The Past (12A)
The Past (12A)
Dir: Asghar Farhadi
With: Berenice Bejo, Tahar Rahim
Runtime: 130 minutes
THE Oscar-winning Iranian director of A Separation (2011) returns with another exquisitely constructed tale exploring the tangled webs of modern relationships.
Although the setting here is the more familiar France rather than Iran, Asghar Farhadi's film is just as much of an eye-opener. Marie (Berenice Bejo, The Artist) used to be married to Ahmad (Ali Mosaffa).
He has come over from Iran to finalise their divorce, only to find Marie has a new man, Samir (A Prophet's Tahar Rahim).
With all three trailing enough emotional baggage to fill a carousel, this is one parting of the ways that is unlikely to go smoothly. Farhadi has a gift for mining a story layer by layer. Just when you think he cannot unearth another diamond, be it a plot surprise or a telling line, he does.
Bejo, winner of the best actress award at Cannes, is terrific as the mother torn between two lovers.
Filmhouse, Edinburgh, tomorrow-April 10; DCA, Dundee, April 4-10
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (3D) (12A)
Dirs: Joe and Anthony Russo
With: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson
Runtime: 136 minutes
THE first Captain America movie of 2011 stood out by having a superhero who was charmingly down to earth. Even though the titular captain had been in deep freeze since the end of the Second World War, the old human ice lolly was a warm sort. Some of that subtle flavour has been lost in this sequel by Joe and Anthony Russo in favour of more of the crash-bang-wallop so familiar in superhero movies. That, together with a plot that takes forever to catch fire, leads to the odd dull stretch in The Winter Soldier, but there is plenty to compensate, including Chris Evans cementing the title role as his own, Robert Redford causing silky havoc as a politician who believes it is better to get the bad guys before they get out of bed in the morning, and Scarlett Johansson in a circulation-defying Black Widow costume.
20 Feet from Stardom (12A)
Dir: Morgan Neville
Runtime: 91 minutes
THEY stood in the shadows of stages and studios, lending their talents to others, often for comparatively little reward and low to no recognition. The entertainment industry owes quite a debt to backing singers, and this superb, Oscar-winning documentary goes a long way in repaying it. Besides interviews with the likes of Merry Clayton (the electrifying voice on Gimme Shelter), Claudia Lennear (Ike and Tina Turner, Joe Cocker) and Darlene Love (Sinatra, Dionne Warwick), Morgan Neville's film hears from Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Sheryl Crow and others about the magic the right backing brings.
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