pc95 I wasn't surprised when I read the Iranian director, Asghar Farhadi, for this movie, Le Passe ("The Past") was the same as "A Separation". Farhadi has excellent talent, and this movie was close to as good as his earlier movie mentioned. I am now a fan. The movie is a bit slow to start but draws you in to it's deep storyline and has you hooked halfway. It's layers of problems are several-deep, and there's a feeling of a real mess, authentic tragedy. At the core though, the filmmaker has made a standout tale of caution for the scope of damage that affairs can cause from children to of course those who are cheated upon. (spoilers) Not always, but as it ought to be, final scenes in movies should be the most memorable. Many movies may not be able to achieve that, but this one does. Highly Recommended - 8/10

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) This is the movie that Bérénice Bejo won Best actress for at the Cannes Film Festival. While I liked her performance, I would not say that she was really this overwhelmingly good. Tahar Rahim showed his potential and my favorite display here was by Ali Mosaffa. "Le passé" is director Asghar Farhadi's next project after his Best Foreign Langue feature winner "Jodaeiye Nader az Simin".Basically you could describe it as a relationship drama. The central female character has a new boyfriend and her ex-husband returns from Iran to France to fulfill the divorce. Obviously the questions arise to what extent she still has feelings for him and if he has some for her and how he gets along with her new man etc. In order to avoid tensions her new boyfriend has to move out for a while, so the two men can't clash and get in trouble, but obviously that only works well for a short amount of time. However, there is not much dispute between the two, actually there only is during one situation which is about repairing a sink. And as if this was not complicated enough already, her new boyfriend also has his own shadows in the past, namely his wife who is in a coma and who he obviously still has feelings for.While I enjoyed most of the film, I did not really like the whole laundrette storyline and I feel Farhadi could have come up with something more convincing than the letter references. The daughter, who was an essential domino in this part of the movie and pretty much the connection between the comatose wife and the female main character played by Bejo did not really convince me with her performance. It was all too showy and inconsistent that it sometimes felt as if there was a lack of authenticity. Early on, it was not too easy to understand who was who and how they were all related to one another.Despite these criticisms, it turns out a pretty good movie. The final scene at the hospital involving Rahim's character is possibly the emotional highlight, the performances are mostly quality and I also liked how all characters are dysfunctional and have their flaws. If you don't look beyond the surface you may think that Mosaffa's character was a bit of a saint, but then you realize, he's not perfect either. He left his wife and children, did not appear to a date they agreed on in the past etc. This movie is certainly worth a watch, especially if you liked Bejo in The Artist, enjoyed Farhadi's previous work or are just interested in what Iranian cinema looks like these days.

Arno Nuehm Is it the man who leaves his wife and daughters, the 2 cheaters or the 2 saboteurs that drove a women into suicide? It's a film about people with problems. And it's their own fault. Everyone just intensifies the problems of the others simply because "they are not happy".I don't understand all the positive feedback, and reviews like "a story about normal people". These people are not normal, they each work hard to make the life of their "loved ones" as miserable as possible. If this is normal, i don't know a lot of normal people.If you enjoy a film about people blaming each other for the mess they created, this one is for you.4 stars because of good acting / camera-work / soundtrack etc.

johnnymurphy15 After the Oscar success of 'A Separation', Iranian Director Asghar Farhadi was left with the difficult task of following up such a well received Film. To make things more difficult, he decided to make the film in France. Although I have never seen 'A Separation', I am happy to say that on it's own merits, 'The Past' is an excellent film for many reasons.Asghar Farhadi manages to weave together a complex family drama dealing with a myriad of feelings and reactions to a tragedy without being difficult to follow or without the self aware ambiguity which is now becoming a cliché. The story focuses on Marie (Berenice Bejo) who is divorcing her Iranian husband Ahmad (Ali Mosaffa) as she has entered a new relationship with Samir (Tahar Rahim). Samir is a conflicted man whose wife is in a coma after an attempted suicide which may or may not be the result of his affair with Marie. The possible reasons for her suicide are slowly revealed in the many beautifully scripted scenes. Marie's daughter Lucie (Pauline Burlet) is heavily involved in the whole debacle as she reveals initially to her adoptive father Ahmed that she exposed the affair to Samir's wife. Blame is shifted to a number of people involved as these revelations come to light and the issue of all this past trauma is making it difficult for all the characters to move on with their lives. In Marie and Ahmed's case, there is still a little something in their relationship, even though they are getting divorced, and in Samir's case, he may be still in love with his unconscious and possibly dying wife. The film ends with a lasting image that is subtly heart breaking, but with a hint of hope for a few characters who have resolved their issues and have moved on.Each character is well formed and very believable with excellent performances by everyone to match. You feel for every character in the film, including the young children who are played brilliantly by the evidently talented young actors. The film is very dialogue driven and reveals itself at a leisurely pace giving way to some emotionally hard going scenes without resorting to many obvious cliché's. It is a well balanced film which shows how tragic events of the past can effect peoples lives in the present. It is certainly one of the surprise gems so far this year and will hopefully get the praise it deserves because it is outstanding.See my Film Review Blog - www.projectionistreview.wordpress.com