Captain Phillips

On January 21, I went to the Castro to see Captain Phillips.

Captain Phillips starring Tom Hanks & Barkhad Abdi; directed by Paul Greengrass; English & Somali with subtitles; (2013) - Official Website

With Captain Phillips, I have seen 7 of the 9 films nominated for Best Picture at this year's Academy Awards.  The two nominated films which I have not seen are Her and The Wolf of Wall Street. With any luck, I'll be able to see both films before the month is out.

Captain Phillips is based on a true story of an American cargo ship captain who was kidnapped by Somali pirates.  Ultimately, Navy SEALS snipers killed the pirates while Phillips was being held hostage in a lifeboat.  The 2009 incident is well known and I recall the initial cable news reports on the rescue.

I put Captain Phillips in the same category as The Hurt Locker & Zero Dark Thirty (what is Kathryn Bigelow up to?). These films are about real-life events which are so compelling that it would be difficult for any competent director not to make a great film.  Captain Phillips was riveting and suspenseful; even though I knew how it had to end.

Barkhad Abdi has been nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the lead pirate.  Eliciting some empathy from me, Abdi's portrayal was measured and for most of the film the pirates were seemingly motivated by existential concerns.  However, as the Navy closes in on lifeboat, the tension is ratcheted up and I couldn't help but empathize with the Somalis.  Although I could not condone their actions and I support the ultimate outcome, I clearly understood how these men could be driven to such depths.  In fact, the parallels between the Somali pirates and US inner city youths made me uncomfortable.  The chasm between the haves and the have-nots is made abundantly clear in this film and you don't have to go halfway across the world to witness it. 

Back to the film - it's a shame that even after being engrossed by the film for the entire 2.25 hour length, I left-handedly dismiss it as a film that only an idiot could have messed up.  My expectations for suspense were high going into the film and they were met.  The first half of the film played like a procedural.  The array of countermeasures cargo ships take to fend of the pirates was fascinating for me although some (many?) may find sight of fire hoses pointed outwards or zigzag maneuvering to be boring. 

I categorically praise Captain Phillips and recommend it to everyone.  My only disappointment was that my high expectations were not exceeded.

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Several weeks ago, I received an email announcing that Second Act has opened in the old Red Vic location on Haight. "Second Act Marketplace and Events is a neighborhood public space. The marketplace includes five retail businesses bringing a fresh vision of food and beverages, and a venue that showcase events, which is also available for rent."  It's hard to believe that it's been 2.5 years since the Red Vic closed.

I also noticed that the Alamo Drafthouse San Francisco now states that it is set "to open during the third quarter of 2014 at 2550 Mission St. in the historic New Mission theater."  It's been two years since Alamo Drafthouse announced it was coming to SF and it'll be another four to seven months before it opens.  There were times I felt certain that they were stuck in building permit purgatory and would walk away from the project.  Call me a pessimist.  Regardless, I'm very much looking forward to the day they open and sampling their renowned programming.  The Castro Theater, the Roxie and the Alamo Drafthouse will form a Golden Triangle of rep house/art house film theaters in San Francisco.

Finally, I was on California Street recently and passed by the old Lumiere Theater.  It's the first time I have been on that block of California since before the Lumiere closed in late 2012.  Some of the Lumiere signage is still up.  It looks like there are no plans for leasing out the space at present. 

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

I saw The Hunger Games:  Catching Fire at the Century at Tanforan Shopping Center in January.

The Hunger Games:  Catching Fire starring Jennifer Lawrence; with Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Philip Seymour Hoffman & Donald Sutherland; directed by Francis Lawrence; (2013) - Official Website

I first saw Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone at the 2010 San Francisco International Film Festival.  Ms. Lawrence attended the screening and took Q&A on stage afterwards.  I sat in the back of the big auditorium at the Kabuki for the screening.  Towards the end of the film, the director (Debra Granik) and Ms. Lawrence stood near me as they waited to take the stage after the film ended.  Lawrence was 19 years old that day.  I remember she seemed a little awkward and shy.  Granik fielded most of the audience's questions as I recall.  Since then, Ms. Lawrence has released nine films including big budget blockbusters like The Hunger Games, American Hustle, Silver Linings Playbook and the X-Men reboot.  She has won an Oscar and two Golden Globes.  I've seen her poised and playful in interviews and Saturday Night Live.  She even challenged Joan Rivers.  Maybe I am reading a lot into glimpsed body language in the dark from 3.5 years ago but she seems much more comfortable in herself now. 

All that was simply a prelude into saying that Jennifer Lawrence strikes me as a composed, self-confident young woman.  That's good for her but not so good for The Hunger Games franchise.  Having read the books, I thought that Katniss Everdeen was an adaptable survivor with a streak of self-doubt and fear.  I have a hard time sensing self-doubt and fear in Lawrence's performance in Catching Fire.  The fear was there but it wasn't very convincing to me.  I'm not sure if I'm projecting my own preconceived about Lawrence onto her performance or if Lawrence isn't conveying that in her portrayal. 

Regardless, the major stumbling block for me was that I could never quite suspend disbelief.  I always felt like I'm watching Jennifer Lawrence rather than Katniss Everdeen.  Having just seen her in American Hustle, I know Lawrence has quite an acting range.  Perhaps another factor working against Lawrence is that she looks like a woman whereas Katniss is a 17 year old girl.  Lawrence seems much matured from her appearance The Hunger Games (2012).

I won't bother to recap the plot since the film stays mostly faithful to the novel and the novel was on the bestsellers list for months.  Amanda Plummer shows up looking much different than she did in Pulp Fiction.  Jeffrey Wright, who I enjoyed in Basquiat, also makes an appearance.  Both actors acquit themselves well as the meek duo from one of the Districts.

Maybe I'm a little burnt out on big action films (not that I see that many) but Catching Fire just didn't seem to have the energy and appeal that The Hunger Games had.  It was certainly above average for an action film but I was bored for long stretches of the film.  In fact, another problem I had with the film was that it as 2.5 hours long...about 30 minutes too long in my opinion.

If I have to leave a critical bon mot, I would say "Catching Fire only made me luke warm."

The Puzzle Within the Castro Theater's February 2014 Calendar

The Castro Theater is only closed one day in February - on the 18th.  It is having a private event on February 4 and the program for February 25 is still to be announced.  That left only three photos on the calendar for the month.

After several days of on-line and paper copy perusal, I drew a blank.  The most promising lead was the man pictured in February 4.  I identified the statuette he is holding as an Emmy Award.  That sent me off in the wrong direction as I assumed the person had won the Emmy in the 1950s or 1960s based on the vintage of the photo.  That proved to be incorrect.  My co-worker also thought he was on the verge of recognizing the man.  After scouring the list of Emmy winners from the era, I switched tactics.

I next turned my attention to the month of February and guessed the puzzle had something to do with Presidents Day, Valentine's Day or perhaps the Winter Olympics.  I searched photos of actors sharing the same surname as presidents and Winter Olympians or actors named Valentine or Valentin.  I discovered I don't know the names of very many Winter Olympians.

At this point, I gave up and I cheated by using Google Image Search on the February 4 photo.  I discovered to my chagrin that the photo is of Bob Newhart, a comedian I have enjoyed for years.  I discovered the highlight of his early stand-up comedy routine was to portray a phone conversation with someone or even God.  The photo is likely a routine Newhart did on an Emmy Awards telecast.

Armed with Newhart's identity, I immediately suspected the February 25 photo was of William S. Hart and I quickly confirmed this.  The Valentine's Day theme was confirmed - Newhart and then Hart.  I made a guess (which was proven correct) that the woman pictured on February 18 was not named Newhart or Hart or had "heart" in her surname.  I quickly zeroed in on the names Hartley and Hartman.

I searched through IMDB listings of Hartley first.  I first eliminated Mariette Hartley and eventually a number of other actresses named Hartley whom I didn't know about.  The highlight was scanning Nina Hartley's credits; the most recent of which is Lesbian Adventures: Strap-On Specialists Vol. 5...Volume 5 is, of course, the seminal entry in the series.   Hartley, a porn star with over 600 "acting credits" to her name, has been making porn for 30 years.  Her sole "legitimate" role was in Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights.  I remember her performance well; she played William S. Macy's wife.  After diligently looking through Ms. Hartley's photos (my favorites were Splendor in the Ass and Pussyman 15: Bone Voyage), I decided it was not her and I gave up on Hartleys altogether.

I moved on to Hartman and hoped it was photo of a young Lisa Hartman.  It was not but I will say that Ms. Lisa Hartman posed for several bikini photos that would have made Ms. Nina Hartley proud.

The next name on the list was the late Elizabeth Hartman.  She passed away in 1987 at the age of 43.  I have not seen any of her films except for the original Walking Tall where she portrayed Mrs. Buford Pusser.  I don't recall her performance in that film.  Her IMDB photos were promising and I searched on-line and immediately found the exact photo used on February 18. Nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in A Patch of Blue (1965), "Hartman [eventually] succumbed to her lifelong depression and jumped from the fifth floor window of her apartment in an apparent suicide" in 1987.  I have not seen A Patch of Blue but am now interested in seeing it.

February 4 - Bob Newhart

February 18 - Elizabeth Hartman

February 25 - William S. Hart

I can only assume the clues are referencing Valentine's Day and its common symbol:  the heart.

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Looking at the Castro calendar for the month, Age of Consent (1969) on February 13 looks promising.  "James Mason is a painter on the wane who retreats to a remote island off the Great Barrier Reef, unexpectedly finding inspiration in the form of nubile free spirit Helen Mirren. This sublime restoration of Michael Powell’s last feature includes the infamous censored nude scenes and the original score."

The Coen Brothers' Miller's Crossing (February 19) is one of my all-time favorite films although it's been many years since I last watched it.  Unfortunately, IndieFest and Mostly British are playing that night.

Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors (February 21) is one of my favorites by him.  It screening as part of a Midnites for Maniacs program.

I haven't seen Star 80 (February 27) for many years and have never watched it on the big screen.  I recall the film favorably although it has been 20+ years since I last saw it.

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Castro Theater Calendar - February 2014

Our Mutual Friend: Charlie Chaplin Shorts

On January 11, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival celebrated the 100th Anniversary of Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp character.  The event was held at the Castro Theater.

The program consisted of three film screenings.  I skipped the screenings of The Kid and Gold Rush...both of which I had recently seen on the big screen.  I watched the program titled Our Mutual Friend: Charlie Chaplin Shorts which consisted of three two-reelers Chaplin made while working at Mutual Film Corporation.

The Vagabond starring Charlie Chaplin, Edna Purviance & Eric Campbell; directed by Chaplin; silent with intertitles; (1916)
The Cure starring Charlie Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Eric Campbell & Henry Bergman; directed by Chaplin; silent with intertitles; (1917)
Easy Street starring Charlie Chaplin, Edna Purviance & Eric Campbell; directed by Chaplin; silent with intertitles; (1917)

All three films were accompanied by Jon Mirsalis on piano.  Mr. Mirsalis runs a fansite honoring Lon Chaney, Sr.

I misplaced the program for the event so I wasn't able to read about the films or Chaplin.  Those programs are typically very informative (although there is a tendency to digress) so I'm at a bit of a disadvantage in writing this entry.  Typically, I watch the film, read the program article on the film, let my memory of the film filter through the words written in the program and write my thoughts days/weeks/months later.

If one had no idea about the chronology of Chaplin's filmography, one would still suspect these Mutual films predated his most memorable film appearances as the Little Tramp.  First, they were shorter films - approximately 30 minutes each.  The costuming was off a little from the Tramp's later, more familiar look (see photo below).  Most importantly, the three films lacked the pathos which is so inextricably linked to the Tramp.  He even gets the girl in two of the films!

The three films did not feature The Little Tramp character but some prototype which was interesting to see but vaguely disconcerting for anyone who is familiar with and admires Chaplin's most celebrated works.

In The Vagabond, Chaplin is a street musician who wanders into a gypsy encampment.  She falls for the gypsy girl (Purviance) who is abused by the gypsy chief (Eric Campbell).  Actually, I believe Purviance's character was kidnapped by gypsies which explains why a wealthy family is looking for her.  One of men searching for her is clearly attracted to her.  When they find her, she jumps at opportunity to leave the gypsy life behind and rides off in the limousine...only to have the car be turned so they can go back and pick up the Tramp.  Presumably, she is choosing the Tramp over the wealthier, more attractive man although it could be interpreted that she is simply lifting him out of poverty.  Regardless, the Tramp shouldn't be riding off in the limousine with the girl under any circumstances.

In Easy Street, the Tramp spends most of the film dressed in a police uniform.  He is duly appointed police officer!  The Tramp can never be The Man!  Anyway, Chaplin is assigned to the titular Easy Street which is anything but.  It's a rough and tumble block ruled over by Eric Campbell as a quick-fisted criminal.  Campbell & Chaplin mix it up a few times with the Tramp's ingenuity and dexterity saving his bacon.  Eventually, Purviance is kidnapped by a rapist opium addict and is rescued by Chaplin.  The depiction of the opium den and rapist's intentions were darker than usual for a Chaplin film.  Of the three films on the program, this was my favorite although I was mild about all three.

The Cure is set at an alcohol detox spa.  The Tramp is a drunkard (?)  in need of "the cure" which in this case involves drinking the therapeutic water from a spring near the spa. The Tramp arrives with a suitcase full of alcohol which promptly gets thrown out the window and its contents inadvertently contaminate the spring water.  As you can imagine, much of the humor comes from the unwitting intoxication of all who partake of the spring water.  Henry Bergman plays a burly masseur who has the funniest scenes in the film.  As I learned from Chaplin, one of his earliest characters was the unsteady, stumbling drunk which seems more prevalent in The Cure than The Tramp.

All in all, the program was not the most memorable of screenings from the San Francisco Silent Film Festival but I was still entertained.

Charlie Chaplin & Edna Purviance in The Cure

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Speaking of silent films...the Stanford Theater is screening two silent films this week.  Today, That Certain Thing (1928) is screening at 4:30 and 7:30.  On Wednesday & Thursday (January 29 & 30), The Power of the Press (1928) is screening at 7:30 nightly.  That Certain Thing is paired up with It Happened One Night (1934) and The Power of the Press is on a double bill with Platinum Blonde (1931).  All four films were directed by Frank Capra.  Dennis James is accompanying the silent films on the Stanford Theater's Mighty Wurlitzer.

I believe I saw James in the audience at the Castro Theater last night.  He was watching Noir City's screening of The Hitch-Hiker.  The film was scheduled to start at 9:30 PM but was at least 30 minutes late.  That Certain Thing screened last night at the Stanford at 7:30 with James accompanying it.  It would have been tight for him to get from Palo Alto to San Francisco (door-to-door) in the time between screenings so maybe it wasn't him.

Nebraska and Out of the Furnace

The first two films I saw in 2014 were in Las Vegas while visiting my father over the New Year's week.

Nebraska starring Bruce Dern and Will Forte; directed by Alexander Payne; (2013) - Official Website
Out of the Furnace starring Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson & Casey Afflect; directed by Scott Cooper; (2013) - Official Facebook

My father is a big fan of Alexander Payne.  He has cited Sideways and The Descendants as two of his favorite films.  I don't disagree with his assessment but I wasn't sure how my father would react to Bruce Dern's performance in Nebraska.  As it turned out, I should have been concerned about how I would react.

Nebraska is the story of Woody Grant, an elderly Montana resident (Billings I believe).  He believes he has won $1,000,000 from a sweepstakes (à la Publishers Clearing House).  In fact, all he has is the "You Are a Finalist" letter.  While watching the film, I realized I don't get those PCH mailers anymore.  Woody has lost his driver's license and has had a longtime drinking problem.  However, he is determined to go to Lincoln, Nebraska to claim his prize money.

Concerned about his health (he appears to be exhibiting signs of dementia), Woody's wife Kate (June Squibb) and sons David & Ross (Will Forte & Bob Odenkirk) discuss what to do with him.  Before the matter can be resolved, Woody's determination in going to Lincoln (by foot if necessary) prompts David to offer to drive him there.  David is coming off a break-up with his girlfriend and stuck in a dead-end job as a stereo salesman.  Looking to bond with his father, David sets off for Lincoln with Woody.

They stop off in Woody's hometown of Hawthorne, Nebraska.  Woody informs his old acquaintances that he has won $1 million which makes him the toast of the town.  David is unable to convince the townspeople that Woody's claim is bogus and before long, Woody's family and former acquaintances are demanding money.  This gives David a glimpse into his father's past life during the period before he was born.  Kate & Ross eventually show up for the reunion and Kate reveals further glimpses into Woody's life which David was unaware of.

Eventually, David & Woody make to PCH in Lincoln.  Woody is crushed to learn that his $1 million claim will not be honored.  On the drive back home, David asks his father why the money was so important since he had never expressed much interest in money before.  Woody explains his dreams of owning new pickup truck and air compressor as well as leaving something for his sons.  Understanding his father's motivations, David stops at a car dealership and buys a new truck and later a tool shop for a new air compressor.  When they arrive back at Hawthorne, David allows Woody to drive the new truck (with air compressor in the truck bed) down the main thoroughfare while he crouches down in the front seat.

Like Sideways and The Descendants is a road movie with two mismatched individuals.  In Sideways, it was Paul Giamatti & Thomas Haden Church searching for love and in The Descendants it was George Clooney & Shailene Woodley searching for their wife/mother's lover.  In Nebraska, it's unclear what Dern & Forte are searching for.  Frequently, it seems as though Payne is filming a travelogue and critique of the Midwest or small-town America.

Woody's friends and family come off very badly in the film.  Stacey Keach is particularly detestable as Woody's former business partner.  Woody is far from sympathetic though.  You could say Woody's best days are behind him but as his backstory is told, it's clear he didn't have far to fall.  He's lived his entire life in a shell-shocked, alcohol induced stupor which now matches the expected behavior of befuddled old man.  In other words, the sad part isn't how far he has fallen but how little he rose in life.  Dern's performance is spot on and completely lacking any type of weird Dernsian affectations.

Also memorable is June Squibb as Woody's long put-upon wife.  When she returns to her hometown, her sass and spunk become evident to David and viewers.  One wonders what their earlier life was like.  Kate's unfiltered comments provide much of the comedy in the film.

As for myself, I found that Woody's shuffling gait and bewildered obtuseness hit a little too close to home.  My father, an octogenarian, walks the same way as Woody and unexpected deviations from his routine can cause him confusion.  My father has never believed he has won a million dollars but while watching the film with him, I wondered what skeletons from his youth I was blissfully unaware of.  In general, I believe it best a child not know all the misdeeds and missteps their parents committed in their youth.  David is not saved that fate.

Nebraska also makes clear that marriages evolve.  The marriage the parents have when a child is old enough to understand is likely very different than the marriage the parents had in the past.  Kate is openly derisive of her husband but when she returns to their hometown and sees the vultures circling, she becomes protective and it clear that there is still love between them as well as familiar roles that they fall back into.

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Out of the Furnace is a mediocre film.  Casey Affleck plays Rodney Baze, an Army reservist or Guardsman who is suffering from post traumatic stress disorder due to repeated deployments to Iraq & Afghanistan.  He has gambling debts to the local bookie (Willem Dafoe) which he pays off by fighting in unsanctioned bouts (think Fight Club).  Christian Bale plays Rodney's older brother Russell Baze, a steel mill worker who is always bailing out his younger brother.

I won't belabor the overly complicated plot but Rodney gets mixed up with Harlan DeGroat (Woody Harrelson), a meth dealer who runs his own underground fight club.  Dafoe owes DeGroat money so to clear the books Rodney agrees to fight in DeGroat's ring.  Technically, he agrees to take a dive but Rodney's pride makes the fix look sketchy.  In addition, DeGroat isn't willing to erase Dafoe's debt.  Long story short, Rodney & Dafoe's character are killed by DeGroat.

This motivates Russell to find his brother's killer.  He lures DeGroat out of rural Appalachia and they have their deadly confrontation.

The plot was both predictable and stuffed with too many characters and subplots.  I haven't mentioned Zoe Saldana as Russell's ex-wife, Forest Whitaker as the town sheriff, Sam Shepard as Russell's uncle or Russell's prison sentence for DUI.  In the end, the film is memorable for Woody Harrelson's performance as the tweaked out DeGroat and to a lesser extent, Casey Affleck as the troubled war vet.  The film certainly paints a vividly disturbing picture of the Meth Nation though.

Set in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Dafoe gets off the best line.  After Russell overhears DeGroat and an associate berating John Petty (Dafoe), he asks Petty who those guys were.  Petty replies (and I may have the quote slightly wrong), "Those are inbred motherfuckers from the mountains.  For them, church ain't over until they put the snakes back in the bag."

Pier Paolo Pasolini

In September and October, a series of Pier Paolo Pasolini films screened at multiple venues in the Bay Area.  Multiple films screened at the Castro and Roxie one weekend.  However, I was only able to catch one film at the PFA series.  It was my intention to see more films in the series but a BART delay, an illness, a heavy work schedule and all my other cinematic commitments kept me away.  I most regret missing The Gospel According to St. Matthew.

The only film I saw was Medea.

Medea starring Maria Callas; directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini; Italian with subtitles; (1969)

I have seen a few of the Pasolini films in the series before including Accattone & Mamma Roma.

Medea was based on a Greek mythology story which I had learned in school and forgot.  I can say that of many of the Greek mythology stories I once knew or at least had a passing knowledge of.

Medea was married to Jason (as in Jason and the Argonauts).  Medea helped Jason pass the tests needed to retreive the Golden Fleece on the agreement that he would marry her.  Jason held his end of the bargain long enough to father several children by Medea.  Later, he would abandon her for another woman.  In revenge for his betrayal, Medea kills their two youngest sons and later herself.

This version of the myth closely follows Pasolini's Medea.  In his version, Medea (Maria Callas) helps Jason (Giuseppe Gentile) steal the Golden Fleece from her father; going so far to kill her own brother as a diversion.  Jason & Medea escape back to his homeland (Greece) where Medea is stripped of her barbarian robes and given more modest dress as a Greek housewife.  Jason eventually opts out of the marriage with Medea which results in two versions of Medea's revenge.  At the time, I didn't quite understand what I was seeing on the screen but after reading a synopsis, I understand the sequence of events.  In one version, Medea (who is something of a shaman) curses her own robe and gives it to the new bride as a gift.  When the bride puts it on, it bursts into flames killing the bride and her father.  In the second version, when the bride puts on the robe, she begins to empathize with Medea's plight and leaps to her death and her father follows suit.

When Jason arrives to confront Medea, she has already killed their sons, refuses to turn the bodies over for proper burial and burns herself and her sons' bodies in revenge.

The plot synopsis is more verbose than I initially understood the film.  I should have reacquainted myself with the Medea story in order to better understand the film.  I left the film partially confused about what I had seen and had to piece together the plot by re-familiarizing myself with the Medea myth.

The first half of the film was like a documentary of North African tribesmen and their rituals.  I found this part of the film to be more satisfying.  It was operatic in a sense so Callas' presence was natural.  When the film shifted to Jason's homeland, the plot was harder to understand, particularly due to the multiple versions of the same events.

However, the film is light on dialogue and heavy on images of violence and stark landscapes which stamps Medea with Pasolini's spartan filmmaking techniques.  This interpretation of Medea & Pasolini's imagery is primal and abstract which can make the story frustratingly difficult to follow but also produces striking imagery and theatricality.

I didn't enjoy Medea so much when I saw it but I'd like see it again with proper preparation on my part.

The Past

Since The Artist, I've been something of a Bérénice Bejo fan.  I saw her in a supporting role in Populaire last year and in December I saw her as the lead in The Past.  I saw The Past (or Le Passé) at the Landmark Aquarius in Palo Alto.

The Past starring Bérénice Bejo, Ali Mosaffa, Tahar Rahim & Pauline Burlet; directed by Asghar Farhadi; French & Persian with subtitles; (2013) - Official Facebook

Asghar Farhadi, the director of The Past, previously directed the Iranian film A Separation, a film I was impressed with.  A Separation was structured like a mystery but The Past seemingly has no purpose...like life if one is an existentialist.  Marie (Bérénice Bejo), a pharmacist with two daughters, picks up her husband Ahmad (Ali Mosaffa) at the airport.  The two have been separated for many years and Marie now wants a divorce so she can marry her new boyfriend, Samir (Tahar Rahim).  The film is set in France so I found it odd that Marie would marry two Iranian men but this is largely left unexplained.

When Ahmad arrives at the house he & Marie shared, he reacquaints himself with Marie's daughters whose father was Marie's first husband; the husband before Ahmad.  Also in the brood is Samir's son, Fouad who has behavioral issues which Ahmad finds concerning.  It's from Fouad that Ahmad discovers that Samir & Fouad have moved into the house which makes Marie's insistence that Ahmad stay there confusing.  Finally, it is from Marie's eldest daughter Lucie (Pauline Burlet) that Ahmad discovers disturbing news about Samir's wife and Fouad's mother.

Samir is married.  His wife attempted suicide several months ago.  She was unsuccessful and is now hospitalized in a coma.  Lucie claims the woman attempted suicide in front of her son but Lucie's views are suspect because she harbors clear dislike of Samir.

It is into this soap opera-like story, Ahmad and the audience are deposited.  Ahmad has completely extricated himself from Marie's life but based on her behavior and Lucie's urging, Ahmad can slowly feel himself pulled back in.  Of course, this makes no sense if Marie is about to marry Samir but how can she marry him if he has a wife albeit a comatose wife?

Eventually we discover that Samir's wife was aware of her husband's affair with Marie.  She was made aware by Lucie who hacked into Marie's email and forwarded Marie & Samir's love letters to Samir's wife.  That explains why Lucie dislikes Samir - she feels guilt which would be assuaged if Samir were to leave the relationship with her mother.

Let's summarize the characters - Marie appears in over her head with life's problems, Samir is of questionable character given his relationship with his wife, Lucie has an acute sense of teenage angst caused by her own actions and Ahmad, who previously attempted suicide and has abandoned his wife for several years, is the most stable of the bunch.

Director Farhadi has a deft touch.  The film never feels contrived or melodramatic.  The Past feels like you are looking at a family, a dysfunctional family but not to an unbelievable extent.  At the end of the film, you feel like all the characters except Ahmad are worse off for the experience but they'll have to muddle through.  Indeed, Marie seems to be the nexus of the dysfunction without consciously being aware of how her actions affect others.

The Past doesn't have the gravitas of The Separation but it is a well made film with strong performances by the ensemble cast.  The title of the film is a reference to the events within the film.  The audience is left to decipher the events of the past through the state of the present.  This is very confusing but as details of the past emerge, we get a better picture of how this set of characters came to this juncture.

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The Past was Iran's official submission for Best Foreign Language Film for this year's Oscar.  I find it odd that a film mainly in French was Iran's submission.

I have seen 7 films which were submitted for that category.  The Hunt (Denmark), Two Lives (Germany), The Grandmaster (Hong Kong), The Great Beauty (Italy), The Great Passage (Japan) and Soul (Taiwan).  The Hunt and The Great Beauty were nominated for the award.