Despite the change in locale and language, The Past, a new French film from Iranian writer-director Asghar Farhadi, feels like a spiritual sequel to his previous film, the Academy Award winning A Separation. Whereas the prior film dealt with the drama behind one woman’s attempt to divorce her husband in Iran, Farhadi has, like several of his Iranian peers, moved on to the greener pastures of Europe, where divorce laws are slightly more liberal. Thus, this film is about the aftermath of a long-time separation (see what I did there?). Ahmad (Ali Mosaffa) returns to France, after four years, to finalize a divorce between him and Marie (The Artist‘s Bérénice Bejo). Unfortunately for Ahmad, an unreasonably reasonable man who is always trying to help, he gets drawn into the conflict brewing between Marie, her new fiancé Samir (Tahar Rahim), and her rebellious teenage daughter Lucie (Pauline Burlet).
There is also a trauma, involving Samir’s ex-wife and her suicide attempt, that haunts the film. Farhadi seems to have found a niche as a director of emotional procedurals. In this film, like his last, the characters fight with each other in an attempt to figure out “what happened,” as if determining the cause of one violent act could cure the poisonous family dynamics that drive the film’s conflicts. Like in A Separation, the interpersonal confrontations are unflinching, and Farhadi’s characters have a tendency to get uncomfortably physical, bordering on (and sometimes just barely crossing the line into) abuse. The Past may not be quite as effective as A Separation–the drama is a little pulpier, negating Farhadi’s naturalistic style–but he is undeniably a major talent.
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Alan Jones writes about film for Toronto Standard. You can follow him on Twitter at @alanjonesxxxv.
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