Review: The Past

2nd April 2014

Demonstrating that when faced with our own emotions certainty can never exist 2012 Ocscar winner Ashgar Farhadi, director of the internationally acclaimed A Separation, presents us with an intensely complex web of lies, truths and family life that makes us question if we can ever truly understand the people we love.

Beginning with the arrival of Ahmed (Ali Modaffa) in Paris to finalise his divorce from ex-wife Marie (Bérénice Bejo) he is soon faced with an impossible dilemma as he is forced to discover the roots of his now ex-family’s growing internal conflict.

Despite the film’s first hour predominantly focusing on Ahmed, The Past gradually shifts its focus between characters as audiences are led on a wandering of discovery. This film presents an interaction between characters that is more complex than traditional story-telling and is marked by layers upon layers of drama and intrigue. The very concept of love, honesty and truth are an ambiguous notion and The Past presents us with no real conclusion or climax, the more we learn the less we know. It is itself an enigmatic tale.

The performances are excellent from everyone in this film, Elyes Aguis gave a particularly touching performance as Fouad, and it has the makings of a tremendous success. Unfortunately the ambiguity and complexity on which it is built is its own downfall. Its premise is beautifully subtle and what it is trying to achieve is truly unique; yet the shifting focus and approach to each character simply left me cold and unable to attach myself to the story. What was intended to demonstrate that our perceptions of ourselves and those around us are built by the truths we know, easily crushed by a single revelation, as brilliant as this is, is very hard to capture on film. It meandered through to the point with some very lengthy scenes that left me screaming for the end. I’d looked forward to this film, and for the first hour or so I was convinced, in love with the on-screen performances and ready to applaud Farhadi for weeks; but as it went on, just as Ahmad did on screen, the impact of this film quickly became background noise.

An ambitious testament to the ambiguity of life challenging the construct of drama, The Past is most likely a firm Oscar favourite and Ashgar Farhadi is undoubtedly destined for success; but for me this film was just too awkward and slow. A great watch for drama lovers, but requires bags of patience, patience I just didn’t have.

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