Repost: The Past (May 30th and 31st at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[THE PAST screens Friday May 30th at 5:00 pm and Saturday May 31st at 6:45 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Pamela Zoslov

Iranian writer and director Asghar Farhadi's 2011 film A SEPARATION, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, was a taut domestic drama that encompassed issues of family, culture and religion. His newest, THE PAST (Le Passé), is a somewhat less absorbing domestic drama without the earlier film's cultural weight.

THE PAST, in French and set in Paris, concerns the return of the Iranian-born Ahmad (Ali Mosaffa) to Paris to finalize his divorce from his French wife, Marie (Bérénice Bejo, from THE ARTIST). While staying at Marie's house, Ahmad is drawn into an intense drama involving Marie, her children and her boyfriend, Samir (Tahar Rahim), whom she plans to marry.

The Past (opens February 7th at the Cedar Lee Theatre)

[THE PAST opens in Cleveland on Friday February 7th exclusively at the Cedar Lee Theatre.]

Review by Pamela Zoslov

Iranian writer and director Asghar Farhadi's 2011 film A SEPARATION, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, was a taut domestic drama that encompassed issues of family, culture and religion. His newest, THE PAST (Le Passé), is a somewhat less absorbing domestic drama without the earlier film's cultural weight.

THE PAST, in French and set in Paris, concerns the return of the Iranian-born Ahmad (Ali Mosaffa) to Paris to finalize his divorce from his French wife, Marie (Bérénice Bejo, from THE ARTIST). While staying at Marie's house, Ahmad is drawn into an intense drama involving Marie, her children and her boyfriend, Samir (Tahar Rahim), whom she plans to marry.