Thanks for the memories!

Instant Favorite.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Estranged husband arrives from Tehran to give wife her Paris divorce. There, he meets her current - younger - boyfriend de jour. Also the man's son, as well as his wife's daughters by previous marriages. For reasons that are never quite determined, the woman has bounced around a bit. Of course, commitment is always demanding, and adjusting to another culture only adds to the difficulty. Gradually, secrets emerge about the older daughter's fury, and the boyfriend's comatose wife. Not a fun film, but well acted from an intelligent, adult script. Shot in suburbs far from touristy Paris. Nice to see Iranians not cast as terrorists or zealots.

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.

Iranian born director Asghar Farhadi's best Foreign Language Oscar winning feature length film from 2011, A Separation (at the time of writing ranked 102 on the IMDb Top 250) created quite the stir upon release, well and truly catapulting Farhadi into the western marketplace as a directing talent to watch. With Farhadi's experience as a playwright, A Separation displayed a deft hand at emotionally resonate and hard hitting dialogue and while personally I felt A Separation was overrated there was no denying its power in many respects. With Farhadi's latest Golden Globe nominated release The Past (or Le passé in its native tongue), this power is even more so present.Once more as with A Separation, patience is required by the audience member to wade through what is a very long and at times unquestionably arduous 130 minute run time with a majority of proceedings taking place within the family home, the scope as a feature film is therefore very limited. While Farhadi's feature is dented by its quite solitary locations (no doubt relating back to his work within the stage production world) there is no denying the large arena in which Farhadi's script takes the participants of the film and us the audience to, in an often home hitting manner.Farhadi's script is in my books a large step up from A Separation and it's fantastically played out by his hugely impressive cast, no more so than everyone's favourite The Artist break out star Berenice Bejo as feisty and determined twice divorced mother figure Marie Brisson. Bejo shows a previously untapped skill in this picture and her performance showcases what could be a future Oscar winning leading lady mastering her craft. Marie is by no means an easy role, she is a hard person to warm to completely but there is enough within that makes her relatable and against all odds likable. Farhadi also struck gold with his casting of the ever good Tahar Rahim (a favourite of mine after his stunning work in A Prophet) as Marie's new squeeze Samir and there is a very impressive performance from teenage actress Pauline Burlet as Marie's daughter Lucie that in a Hollywood picture would have brought her far more plaudits. All these elements combine to make The Past very much a movie deserving to be on your to watch list.As previously mentioned The Past is by no means an easy watch, I would compare it to sitting through A Separation or even Amour in terms of tone and pacing, yet it all comes together to create one of the most simply beautiful film endings in recent memories and a story that will inspire debate amongst film lovers. Once Farhadi combines technical filmmaking to go along with his world class script work the results will be quite mind blowing, yet as it stands there's still a whole lot to like about this talent who seems to have his finger on the pulse of the human condition as good as anyone else out there.3 and a half bottles of perfume out of 5 For more movie reviews and opinions check into - www.jordanandeddie.wordpress.com

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.