Seeing Asghar Farhadi's A Separation become the darling of
last year's awards circuit was as rewarding as it was unexpected. Few could
have imagined that this Iranian tale of domestic strife spinning out of control
would strike such a chord with audiences around the world, but few films in
recent years have been as deserving of such acclaim as Farhadi's masterpiece.
But we might only be seeing the real benefit of that attention now, as the
director's previous film About Elly – which I first saw in 2009 – has finally
received a UK release on the back of A Separation's Oscar success. The good news
is that this long overdue release is richly deserved, for About Elly is every
bit as impressive, compelling and morally complex as its successor, and it
proves beyond any doubt that A Separation was no fluke.
About Elly is another film about secrets and lies, another
film about moral and ethical decisions in which our loyalty towards the
characters is constantly being questioned, but it doesn't begin that way.
Farhadi takes his time revealing his hand, and About Elly's first half is
played loose and light. A group of upper-class friends are heading to the beach
for the weekend, and from the way they interact we can tell that they are
long-time companions, who are comfortable in each other's company. The
exception to this is Elly (Taraneh Alidoosti), who has been invited to join the
party by Sepideh (Golshifteh Farahani) in the hope that she can be fixed up
with her single friend Ahmad (Shahab Hosseini). The well-meaning but misguided
Sepideh has concocted this plan without the knowledge of anyone else in the
group; the first instance in the film of information being withheld, but not
the last.
Although it initially seems a little aimless, the effect of
this opening section of the film is to let us spend time with these characters,
get to know them and observe their group dynamics. It allows us to develop a
sense of attachment with them, which is why the mid-film twist that ruptures
the whole narrative has such a devastating impact. To say any more about what
exactly this twist entails would be a crime, as experiencing the fallout from
this unexpected narrative shift firsthand is one of the many pleasures About
Elly offers. Farhadi handles the abrupt tonal switch with consummate skill and
grace, and we remain riveted as the easygoing drama we've been watching
suddenly takes on the urgency of a thriller.
In the second half of About Elly, half-truths and outright
lies continue to pile up, as Sepideh and her anxious friends only exacerbate
the terrible situation they find themselves in by attempting to cover up the
truth. Farhadi's screenplay is a marvel of storytelling and moral complexity.
His ability to pull us into a situation that poses such thorny questions and to
consistently alter our perceptions of the situations and the characters is just
as potent here as it was in A Separation. Farhadi's characters are never
painted as being right or wrong – they are just ordinary people trying to cope
with things as best they can, making decision with no knowledge of what
consequences they will bring upon themselves.
At the centre of it all is Golshifteh Farahani, giving an
extraordinary, emotionally draining performance as Sepideh, who remains
steadfast in her belief that everything she is doing is for the best, even as
the rest of the group stands against her. Farhadi is a fascinating figure among
Iranian filmmakers; he makes films about modern, progressive, independent
characters, but they still exist within a society bound by its particular codes
and traditions. On one level, About Elly can be seen as a film criticising
Ian's culture of deception, but such political readings are always kept as
subtext in Farhadi's films, and they are above all else, gripping and
affecting human dramas. Viewers looking at the releases coming out of Hollywood
may despair at the lack of intelligent, compassionate, universally appealing
dramas being produced, and may suspect that filmmakers have given up on
discerning adult audiences. But these films do exist, you just have to look a
little further afield in order to find them, and right now, not many directors are
doing it better than Asghar Farhadi.