Yet another masterpiece delivered by Asghar Farhadi of 'A separation' fame. This movie depicts a simple, Orthodox, shy Iranian girl Elly being called out to spend 3 days of nice vacation time with a bunch of lucky go happy friends from Tehran. Sepideh(who knows attractive Elly from being teacher to her daughter) knows she already is being engaged since 2 years but Elly tells she is about to break up with her fiance, so Sepideh intends to play her matchmaker with Germany returned friend Ahmad. Sepideh is as common at lying frequently as any normal person which is shown how she with held the fact that room wasn't available for 3 complete days but she still felt it could be manageable somehow on arrival.
During her first night stay with the group Elly learns how it feels to be in a much progressive middle class elite group away for some time though from her simple, cultured, conservative social situation which awaits her soon after departure from this temporary joy. She is not used to feel-free attitude her new found group of friends are accustomed to or how they make offensive jokes at each other lightheartedly. Through eyes of surprised freedom which other people can afford she simply walks out evidently giving glimpses of dissatisfaction she has in her own life and curtailed expression of joy or heartache she got within.
When she gets lonely time in car with her potential match Ahmad during grocery run. Ahmad says how his German wife left him with movie defining statement 'A bitter end is much better than a bitterness without ending'.
Elly's life is accurately same as the line. She is stuck between a conservative and oppressive system involving her mother and fiance on one end and joyful progressive elite class friends whose closeness reflects her own misery and pushes her towards breaking the shackles. But she just simply can't denounce the present and hug the desired future as intended. Her life and the system doesn't allow her that comfort.Choice is only a luxury of a few social elites which she can't afford.
While left to look after kids she is asked to fix the kite by little girl.While playing with the kite she forgets her complicated hopeless life for a moment and learns to live at present with free willed joy filling her heart out of the agony all around. She does denounce the bitterness of unending life by succumbing to a bitter end on her own. Finally she lived a moment of carefree life she longed all life like a little girl. She didn't had choice to live but die on her own terms.
Around her suspected disappearance grows many lies.Each lie to cover up their own moral shortcomings. All the facades of the so called progressive friends fall short with passing minute and growing nervousness. Honour, truth, social stance, cliched orthodoxy, social status suddenly becomes top priority over progressive humanity. Each character tries manipulation to justify their innocent role in the outcome for self consolation. Suddenly other then themselves others action around Elly is questioned and marked offensive. Ultimately Elly's character, her cleverly manipulated lies to her mother, fiance, the bunch of friends comes under scanner just to hold her the antagonist. And freeing themselves, society and status out as not guilty conveniently.
These series of miscalculated unnecessary manipulations of a simple situation leads them nowhere towards solving the mystery and finally when her body is found everything falls in place. All their complicated overthinking of a simple girl's life put under question who just wanted freedom from patriarchal Iranian society which made her oppressed and doesn't allow to have what she truly desires and live with joy like rest according to her own choices.
It's a profound analysis on human nature and how all moral standards are broken under circumstances. Facade of progressive mentality only remains until we can afford it. Not everything is complicated at the face value. Human life is ruled by simply situations which gets sometimes overwhelmed even among the best of us.
During her first night stay with the group Elly learns how it feels to be in a much progressive middle class elite group away for some time though from her simple, cultured, conservative social situation which awaits her soon after departure from this temporary joy. She is not used to feel-free attitude her new found group of friends are accustomed to or how they make offensive jokes at each other lightheartedly. Through eyes of surprised freedom which other people can afford she simply walks out evidently giving glimpses of dissatisfaction she has in her own life and curtailed expression of joy or heartache she got within.
When she gets lonely time in car with her potential match Ahmad during grocery run. Ahmad says how his German wife left him with movie defining statement 'A bitter end is much better than a bitterness without ending'.
Elly's life is accurately same as the line. She is stuck between a conservative and oppressive system involving her mother and fiance on one end and joyful progressive elite class friends whose closeness reflects her own misery and pushes her towards breaking the shackles. But she just simply can't denounce the present and hug the desired future as intended. Her life and the system doesn't allow her that comfort.Choice is only a luxury of a few social elites which she can't afford.
While left to look after kids she is asked to fix the kite by little girl.While playing with the kite she forgets her complicated hopeless life for a moment and learns to live at present with free willed joy filling her heart out of the agony all around. She does denounce the bitterness of unending life by succumbing to a bitter end on her own. Finally she lived a moment of carefree life she longed all life like a little girl. She didn't had choice to live but die on her own terms.
Around her suspected disappearance grows many lies.Each lie to cover up their own moral shortcomings. All the facades of the so called progressive friends fall short with passing minute and growing nervousness. Honour, truth, social stance, cliched orthodoxy, social status suddenly becomes top priority over progressive humanity. Each character tries manipulation to justify their innocent role in the outcome for self consolation. Suddenly other then themselves others action around Elly is questioned and marked offensive. Ultimately Elly's character, her cleverly manipulated lies to her mother, fiance, the bunch of friends comes under scanner just to hold her the antagonist. And freeing themselves, society and status out as not guilty conveniently.
These series of miscalculated unnecessary manipulations of a simple situation leads them nowhere towards solving the mystery and finally when her body is found everything falls in place. All their complicated overthinking of a simple girl's life put under question who just wanted freedom from patriarchal Iranian society which made her oppressed and doesn't allow to have what she truly desires and live with joy like rest according to her own choices.
It's a profound analysis on human nature and how all moral standards are broken under circumstances. Facade of progressive mentality only remains until we can afford it. Not everything is complicated at the face value. Human life is ruled by simply situations which gets sometimes overwhelmed even among the best of us.