Delight
Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.
Sameir Ali
Asghar Farhadi is one of the most influential foreign Directors today. About Elly, recognized his position in the film lovers of the world.The film starts with a usual family picnic. With a sweet tune, it goes through the fun and troubles we usually have during the picnic. By this time, all the characters are cool and equally imprinted on the audience. But, the sudden and unexpected disappearance of the title character changes the mood of the film. Every person's basic character comes out. All the little lies and made up stories comes back to them. This movie is different from the usual Iranian films. The beauty of an international Independent movie was can be seen.Don't miss this amazing movie. A must watch. #kiduMovie
sharky_55
Is the space in About Elly about merely a class divide, or does it also concern sociopolitical difference? Certainly Asghar Farhadi's representations will challenge what little and genuine coverage of the middle east we have in the west. He assigns the three middle-class families on vacation atypical cultural markers which aim to familiarise: their rambunctious hollering and yelling from their cars in a tunnel, the sporting of sunglasses on foreheads, the way they dance and play pranks with a bathroom door missing its lock. Although the women still wear their headdresses, these moments seek to de-mystify and wave away the inbuilt modesty of Iran that we may be more accustomed to. The boy overseeing the villa observes them with a strange curiosity as if he was mesmerised at the apparent freedoms they are afforded (and willingly flaunt). They joke about how wives have surpassed their 'masters' - western domestic scenes will find the same humour in the imagery of a ball and chain. But later Amir might as well wield the whip and tassel himself as the arguments turn physical. It seems that their modern guise may be little more than a slip-on. The openness and immodesty of these introductions may lure an viewer into a false sense of security, believing the characters and setting to have freed themselves from the implicit cultural codes of propriety and honour that still rule modern day Iran. A closer glance reveals lies that are offered easily because of certain situations, and how little white ones enlarge and begin to swallow them. We see how Elly conceals the purpose of her trip to her mother, and how this later takes on a more deceitful tone. Sepideh likewise partakes in this practice, using it as a tool to barter for their accommodation, but the lie reveals other lies that may have already become truth in her mind. Is the partnership that she has set up already becoming a betrothal in her eyes? Is it merely a matter of time between the young teacher and the handsome divorcée? What Farhadi does is merge these questions of class and culture into a typical mystery, and expose how little we know and understand these characters beyond their surface. Slowly, the dialogue and interactions unveil the more conservative mindsets that rear their head when push comes to shove. Ideals of womanhood and femininity are warped and bargained; they tease each other about their domestic duties and place, and make reference to the virtues of the fairer sex ("A woman must come", "Better if a woman calls"). See how Elly shrinks to what she believes must be her default state in the household, shunted into corners, into backseats, offering to clean, not quite comfortable with the ease of her companions (especially the female ones, as they later interrogate what seems like an offhand comment). In one moment they are playfully rubbing Arash's head for his contribution in charades, the next propping him up like a toy and probing him for answers (and when that does not reveal more, mistreatment comes into play). Jafarian visualises the sudden disconnect through his blocking, where the group, once bunched together on the couch, and able to face each other in circles, are now separate individuals, leaning against walls, wandering away off the path, storming in and out of rooms to conduct their own conversations and investigations. His greatest achievement is the follow shot that captures Elly's last living moments on screen; the camera tracks her as she flies the kite, never allowing her to leave the confines of the frame, and holding and holding until her peals of laughter become uncertainty. The shakiness of the camera and the cuts becomes more and more erratic, and Jafarian merges form and content into a visualisation of Elly's shocking realisation that a kite, however freely and gracefully it rides the winds, is still tethered to its holder via string. Farhadi is known mostly for his Oscar winning A Separation, one of the great films of the 21st century that pondered struggles of religion, class and gender within the context of personal predicament. One of its greatest strengths was its utter refusal to create bias and take sides - we are able to survey the events from the perspective of all its participants, and understand even the actions that we most ardently disagree with. Some of the figures in About Elly are harder to empathise with. We are not quite sure, for example, exactly the type of monster that her fiancé may or may not be, and how this factored into her choice. The film has been compared widely to L'Avventura, and in forming these comparisons I have come to see that the best films about the mystery of a disappearance forgo the cold logic and process of a thriller and instead survey the effects on those surrounding the event. Antonioni's modernist masterpiece began with the same premise, but descended into a harsh exposure of the shallow excess and emptiness of its characters' existences. Spoorloos, or The Vanishing, another foreign film in the same vein, reveals its murderer and motive early on, but is more interested in investigating the evils and pitfalls of curiosity and guilt over time. Similarly, About Elly is not wholly concerned with solving the mystery, but instead focuses on how its characters partake in lies and deceit, and how this unearths older, buried issues they have tried so desperately to discard.
Leofwine_draca
ABOUT ELLY is an interesting and highly watchable Iranian film that's been marketed as a mystery type thriller, although in fact it's a piece of relevant and timely social commentary. The storyline is about a group of young people - friends, family, and offspring - who gather together for a weekend of fun at a beach house. However, disaster strikes when a child is washed into the sea and one of the women goes missing. The first thing that strikes the viewer is that ABOUT ELLY is a very well made film. The cinematography is excellent with lots of beautiful shots both of scenery and actors. The acting is of a realistic standard and despite the drama of the storyline there's never any melodrama or over the top emoting going on.Writer/director Asghar Farhadi uses the film's narrative to explore questions of what it means to be young and carefree in modern-day Iran. In particular, gender relationships are explored in detail, particularly when it comes to permissiveness and the like, and to what extent a young woman has freedom in society to do as she wishes. It's all highly interesting, giving western audiences a chance to find out something about what a little-known country is really like for the people living there.
