About Elly

i didn't really know what to expect of this film so went to watch it quite blank, the cinema was packed with a mixed crowd which was promising.

i was drawn to the characters and their different personalities immediately.they were very believable and you almost felt as if you were there.

the film was very natural and the shots were nice and tidy, as a lot of foreign or arty films end up being too 'diffeent', this was easy to watch. as the plot became more complex the viewing was compelling and the director created suspense very well and built it up slowly.

the actresses and actors were really great, adding to the story's realism. as we the audience started to try and piece the mysteries of the story you just had to keep watching. i recommend it, the location was really pretty too.

i was happy to know there was a ending as a lot of foreign films end with no ending!!!! but this was satisfying however i would add that it became a little too long towards the end and some may have wanted a different ending to that chosen.

all together an excellent film to watch.

A few years ago, A Separation won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. This Iranian movie was exquisitely acted and director Asghar Farhadi must have been justifiably proud of his work at the helm. Not surprisingly, another one of Farhadi's films has just been released to theaters in the States. However, oddly, it's actually a film he made before A Separation! About Elly is from 2009 and once again features superb acting.

The film is set during a holiday in Iran. A group of friends have decided on a brief trip together and are using it to try to set up their friend, Ahmad, with a pretty young lady named Elly. Most of these friends don't know Elly--but Sepideh does and thinks she'll be a good match for the guy. The first portion of the film seems pretty mundane with the usual banter you'd expect during a holiday getaway. However, things turn dark when one of the small children nearly drowns. The boy is saved but after the confusion dies down, everyone starts to wonder where Elly got to. Perhaps she jumped in the water to try to save the boy and drowned herself or perhaps she just left. After all, she DID insist on going home the following morning...and it was the following morning when the boy nearly died. What's next? See the film.

This movie is an interesting character study as well as a cautionary tale about lies and half-truths. Once again, Farhadi did a wonderful job with the film and the actors really deserve kudos for their realistic performances. In particular, I noticed that the children really seemed scared when they should have been and the adults later begin to show definite signs of stress. It was hard to tell that they were really acting--as if Farhadi actually did something to the actress playing Elly!

Despite my loving the acting and direction, I'll admit that this is certainly not a film for everyone. Some folks don't like films with subtitles, some will find the subject matter a bit too mundane and some might be a bit put off by the ending. I didn't mind the first two minor concerns but I, too, thought the ending was perhaps a bit weak. Still, the film is a marvelous showcase for the folks involved and deserves to be seen. Well worth your time if you can find it in your local theaters--which isn't always easy with foreign language movies.

Based on my opinion, this movie was even better that A Saparation, an award winning Farhadi's film.

Farhadi proves adept at controlling the tone of his film. By slowly setting up the situation and the complex nexus of relationships between the characters, he lulls the audience into thinking the film will continue in a comic mode until Elly's disappearance. From then on, the film takes a serious tone. Lies come back to haunt the characters, and the consequences of these are unforgiving. Some of these lies were told due to particular proprieties necessary within Iranian society. The brilliance of Farhadi's script and direction becomes most apparent in the latter stages of the film. As one secret after another is revealed, Farhadi deftly maps out the shifts in the perceptions and behaviour of the characters toward each other as well as the viewer's perception of the characters. Farhadi's cast is uniformly excellent, especially Farahani, who compellingly registers Sepideh's shock at how her seemingly innocent matchmaking has taken such a tragic turn, as well as the way her character, like others in the film, is revealed to not be what it initially appears.

You can't breathe, you can not even shout, you can not cry, you'll be just stay fascinated till the end and the final music is just as fantastic as the whole movie itself; The roles are played by some of the best actors and actresses of Iran, who actually LIVE the roles and you just get engaged with everything that's going on there as if you are one of them; I loved it so much; Thanks to Asghar Farhadi for always making us such good movies; I do recommend everyone to see this if the haven't yet; I'm gonna see it again for sure....... I really love the scene where the sound of Eli gets mixed with the cruel sound of Sea which really makes you nervous; gives some notices about the upcoming events;

that wasn't what i expected because i thought it would be a normal film but since I've seen it, i cannot stop thinking about it...i had never seen any movie like that before.it shocked me during it and after it.i cannot put it in the words as i can't speak English well...anyway,great movie and actually great Iranian movie so far...best natural plays,best good directed film,you cannot imagine what I'm trying to say if you haven't seen it yet...i have seen all of his films and i enjoyed them a lot and all i know about him that he is a real talented and genius Iranian who0 knows what he wants and what he is about to create...i watched this movie just once but I'm gonna buy its DVD and then watch it over and over to find more the other things that i couldn't find that time.it is so hard to excite the people's emotions but he proved that if you tell the truth,it seems really easy.that was my country's reality and i cannot deny it.that's what we are gonna do and say and think if we be on that situation...thanks Mr.director,I'm proud of you so much