complexities on a religious viewpoint, and requires swift, high-level decision-making and clever communication skills to undo what could go awry easily in many places. Le Passe's challenge is different in my opinion, it is about the complications on relationship issues - something that is much more relatable to many families out there - that always appear irrational, devastating, and at times result in repercussions through generations.

Farhadi's skills as a filmmaker are unmatched - every single moment in this film is not wasted. His stories are like humanity itself, where things do not appear as they are on the surface and there is always something that more than meets the eye. Similar to Separation, in Le Passe, we see layers upon layers of twists, uncertainties, and agenda unfold and it ends up with the audience knowing that things cannot conclude with a simple solution. These factors, packed with impeccable performances by the lead cast members, are fortunately very very realistic i.e. not over-dramatic or nonsensical(though a lot of shouting war was shown).

The combination of brilliant, intelligent storytelling and impressive delivery of emotional performance is certainly what La vie d'Adèle fail to match - Le Passe is my top film to win the foreign Oscars this year!