ABOUT ELLY (Darbareye
Elly) A-
Iran France (119 mi) 2009 d: Asghar Farhadi
Iran France (119 mi) 2009 d: Asghar Farhadi
Asghar Farhadi is one of the few major Iranian directors
that still makes films in Iran, a nation where literally dozens of filmmakers
have been arrested and released under the Ahmadinejad regime, as Jafar Panahi and
Mohammad Rasoulof, along with filmmaker and actress Mahnaz Mohammadi, remain
imprisoned for political differences, their passports revoked, banned from
making future movies, while legendary Iranian
New Wave directors Abbas Kiarostami and Mohsen Makhmalbaf work in exile. It’s a significant paradox that Farhadi has been
free to serve on juries for major international film festivals, and even win
major prizes himself, including his highly acclaimed A
Separation (Jodaeiye Nader az Simin) (2011), which won the Academy Award
for Best Foreign Film (also nominated for Best Original Screenplay), becoming
the highest grossing Iranian film ever made (listed as #40 foreign language
movie of all-time, Foreign
Language Movies at the Box Office - Box Office Mojo) and the first Iranian
to win an Academy Award in any competitive category, while his compatriots
languish in prison. We are reminded that
in September 2010 during the making of A
Separation (Jodaeiye Nader az Simin), which due to past film successes was
made without any governmental support, Farhadi was banned from making the film
by the Iranian Ministry of Culture, as during earlier acceptance speeches at
award ceremonies, he expressed support for Mohsen Makhmalbaf, an exiled Iranian
filmmaker living at the time in Afghanistan, and imprisoned political filmmaker
Jafar Panahi, both of whom are linked to the Iranian Green Movement that questioned the
validity of the 2009 Iranian Presidential election, demanding the removal of
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from office.
The ban was lifted a month later after Farhadi apologized for his
remarks and claimed to be inaccurately perceived. While certainly considered one of the most
important directors of the 90’s, the Iranian government has long refused to
permit the screening of any Kiarostami film for well over a decade, causing him
to remark, “The government has decided not to show any of my films for the past
10 years... I think they don’t understand my films and so prevent them being
shown just in case there is a message they don’t want to get out. They tend to support films that are
stylistically very different from mine – melodramas” ("Abbas
Kiarostami – Not A Martyr", Stuart Jeffries from The Guardian, April 26, 2005), which begs the question, why is
Farhadi still visibly working in Iran while others have disappeared or been
silenced? The
Past (Le Passé) (2013) was even partially financed by Iran. Perhaps it’s a matter of economics, as his
films continue to make money, seemingly at odds with arthouse filmmakers who have
other priorities. That being said, ABOUT
ELLY is only belatedly having an international release six years after it
premiered to considerable acclaim at the Berlin Festival in 2009 where Farhadi
won a Silver Bear for Best Director, winning dozens of other awards as well,
but it was mysteriously shelved afterwards, as an earlier distributor that
acquired the film apparently went out of business. It’s curious that this film’s public
introduction comes “after” his two earlier films drew such heavy international
praise, where one of them surprisingly became the most successful film in
Iranian film history.
When seen in this context, how ironic that the film with the
least amount of accompanying accolades is arguably this director’s best
film. This may be the closest Farhadi
has come to emulating Jafar Panahi, where Western elements creep into an
Iranian film, whose CRIMSON GOLD (2003) mixes the stylization of Iranian social
realism with a European art film, actually paying tribute to Fellini’s NIGHTS
OF CABIRIA (1957). In similar fashion,
ABOUT ELLY borrows liberally from Antonioni’s L’AVVENTURA (1960), a film where
Italian neo-realism comes face to face with contemporary modern society, a
brooding interior film that expresses extreme emotional alienation through slow
pacing, narrative ambiguity, and extraordinary visual stylization. In each, a large degree of the film’s success
can be attributed to the brilliance of the character development, where
multiple figures literally come to life onscreen, becoming familiar to us all
by the end of the picture. While
Antonioni creates spaces between characters through silences or long wordless
sequences, Farhadi takes a more collective approach, creating a group dynamic
that is reflective of a casual self-interest mindset when one member of a group
of friends goes mysteriously missing during a weekend trip to the Caspian Sea. Intent on examining the fractured and
hypocritical culture of the middle-class, Farhadi conceals their underlying
motives throughout most of the film before allowing them to erupt in emotional
fireworks during an explosive finale. An
essay-like comment on contemporary times, ABOUT ELLY also accentuates the
extreme degree of alienation from rapidly changing cultural norms, exposing
utter indifference to the social injustice of women, whose powerlessness leaves
them even further isolated from the mainstream, their lives dominated and
completely controlled by the arrogance and paternalistic whims of selfishly
deluded men, revealing just how completely out of touch they are with their
wives and female counterparts who are all but invisible to them. The stark divide is a breathtaking surprise, a
social critique beautifully revealed through unraveling layers of seemingly
innocuous conversations that become dramatically intensified, ultimately a
distinctively evolving passion play that reaches heights of hysteria, dramatically
expressed with a great deal of clarity, though this only becomes evident by the
end. Farhadi’s true strength is his
writing, and while there are nearly a dozen featured characters, the naturalism
of their performances really serves the overall outcome. Much like a stage play, though expressed with
utter simplicity, the speed and rhythm of the conversational interplay between
characters must reflect the overall mood changes of a very complicated social dynamic,
where it’s essential they be viewed as believable and authentic. The success of this film is that all the
movable parts contribute to the whole, where what’s lurking under the surface,
seemingly benign and of little consequence, has a powerful impact that in the
end provides a stunning societal exposé.
The film begins innocently enough, as a group of middle-class
friends, old classmates from the university, set out for a relaxing weekend on
the shores of the Caspian Sea, three married couples and their young children, including
Sepideh, Golshifteh Farahani from My
Sweet Pepper Land (2013), who organized the trip, who brings along Elly
(Taraneh Alidoosti), her daughter’s kindergarten teacher, while also inviting a
male friend Ahmad (Shahab Hosseini), who recently separated from his wife and
is visiting from Germany. While the
boisterous mood remains upbeat, with plenty of music and chatter, the
overriding feeling is one of exuberance, expressing the joy of being young and
happy, shot in a cinéma vérité style, where the audience is exposed to wave
after wave of overlapping conversations.
Not to be deterred, despite being full for the holidays, the group is
offered a seaside villa with broken windows and no beds that hasn’t been fixed
up yet, but the charm of the nearby sea is inviting. Playing charades, singing songs, or
spontaneously breaking out into dance, it’s a celebratory atmosphere with
plenty of food brought in for the occasion.
While Elly is admittedly shy and reluctantly hesitant, there’s a bit of
matchmaking going on behind the scenes, which is all in good fun, where they’re
playfully introduced as young newlyweds to the rental owners to avoid any hint
of scandal. Nonetheless, with things
seemingly going well, Elly is admittedly uncomfortable and seeks to leave
early, spoiling the fun for Sepideh who encourages her to stay. While the women are out buying food and the
men are having a strenuous volleyball match on the beach, Elly is watching the
kids, seen in a state of ecstasy while flying a kite, but then Sepideh’s
daughter frantically cries out for help as one of the other children has gone
out too far and is being carried out to sea, creating an panic-stricken moment
of hysteria where all the adults run and jump into the water without a clue
where he is. Fortunately, after a
delirious search, the child is safely rescued, but then they notice Elly has
disappeared, where no one knows what happened to her. Unsure whether she drowned or returned home
on her own, suddenly the film takes on a more sinister mood, where they have to
get their stories straight before calling the police, as they don’t wish to be
implicated. Self-preservation overrides
any sense of honor in the face of tragedy, as each begins looking out for
themselves, pointing their fingers at others, trying any way they can to escape
blame. It’s a sad and pathetic situation
when they literally turn on one another, like sharks with blood in the water, with
husbands blaming wives, claiming they should have been watching the kids, not
some stranger whose last name they don’t even know, fearing how this might ruin
their reputations and good social standing.
A carefree vacation of best friends turns into a desperate moment of
panic, fear, and outright suspicion. In
no time it grows even more complicated, like a house of cards imploding on
itself, where a protracted series of lies meant to spare someone emotional
grief only escalates, reaching a level of emotional hysteria previously unseen
in Iranian films. Relying heavily on
suspense, Farhadi unspools this extraordinary drama in sophisticated fashion, first
creating the unsettled, murky waters of suspicion and distrust, then critiquing
the morality of patronizing, overzealous social conventions while also exploring
the male/female dynamic in modern Iran. It’s
a masterful effort that moves from the sunny comforts of Èric Rohmer territory
to the dark psychological realms of Hitchcockian suspense.
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