The Past (2013)
Certified: 12A
Duration: 130 minutes
Directed by: Asghar Farhadi
Starring: Bérénice Bejo, Tahar Rahim, Ali Mosaffa, Pauline Burlet, Elyes Aguis, Jeanne Jestin, Sabrina Ouazani, Babak Karimi, Valeria Cavalli, Eleonora Marino
Eden Entertainment Ltd release

Asghar Farhadi has a penchant for strange and quirky relationships as he has already shown in his powerful relationship drama A Separation (2011). And he is at it again in this French/ Italian/Iranian production.

The director revels in the characters he brings into the story and presents every point of view possible to show there are a variety of dimensions and facets to a relationship. The characters’ emotions feel like an elastic band that has been pulled so tight that it is about to snap.

Ahmad (Ali Mosaffa) has just arrived from Iran to Paris where he is to complete his divorce from his wife Maria (Bérénice Bejo). They have been separated for four years and there are many matters still unresolved. The two do not agree on anything, yet it seems they are not ready to end their relationship.

Marie takes Ahmad to where she lives and here he meets her two daughters from a previous marriage. She is about to marry her boyfriend Samir (Tahar Rahim), something which her eldest daughter, Lucie (Pauline Burlet), does not approve of. The household includes the young Lea (Jeanne Jestin), Maria’s youngest, and Fouad (Elyes Agius), Samir’s young son. Both bring their own sort of complications to the proceedings. Soon revelations are made and everyone will have to come to terms with their actions and feelings.

The Past dissects its protagonists’ lives along with all the underlying feelings that accompany each revelation. It also has a multicultural facet to it but the characters’ emotional depths go beyond the borders of race. Bejo and Mosaffa deliver strong feelings that resonate with those emotions every failed relationship can leave in its wake.

The film walks a minefield of emotional entanglements and is not always easy to go through. However, the film’s strength lies in this aspect. It also does not shirk away from showing the darkness of the human character, yet Farhadi does it so well that it’s very difficult not to get caught in this web of resentment.

The film won several awards, including a best actress award at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival for Bejo.

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