As far as foreign films go, 2013 ended with France’s “Blue is the Warmest Color” (which got newcomer Adele Exarchopoulos a Critics’ Choice Award) and Italy’s “The Great Beauty” (winner of this year’s Best Foreign Film Academy Award) as the most popular and highly acclaimed.
But the year began with perhaps the most anticipated film, “The Past,” Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi’s follow-up to his universal hit “A Separation” (2011). The movie succeeded throughout the festival circuit last year, particularly at the Cannes Film Festival, but by the time award nominations were announced, “The Past” seemed to have been forgotten.
The film opens with Marie-Anne (Bérénice Bejo) picking up her soon to be ex-husband Ahmad (Ali Mosaffa) from a Paris airport after a long visit to his homeland in Iran. Ahmad plans to stay in town only to quickly sign the divorce papers but soon discovers Marie has some newly grown issues involving her current boyfriend Samir (Tahar Rahim) and her teen daughter Lucie (Pauline Burlet).
Lucie has been acting rebellious and distant toward Marie, Ahmad and Samir, while Ahmad discovers that Samir has a wife in a coma whom he was still with when Samir and Marie began seeing each other.
During all this drama, Samir’s young son Fouad (Elyes Aguis) and Ahmad grow a friendly bond while the parental figures are distracted.
The biggest standout and breakthrough from the feature is Bejo, who won Best Actress at Cannes as well as Palm Springs’ International Film Festival and by the National Board of Review for her delivery of the best performance in the film. After years of being overlooked for her talent with supporting roles, most recognizably in “A Knight’s Tale” (2001) and “The Artist” (2011), she finally gets a moment of credit for her steady and always solid work.
Rahim and Mosaffa are fine as the two men connected to Marie’s life, the latter even having to learn a new language to be a part of the film. Showing his dedication to the part paid off. Rahim and Aguis deliver impressive efforts, as well, showing potential for their future careers.
Farhadi knows how to deal with family problems on screen, as was proven with “A Separation,” but “The Past” suffers an underwhelming third act that seems more fitting for network TV and loses its focus by the end. Because of this, the feature would best be appreciated mainly by fans of the cast or Farhadi. Though Farhadi’s earlier film won an Oscar for Best Foreign Feature, “The Past” probably will have a much more modest and quiet future.
mbianco@durangoherald.com. Megan Bianco is a movie reviewer and also contributes other entertainment related features and articles. She is a graduate of Cal State University, Northridge, where she studied film criticism and screenwriting.
