Sólstafir

9/10

This Iranian film is a masterclass on how to hold up the tensions without employing anything unreal or far-fetched. About Elly started slow, settled me in and then turned on the knobs of stress slowly but continuously. Three 30-something couples and two singles go out on a vacation. It is just an ordinary long weekend beach outing. Elly is one of the singles in the group. She is a teacher who joins this group of her acquaintances to watch their kids. But is it a pretext? Things get a lot murkier at about 40 mins in and from that moment on, it does not let you settle even for a bit. This is a brilliant example of storytelling. There is no larger than life event here. It is a drama through and through. With his camera and support of brilliant acting by all, Asghar Farhadi held my interest till the very last frame. He tells how easy it is to judge someone even when the moral conflicts don't allow you to take clear sides. I particularly enjoyed the camera handling. It is not a fly on the wall kind of spectator. The camera made me feel like one of the group members. I could feel happiness as the trip started as if I was with them as they entered the beach house. I felt like a silent member when friction started rising and personalities started clashing. There is a sea rescue scene in which the camera, as if a person helping the rescue party, goes in the water. The tensions are thick and palpable. The changing centre of attention in long continuous shots is one of a kind. Also, the usage of depth in many frames adds such a lived-in feel to the composition that it further enforces the feeling of you being there as a member of the group. There is a YouTube video about the blocking and staging in About Elly, which explains this far better. Loved the acting of Golshifteh Farahani. From the very mischievous initial personality to a serious and self-blaming hurt character, the journey is portrayed brilliantly. I loved the work of each of the cast members. From tiny little details of limping, wiping away water from the foreheads, all the actions are natural, which adds to the camera handling giving a very realistic notion. The sound of the sea is present in almost all the scenes in the beach house and that modulation, keep the tensions rising and falling like waves. It has its own YouTube video explaining this handling of sound. Overall the movie gets a clear recommendation from me. It is well worth your time.

Andres Gomez

0/10

Great drama in which a ball of lies hit back to the main characters once and again. The suspense is greatly kept while we attend to the limitations and roles imposed by culture and social conventions. In several ways, a movie setting the path for the next one: "A Separation".