The Past/Le Passé (2013) - Farhadi's masterly drama

♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

+ Most Under-Appreciated Movie of the Year

 

A serious-toned, information-skimpy poster for Asghar Farhadi's The Past

 

An Iranian man returns to his wife in Paris to finalize their divorce. But their children, her new boyfriend, - and the consequences of all of their decisions that have piled up, - make the finalization harder than initially believed.

Even better then Iranian master writer-director Asghar Farhadi's (The Salesman (2016)) preceding, great A Separation (2011), The Past, his 6th feature, is a potent jawbreaker of a drama. It is thematically rich, centering on issues of guilt, suicide, love, family and responsibility, and dramatically intense. It features first-rate performances from Bérénice Bejo (The Artist (2011)) and Ali Mosaffa (Somewhere Else/Jayi Digar (2003)) and Tahar Rahim (Samba (2014)) as the two men in her life, as well as from Elyes Aguis (Looking for Her/Je Vous Souhaite d'être Follement Aimée (2015)), who plays their boy Fouad incredibly naturally and heartbreakingly.

The Past is full of nerve, SPOILER and especially in its third act, I came to reach the feeling that none of the three adults here, - plagued by immaturity, egotism and flight from their responsibilities as they are, - are really very sympathetic, - but the children involved still command our engagement with the story in spite of this. The adult characters also seem to balance on the edge of seeing themselves a bit from the outside, which we so desperately want them to, so they can grasp what it is they are doing.

The Past is in every way a masterful film; serious and realistic, it is a formidable work.

 

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Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 8-11 mil. $

Box office: 10.6 mil. $

= Huge flop

[The Past premiered May 17 (Cannes) and runs 130 minutes. It was shot in Paris from October 2012 - January 2013. It is a co-production between no less than 17 companies and institutions. Farhadi wrote the script in Persian and spent two years in France, getting to know the rhythm of the language before filming. However, he still did not speak French and directed the film through a translator. Prior to the lengthy shoot, Farhadi insisted on 2 months of rehearsals. Bejo was cast as a substitute for Marion Cotillard, who dropped out due to commitments on Rust and Bone. The film opened #39 in 3 theaters to a 29k $ opening weekend in North America, where it peaked in 77 theaters and grossed 1.3 mil. $ (12.3 % of the total gross). The film's biggest market was its native France with 7.6 mil. $ (71.7 %), and its 3rd biggest was Italy with 0.6 mil. $ (5.7 %). To many's surprise, The Past was not Oscar-nominated. In Cannes, it won the ecumenical jury prize and the Best Actress prize. It was also nominated for the Best Foreign Film Golden Globe and for 5 César awards (France's Oscar), winning none. The Past is certified fresh at 93 % with an 8.2 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Past?