By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Hector Babenco
Starring: Ana Celentano | Analía Couceyro | Gael García Bernal | Marta Lubos | Mimí Ardú | Moro Anghileri
Original language title: El Pasado
Country: argentina, brazil
Year: 2007
Running time: 114
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765469/
Bruce says: “Based on a novel by Alan Pauls, THE PAST is a story with many themes: separation, jealousy, tragedy, and loss of love. At a party, Frida (Marta Lubos) toasts Rimini (Gael Garcia Bernal) and Sofia (Analía Couceyro) who are celebrating their 12th anniversary as ‘the perfect couple.’ The anniversary couple looks mildly embarrassed by the attention. At the end of the evening they explain to Frida that they have decided to split up as they are no longer in love.
“Rimini immediately begins a new life by moving out of their apartment and views the separation as final; Sofia, however, is convinced that separation is but a phase for two people who are destined to be soul mates for life. For years she stalks Rimini – through several girlfriends and two marriages – making his life complicated and miserable. As a result of Sofia’s actions, directly or indirectly, Rimini is confined to a mental institution and serves a prison sentence. Sofia meanwhile starts the Adele H. society, a group of women who have been deserted by men but refuse to believe that the separation is not an aberration.
“THE PAST is a tale of a vulnerable man and a voracious woman. Tales of obsession involve an irrationality that must be handles carefully when it is brought to the screen. This irrationality, similar to that of drug abuse, diffuses the trajectory of the narrative. Sofia’s behavior is so over-the-top it is difficult to feel much empathy. Analía Couceyro’s performance and the script lack the undercurrent of extreme pain and pathos necessary to make Sofia’s actions seem plausible. As the vulnerable man, Gael Garcia Bernal is the shining star of the film, not much of a surprise as his excellence on screen has a marvelous consistency. His performance adds more than one cat to this film’s rating. I must admit it is fun to see a film where the man is the sex object. Films that have treated obsessive love much more successfully are Catherine Breillat’s UNE VIEILLE MAÎTRESSE, François Truffaut’s THE STORY OF ADELE H., and Ettore Scola’s PASSIONE D’AMORE. 2.5 cats
“THE PAST screened at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival.”