'The Past' delves into the intricacies of a difficult family situation
The Iranian writer-director Asghar Farhadi makes movies with large emotional expanse in limited physical confines. 鈥淎 Separation鈥� was one of the best movies I鈥檝e ever seen about a distraught marriage.
His new one, 鈥淭he Past,鈥� vaguely similar in theme, though set in Paris, is not up to that film鈥檚 level 鈥� it鈥檚 too diagrammatic and drawn out in its storytelling. But it鈥檚 very much worth seeing anyway. B茅r茅nice Bejo (from 鈥�The Artist鈥�) plays Marie, a French woman whose Iranian husband (played by Ali Mosaffa) has just arrived from Tehran to finalize their divorce. She lives with two daughters from a prior marriage, and the son of a current lover (Tahar Rahim), also Iranian. All this is a recipe for discord.
The emotional stakes are large-scale, and Farhadi honors them by delving into their intricacies. All the characters in this movie, including Marie鈥檚 sullen eldest teenage daughter (beautifully played by Pauline Burlet), are given their due. Grade: B+ (Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material and brief strong language.)
