filmbore picks The Past

The Past

Director: Asghar Farhadi
Screenplay: Asghar Farhadi
Starring: Bérénice Bejo, Ali Mosaffa, Tahar Rahim, Pauline Burlet
Year: 2013
Languages: French/Persian 
UK rental release: June 2014

IMDb
Rotten Tomatoes

In the UK, there have been two forces dominating the news of late: Family, through the royal baby, and Politics, via the General Election. Merging both, let's delve into the gentle turmoil of 'family politics' with Asghar Farhadi's, The Past. 

Marie, (Bérénice Bejo, The Artist, Populaire) waits patiently at the airport terminal for her expected visitor. Her ex-partner, Ahmad (Ali Mosaffa, Leila, The Last Step) arrives, having flown in from Iran, bringing with him some luggage issues. Clearly, these two have known each other for a long time. The instant rapport allows Ahmad to forget about his missing suitcase for a moment.  

He can't help being cheeky. She can't help being amused by it. The old connections are still there, if only skin deep. Yet, something not yet spoken haunts their ease and natural chemistry.

Even though married for some years, they are about to finalise their divorce. Since the separation, Ahmad has begun to feel estranged from Marie's two daughters, Lucie and Léa (newcomer Jeanne Justin). While not being their biological dad, Ahmad has played an important part in their lives, with his living abroad obviously playing a part in the segregation now felt. 

While parked near the girl's school, Marie inside looking for Lucie, a traffic warden forces Ahmad to move the car. Circling the block, he chances upon the identification papers of a man named Samir, and starts putting things together.

Samir (Tahar Rahim, A Prophet, Grand Central) is Marie's new partner, living at her home with son, Fouad (also newcomer Elyes Aguis). A fiery boy, Fouad is displeased with having to move into Marie's, worsened now there's a "strange man" around. And, the longer Ahmad stays, the more he learns about the situation, discovering that Samir's ex-wife has been in a coma for months. 

He's still unsure of the full cause of her condition though, but not for long. Eldest daughter, Lucie (Pauline Burlet, La Vie En Rose, Dead Man Talking) has hit rebellious teens, causing strife and rarely sleeping at home, yet something else appears to trouble her. Ahmad has always had a good connection with Lucie, so Marie trusts him to speak to her in the hope that he might understand her behaviour.  

As he digs further, uncovering the source of Lucie's upset, he'll unravel the mystery surrounding Samir's ex-wife's coma.

A Memento Films production, Le Passé is an expertly produced drama. This is no surprise with Farhadi at the helm (click here to see my review of his touching masterpiece, the multi-award winning A Separation) as he delicately positions each element with deft care and relaxed precision. 

It flows at a serene pace, enhanced with some playful scenes to help reveal the overall piece's "real" feel. Keeping the amount of locations to a minimum, Farhadi enriches the film's native claustrophobia, birthed from the story's concept, and enhances that personal feel. This tight but strangely comfortable essence is a welcome extra ingredient of tension infused into the piece. 

Some of this is evident from the off, with the first encounter parading ease and edginess all at once. The director's arena has been justly built to house and reveal genuine performances from the cast; a task managed adeptly by the leads in particular. Calm, patient, with a subtle intensity, the most gentlest of gestures provided further purpose and weight for each character.

This approach is sorely needed for this piece. Even with the mystery underpinning the film, The Past isn't flaunting a complicated story. Until some of the later reveals, there isn't anything majorly complex at play, which is fine when considering the approach of the entire picture. This is about dialogue, normality and character. The open palette allows our performers to take grip of the brush themselves and take part in gracing the canvas with their own strokes of brilliance, creating a tangible body to clasp onto.

As equally palpable is the tense air between the two men, Tahar Rahim's casting adding an extra air of ounce of cool and brilliant. With gentle measure, the friction is lightly acrid, enough to be felt, but not over saturated as to spoil your palate. 

Airs of competitiveness start to appear, softly surfaced by our male leads. There's a particular scene in Marie's kitchen, where both sit in absolute silence; both too stubborn to break the air, while loosely awkward enough to be too scared to. Through mild mannerisms, the odd brief glance, hesitant reactions and nice pacing, it's raw and smooth all at once, both allowing the rivalry to brew while not fully embodying it. 

This is a smart approach, generating a genuine sense of inner disdain and naturally delivered etiquette, neither wanting to push the other too far in case they upset Bejo's character of Marie. Other actors may have easily embellished the conflict, which seems too obvious, yet, thankfully, these two opted for subtlety. And this film is all the better for it. 

The young cast hold their own against the adults too, especially Elyes Aguis as Fouad. He is just brilliantly cast. Being so expressive and sincere at his age, he has heaps of natural talent. In fact, all the actors, both young and old, permit a heartfelt requisite whatever the scene. It makes the film centre so attainable you'll slip into it with little effort. 

At it's core, however, sits one key performer. Bérénice Bejo is so self-assured and indomitable as Marie that she's the glue to the entire piece. Her delivery is delicious, switching from cool to combustible in a flash. Her whole performance is a masterclass on control, with her efforts just making enough room to add extra flavour to the relationship between her and her ex-husband, Ahmad. 

There's an air of true friendship between the pair. And it's the on-screen chemistry they exude that binds all of the other beautiful elements of this sweet and wonderful film together. Even through divorce, they find heart and softness in the most unlikeliest of places.

As gently paced as it is, you may need some patience of your own with The Past. It's so confident and calm it may appear underwhelming to some. However, if you hold out, you'll be rewarded with simple, moving tale of a complex, fervent family.

Don't forget to leave comments below, tweet me @filmbore or post on my Facebook page here. 

Alternatively, you could contact me directly about this film or my other reviews on picks@filmbore.co.uk