2010:
Reading a leaflet from a local art house cinema,I was disappointed to find that I had just missed a screening of an Iran New Wave (INW) Thriller. Looking for the movie on DVD,the only result that turned up was one without English subtitles.
2016:
Finally getting the chance to see Asghar Farhadi's work in the haunting Drama The Past,I was thrilled to discover that the BBC were to show one of his earlier works,which led to me getting set to at last meet Elly.
The plot:
Going on a three day holiday,school friends/ couples Sepideh,Amir, Shohreh, Peyman, Nazy and Nazy's husband Manuchehr decide to take their children along on the trip. Aware that the recently divorced Ahmad if flying in from Germany to join them on the break, Sepideh pushes her daughters kindergarten teacher Elly to join them,in the hope that she will woo Ahmad. Arriving at the beach villa,the gang find the place to have no phone reception and to be in the middle of nowhere. Wanting to keep things secret,Elly travels to town and calls her mum to lie about what's taking place.Fearful that Elly could run off early, Sepideh hides her bags. Wanting to spend some time on their own,the gang ask Elly to look after the kids on the beach.Relaxing,the gang is shaken by the scream of a child floating away on the sea,and the discovery that Elly has disappeared into thin air.
View on the film:
Keeping what awaits them at bay,co-writer/(along with Azad Jafarian) directing auteur Asghar Farhadi & cinematographer Hossein Jafarian give the opening 45 minutes a laid-back attitude,where the camera drifts along to snippets of casual dialogue.Riding the waves of dread with INW tracking shots cracking over the ocean, Farhadi breaks the calm with an atmosphere running on high anxiety,as stylish camera moves sweep the ocean for any sight of Elly. Making a sandcastle for his major visual themes, Farhadi lays the villa bare,subtly matching the bare soul of each guest,caught in draining close-ups and clipped dialogue out of earshot, capturing the emotional,darkly thrilling waves.
Initially looking like a nice holiday to the beach, the screenplay by Farhadi and Jafarian chips away at the calm and taps into the pure Noir terror,brilliantly bringing the fracturing state of each relationship to the surface. Finding no sign of Elly on the sea,the writers' strike a chilling mood with an expert deconstruction of Elly's disappearance leading to powerfully raw questions on treating words with a minimal value and the drastic measures people will take to keep a lie in place.
Twisting Elly's arm to come along, Golshifteh Farahani gives a divesting performance as Sepideh,whose face is drawn by Farahani in lines of disperse,and a desperation to grasp any sign of hope. Flying in from Germany, Shahab Hosseini gives a magnificent performance as Ahmad,by Hosseini keeping the lingering sting from Ahmad's divorce very real,in a film about Elly.
Reading a leaflet from a local art house cinema,I was disappointed to find that I had just missed a screening of an Iran New Wave (INW) Thriller. Looking for the movie on DVD,the only result that turned up was one without English subtitles.
2016:
Finally getting the chance to see Asghar Farhadi's work in the haunting Drama The Past,I was thrilled to discover that the BBC were to show one of his earlier works,which led to me getting set to at last meet Elly.
The plot:
Going on a three day holiday,school friends/ couples Sepideh,Amir, Shohreh, Peyman, Nazy and Nazy's husband Manuchehr decide to take their children along on the trip. Aware that the recently divorced Ahmad if flying in from Germany to join them on the break, Sepideh pushes her daughters kindergarten teacher Elly to join them,in the hope that she will woo Ahmad. Arriving at the beach villa,the gang find the place to have no phone reception and to be in the middle of nowhere. Wanting to keep things secret,Elly travels to town and calls her mum to lie about what's taking place.Fearful that Elly could run off early, Sepideh hides her bags. Wanting to spend some time on their own,the gang ask Elly to look after the kids on the beach.Relaxing,the gang is shaken by the scream of a child floating away on the sea,and the discovery that Elly has disappeared into thin air.
View on the film:
Keeping what awaits them at bay,co-writer/(along with Azad Jafarian) directing auteur Asghar Farhadi & cinematographer Hossein Jafarian give the opening 45 minutes a laid-back attitude,where the camera drifts along to snippets of casual dialogue.Riding the waves of dread with INW tracking shots cracking over the ocean, Farhadi breaks the calm with an atmosphere running on high anxiety,as stylish camera moves sweep the ocean for any sight of Elly. Making a sandcastle for his major visual themes, Farhadi lays the villa bare,subtly matching the bare soul of each guest,caught in draining close-ups and clipped dialogue out of earshot, capturing the emotional,darkly thrilling waves.
Initially looking like a nice holiday to the beach, the screenplay by Farhadi and Jafarian chips away at the calm and taps into the pure Noir terror,brilliantly bringing the fracturing state of each relationship to the surface. Finding no sign of Elly on the sea,the writers' strike a chilling mood with an expert deconstruction of Elly's disappearance leading to powerfully raw questions on treating words with a minimal value and the drastic measures people will take to keep a lie in place.
Twisting Elly's arm to come along, Golshifteh Farahani gives a divesting performance as Sepideh,whose face is drawn by Farahani in lines of disperse,and a desperation to grasp any sign of hope. Flying in from Germany, Shahab Hosseini gives a magnificent performance as Ahmad,by Hosseini keeping the lingering sting from Ahmad's divorce very real,in a film about Elly.