The Past
Director: Asghar Farhadi
Starring: Bérénice Bejo, Tahar Rahim, Ali Mosaffa
130 mins; Class 12; Eden Cinemas Release

A man walks out of the arrivals lounge at a French airport, clearly having luggage issues. A woman is waiting for him, waving tentatively to get his attention. When he emerges, they rush to her car in the middle of a downpour and tumble, both dripping wet, into the vehicle. It should be a funny moment, yet it is clear things are a little awkward between them.

He is Ahmad (Ali Mosaffa), who is returning to Paris from Tehran to finalise the divorce from the woman in the car, Marie (Bérénice Bejo). Marie invites Ahmad to stay with her, so that he can catch up with her daughters from a previous marriage, Lucie (Pauline Burlet) and Léa (Jeanne Jestin).

Marie omits to immediately tell Ahmad that not only is she living with her boyfriend Samir (Tahar Rahim) and his young son Fouad, but that she wants to marry him.

However, the awkwardness thrown up by that revelation is nothing compared to the resentment Lucie feels towards Marie’s relationship with Samir. The pervading presence of his very ill wife Sabine is too potent to ignore.

Strong andnaturalisticperformances with nary a false note

Ahmad's well-intentioned effort to reconcile mother and daughter lead to much heartache, as revelations come to light that may tear this dysfunctional, extended family even further apart.

If this seems all too much like a soap opera, fear not. The Past is a complex, slow-burning family drama that looks at the minutiae of the lives of an ordinary bunch of people undergoing a major crisis.

It is written and directed by the Iranian Asghar Farhadi, who has garnered international recognition for his films, especially About Elly (2009) and A Separation, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film in 2012.

Farhadi is an actor’s director, creating relatable characters in moving and realistic storylines. His mastery of simple but powerful dialogue gets to the heart of basic human emotions with honesty and subtlety; so much so that sometimes the viewers feel they are somehow intruding in this family’s personal space.

There are no unnecessary histrionics, no manipulative pull of the heartstrings.

When things get really heated, the explosions of anger and sadness are the result of the myriad frustrations provoked by the situation that the protagonists find themselves in.

Farhadi has brought together an ensemble of excellent actors who exploit his material to the full. The Past is driven by strong, natural-istic performances with nary a false note. Bejo, best known to international audiences as the very peppy Peppy Miller in the Oscar-winning The Artist, is a revelation as Marie. She is a woman struggling with the complications life throws her way as she tries to put the past to bed and build a new future.

It is a performance that is as nuanced as it is profound, Bejo nailing Marie’s doubts and fears to perfection, with a pained look here or a quick flash of anger there. Bejo deservedly walked off with the Best Actress award at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

Tahar Rahim’s Samir is a ball of simmering anger, the regrets that linger from his past relationship threatening his future one. He engages in a polite, yet obviously strained, relationship with Ahmad – there is a moment when you expect the two to engage in a duel. Yet Ahmad is the voice of reason, the reluctant participant drawn into this volley of fireworks involving people he genuinely loves, embodied by a quiet and sympathetic performance from Mosaffa.

Even the younger protagonists shine – Burlet’s Lucie is a fascinating combination of surly teen and vulnerable young woman and Elyes Aguis a little firecracker as Fouad, who plays out his confusion over his mother’s illness in a way that is immensely touching.

Farhadi ends his film on an enigmatic note – leaving us in some doubt as to what lies in store for these people who, flaws and all, have made their way into our hearts. But that’s life, isn’t it? Because the future is never as clear-cut as the past.

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