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The Past Movie Review

The Past is a 2013 Iranian drama film directed by Asghar Farhadi and starring Berenice Bejo, Tahar Rahim and Ali Mosaffa. It’s a disappointing Farhadi picture.

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“When two people see each other after 4 years and still fight together,

it shows that there is something unsolved between them“

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An Iranian man, separated from his wife, returns to Paris to attend their divorce hearing. Re-establishing relationships with his stepchildren, he finds himself embroiled in the turmoil of his wife’s new relationship and the deteriorating relationship of his wife and her eldest daughter, who is concealing a shattering secret. This was a co-production between Iran and France, which differentiated this Farhadi film from his other efforts.

The problem here is that the movie was wildly uneven. And by uneven I mean that its first half is terrific while the second half is anything but great. The film starts off so strong with excellent human drama at its core and fueled by reliably outstanding dialogue. The characters were also well painted and their conflicts were meaningful and complex.

But the director squandered all of that great work going on in the first half by turning the story into a soap opera in the latter half. It was unfortunate seeing the film suddenly become a messy mystery with each new twist and turn being unbelievable and overly sensational. This is a regular problem for Farhadi as he has the tendency to go into overly melodramatic and soapy territory and here he succumbed to that issue.

Berenice Bejo is terrific in the main role and this actress really disappeared in recent years, which is a shame as she was a promising talent during this time. Tahar Rahim got the worst and least-written role of the three and that was a problem as he was important for the story. Ali Mosaffa fared best as he plays the best-written and most interesting character.

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The complicated relationship between these ex-spouses is the highlight of The Past, but how it concluded was disappointing. Technically speaking, the movie has no score, but it’s very well shot and directed, though the pacing is all over the place as it’s far from an engaging watch.