The Past Review
By David Kempler
The Future is Bright for The Past
Asgar Farhadi, the talented Iranian director who took home the Academy award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2011, for "
A Separation", is back with "The Past". Once again, the plot revolves around a man and woman's dissolving relationship, and once again Farhadi has made a riveting film. This one might even be better, but it might also be that "The Past" is merely fresher in my mind. One certainty is that it is good stuff.
It begins with Ahmad (Ali Mosaffa) returning to Paris from Tehran to finalize a divorce after having been away for four years. His wife, Marie (Bérénice Bejo), picks him up at the airport and takes him back to what used to be their home. She still lives there, but she now shares her home with Samir (Tahar Rahim), her fiancée. Samir's young son, Fouad (Elyes Aguis), is also there, along with the young Léa (Jeanne Jestin) and teenage Lucie (Pauline Burlet), both of whom are Marie's daughters from a different father.
It's a pretty straightforward task to sign divorce papers, but there are lots of things going on in Marie's house. Fouad is miserable because his biological mother has been in a coma for quite a while and he is not quite old enough to deal with it, not that there is any age where one could totally accept such a reality. He has forged a good friendship with Léa. Lucie is also miserable, but for different reasons. She is unhappy with her mother bringing another man into the house.
Ahmad has walked into a buzz-saw. Instead of just signing papers and heading back to Tehran, he tries to unravel everything so he can understand all of the different tensions. The problem is that one of the characters has made an enormous mistake in assessing something very major and because of this, everyone is caught in the web. Farhadi unveils it all slowly and meticulously, but at no point does this unveiling feel anything short of realistic.
The strength of "The Past" is the interaction between all of the participants and the fact that there are no good guys and bad guys. Everyone is a victim of their particular circumstance, just like in real life. If you see it and expect to root for someone and against someone else, you won't be able to do so. Instead, you will be able to empathize with everyone.
"The Past" is a great examination of the day-to-day problems we must all endure, at some point in our lives. Farhadi enables us to care about everyone involved and that along with its other assets makes "The Past" another likely nomination for Farhadi. Don't be surprised if he manages to capture a second win in three years, which would be a magnificent accomplishment. Don't pass up "The Past".
