THE PAST - MIFF 2013

I do not think there is anyone better working in cinema today who is able to present complex family dramas as honestly and heartfelt as Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi.  His previous film, “A Separation”, is my favourite film of the past five years, so it should come as no surprise that his latest, “The Past”, was my most anticipated film at MIFF this year.  “The Past” is a new challenge in the career of Farhadi because for the first time he is working outside of his native Iran.

Ahmad has just arrived in France from Iran after a four year separation from his wife Marie, after she requested him to come in person to finalize their divorce.  Marie has met and fallen in love with a man named Samir and the two plan to marry after Marie’s divorce from Ahmad comes through.  During his stay in France, Ahmad will be staying with Marie in the house they once shared together as a family (much to the chagrin of Samir).  Ahmad’s arrival is the catalyst for a number of hidden emotions and agendas to come to the surface and explode amongst the family unit.  Marie’s eldest daughter Lucie seems to be going through a particularly rough patch as Marie explains to Ahmad that she has been playing up over the last couple of months.  She then asks Ahmad to try and talk to Lucie and see what is upsetting her.  Although Ahmad and Lucie are not blood related (Lucie is a product of Marie’s first marriage; her marriage with Ahmad bore no children) it is very obvious that the two love and respect one another as if they were and as such Lucie pours her heart out to Ahmad.  Somewhat obviously, Lucie has a problem with her mother remarrying, but as Ahmad delves deeper, the reason why becomes more complex than he originally imagined.  Lucie explains that Samir is actually a married man, whose wife has been in a coma for the past eight months, a condition that Lucie is sure her mother had something to do with.  When Ahmad goes back to Marie to explain everything Lucie has told her, he inadvertently starts a series of misunderstandings, truths and untruths, and reminiscences of the past in an attempt to get an accurate resolution to the problems of the present.

Asghar Farhadi is on a serious roll in his career at the moment and once again he has succeeded mightily with his new film.  As always I love how he interweaves all the elements of the drama so it all feels so real and natural and that you never become aware of the machinations of the plot; you never feel like you are being manipulated in a Farhadi film.  Every word spoken in “The Past” is deliberate and has a point and usually things that seem so minor or unimportant during a conversation, end up having the greatest weight in the grand scheme of things.  Personally I find this very exciting, however I will say that I flagged certain pieces of dialogue early this time around, but this may be a result of really getting to know Farhadi’s style and body of work (rather than lazy plotting).

While “The Past” shares a similar starting point with its predecessor, “A Separation”, both films end up tackling different themes.  “The Past” looks heavily at responsibility and guilt, as well as perceptions of these things, as well as how actions of the past can colour the present or future and how until we come to terms with it, we will never be free of the past.  Like “A Separation”, “The Past” is a film that reveals more about itself, exposing its many layers, as it goes along.  Because of this I do not feel comfortable talking about the plot in more detail other than to say that Farhadi has created quite the emotional playground for his actors to inhabit.  This film goes to incredibly dark places (psychologically speaking) and his actors are fearless at portraying them, particularly the girls of the cast who have some emotionally harrowing scenes.

It appears that directing in a foreign country has not affected Farhadi at all because the performances he has molded from his actors are all extremely powerful.  Berenice Bejo, whom I only knew previously from “The Artist”, is stunningly good as the mother and central figure in this emotional tug of war.  This is a much different role compared to the one she played in the aforementioned film; she is asked to do a lot more here, it is so complex and sad, and she nails every nuance.  There is one scene in particular when she explodes at her daughter that just scared me.  Only knowing Bejo from “The Artist”, I was totally unaware of her range as an actor and had no idea she had this in her at all.  She gets to display the full range of emotions here in a role that had to be emotionally tiring to play, but I’m sure, so rewarding to look back on.

My favourite character and performance in the film was Pauline Burlet as Lucie, who as the film goes on, you realize is carrying the most baggage of anyone.  For a girl the age of seventeen, she does a remarkable and convincing job at portraying the complex emotions of a young girl on the edge of a breakdown.  Right down to the physicality of her portrayal; the hunched shoulders, the dragging of her feet, never making eye contact, the constant verge of being in tears, even to the point that she makes the character feel small, it all works in convincing us about the emotional weight she is carrying on those young shoulders.  The whole time I was watching Burlet’s amazing performance I couldn’t help but be struck by her similarities to actress Marion Cotillard; I would have sworn that Burlet was her daughter in real life, they look that similar.  After seeing the film, I actually went home and checked to see if this was fact and although it is not, what I did find out was fascinating.  Originally Cotillard was cast in the role of Marie, but later had to drop out due to commitments with “Rust And Bone”, which saw Bejo fill the role.  If Cotillard did end up playing the role of Marie, I do not think I could imagine a better mother / daughter fit then these two actresses together.  Not only that, but Burlet actually played one of the younger versions of Edith Piaf in “La Vie En Rose”, which was the role that saw Cottilard net her Oscar.

Something that I noticed while watching “The Past” is just how confident Farhadi is becoming as a visual stylist.  This film is gorgeous to look at, with very specific framing of shots to help in the expression of the character’s emotions, but never to the point of being obvious.  In a recent interview I read with Berenice Bejo, she stated that Farhadi is like a choreographer with the way he maps out a character’s movements in a shot.  I was stunned by this revelation and suitably impressed that Farhadi is able to make it all seem so natural whilst in reality it had been rehearsed ad nauseum until perfected.

The one thing about “The Past” that I felt worked against the film was that it was a little too long, and that Farhadi went for one twist too many towards the end.  This is a case where less would have definitely been more and by letting the ultimate mystery of the film be resolved outside of the family that most of the drama takes place within, I thought was a mistake.  Personally, I felt that the entire drama had to have taken place within the family unit and the fact that such a minor character plays such an important role in the finale did not sit well with me.  I will say though that the final shot of the film is absolutely beautiful and so telling in just how hard it is to give up the past and move on with the future.

Overall, this is another brilliant film from Asghar Farhadi, who now seems incapable of making a bad one.  While I feel that “The Past” doesn’t quite live up to the out and out excellence of “A Separation”, this is still bold and exciting cinema.  It is a superb film and I hope that it gets just as much recognition as its predecessor.  Without a shadow of a doubt, “The Past” is my favourite film from MIFF this year and I eagerly anticipate whatever Farhadi comes up with next.

4.5 Stars.