The Past review: Farhadi betters his Oscar-winning break-up tale

An Iranian man deserts his French wife and children to return to his homeland. Meanwhile, his wife Marie (Bérénice Bejo) starts up a new relationship, a reality her husband confronts upon his wife's request for a divorce, unveiling a secret from their past.

We reviewed The Past at the 2013 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL. The film is now available to stream anytime at SBS On Demand (links below).

Asghar Farhadi is a master of allegorical storytelling, of not tackling issues head on. His characters skirt difficult subjects, reaching conclusions through assumption and elimination, or any means besides outright disclosure. Small wonder he’s so skilled at concealing details; as the most high-profile Iranian filmmaker working both at home and abroad, he understands the pitfallsperson to 'end things well" with his ex and her two daughters from a prior relationship, who still look to him as a father figure.

Marie and Ahmad haven’t seen each other for four years, so there’s a shyness that could suggest a rekindled flirtation, as she collects him in the opening scene. A near-miss in the airport car park, however, implies she ought to proceed with caution; objects in the rear view mirror may be closer than they appear.

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For reasons unclear to Ahmad – and perhaps, even to herself – Marie hasn’t obliged his request to book him