The Past

It’s a good month for French films in the UK. After Yves Saint Laurent, Le Passé (The Past) comes out this Friday.

I saw the film during a preview and highly recommend it. It features fine performances from Bérénice Béjo (The Artist) who won the best actress award at Cannes for this film; Tahar Rahim (A Prophet) and Ali Mosaffa, Iranian actor who performs in French here. As well as a great cast of children who are equally good. Which is all to the credit of Iranian director Asghar Farhadi.

The Past takes place in the north east of Paris and, just on the other side of the city limits: in the suburb of Sevran. It shows us a triangle between Bérénice Bejo’s character and her ex and current lover. The story deals with the loss of love and the difficulty of moving forward. It explores the complexities of relationships in an extremely believable and intelligent way and shows us how the different layers of our past are alive in our everyday lives.

The Past is mysterious and surprising and had me on the edge of my seat. Just like a good thriller…Go and see! And avoid looking at the subtitles if you can.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2-_lt4kwXE