About Elly

About Elly
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Asghar Farhadi
Produced by	Asghar Farhadi
Written by	Asghar Farhadi (screenplay) Azad Jafarian (thanks to)
Starring	Golshifteh Farahani Taraneh Alidoosti Shahab Hosseini Mani Haghighi Merila Zarei Peiman Ma'adi Ahmad Mehranfar Rana Azadivar Saber Abar
Cinematography	Hossein Jafarian
Editing by	Hayedeh Safiyari
Distributed by	DreamLab Films
Release date(s)	June 6, 2009 (2009-06-06)
Running time	119 minutes
Country	Iran
Language	Persian
Box office	$1,350,000[1]

About Elly (Persian: درباره الی , translit. Darbareye Elly) is a 2009 Iranian film directed by Asghar Farhadi. It is the fourth film by Farhadi. The film is about the relationship among some middle class families in Iran.

Farhadi won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 59th Berlin Film Festival for the film. The film was also nominated for 10 awards at the 27th Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran where Farhadi won the Crystal Symorgh for best directing. About Elly was Iran's official submission for the competition in Foreign Film section at the 82nd Academy Awards. It competed against films such as Bist, Tardid, Bipooli for Iran's submission in the Academy Awards.

Plot

A group of middle-class Iranian friends travel to the shores of the Caspian Sea on a three-day vacation. They are former classmates at the Law faculty in the university. Three couples include Sepideh and her husband Amir who have a little daughter. Shohreh and her husband Peiman who have two children including their little son Arash. Nazi and her husband Manoochehr are the third family. The trip is planned by Sepideh, who brought along her daughter's kindergarten teacher Elly in order to introduce her to Ahmad, a friend who has come back from Germany for marriage.

They all go to the villa that Sepideh has booked from Tehran, but the rural woman in charge tells them that the owners of the place are coming back tomorrow, so they can't stay there. The old woman suggests that they stay in a deserted villa that needs a lot of repairs. There is no signal for the cell phone and they have to go to the old woman's house in order to make calls. Sepideh lies to the old woman about the relationship between Elly and Ahmad: she says they're married and are there for their honey moon.

Elly is a little shy, but she begins to feel attracted to Ahmad, who seems to feel the same way. She calls her mother and lies to her saying that she's with her co-workers at the sea-side. She says she will go back to Tehran the following day...

Cast

• Golshifteh Farahani as Sepideh
• Taraneh Alidoosti as Elly
• Shahab Hosseini as Ahmad
• Mani Haghighi as Amir
• Merila Zarei as Shohreh
• Peiman Ma'adi as Peyman
• Ahmad Mehranfar as Manouchehr
• Ra'na Azadivar as Nazzie
• Saber Abar as Ali-Reza

Crew

• sound recorder: Hassan Zahedi
• sound mix: Mohammad-Reza Delpak
• sound editor: Reza Narimizadeh

Reception

The film hailed critically upon the release in its home country. One year after its release, it was voted the 4th greatest Iranian movie of all time by national society of Iranian critics.

One of the strongest supporters of About Elly is David Bordwell, the famous film theorist and film critic, who has called it a masterpiece: " Gripping as sheer storytelling, the plot smoothly raises some unusual moral questions. It touches on masculine honor, on the way a thoughtless laugh can wound someone’s feelings, on the extent to which we try to take charge of others’ fates. I can’t recall another film that so deeply examines the risks of telling lies to spare someone grief. But no more talk: The less you know in advance, the better. About Elly deserves worldwide distribution pronto." [1]

Alissa Simon of Variety wrote in her review: "To many, the film’s first half may seem mannered, even boring, with the old pals, particularly the men, indulging in obnoxious, condescending behavior. But after an alarming incident at the 45-minute mark, Farhadi ratchets up the tension, and the pic becomes a mystery thriller of sorts that epitomizes the Sir Walter Scott quote, Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive. " [2]

Adam Eisenberg in his review from Tribeca Film Festival called About Elly: "a mirror of sorts to Michelangelo Antonioni’s stylistic revolution, L’Avventura." And wrote: "Here the contrast between Farhadi and Antonini is perhaps sharpest. Although L’avventura is certainly cinematic with its relationship between images and themes, ... In Farhadi’s world, cold glances, a husband’s demand for more tea, and tearful rage, are all comments, not symbols, on a culture where telling the truth is often not the best option. It’s a culture that lends itself to suspense, and Farhadi might have more in common with Hitchcock, than the Iranian New Wave he emerges from." [3]

Also Christopher Bourne after seeing the film at Tribeca Film Festival said: "The brilliance of Farhadi’s script and direction (his efforts earned him the Silver Bear for best director at this year’s Berlin Film Festival) 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 behavior of the characters toward each other as well as the viewer’s perception of the characters." [4]

Lee Marshall of Screen Daily called the film "One of the most remarkable Iranian films to surface in the last few years" and added: "About Elly is a small but compelling ensemble piece of surprising depth. It’s one of those rare films that can be read on one level purely as a satisfying drama, but which also has a rich, independent inner life, centered on big questions about right and wrong, social coercion and the lies people tell themselves and each other." [5]

Accolades

• Crystal Simorgh for Best Director in 27th Fajr International Film Festival^[2]
• Silver Bear for Best Director in 59th Berlin film festival^[3]
• Best Picture at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival.
• In Tribeca Film Festival, Farhadi won the award for Best Narrative Feature.
• In Brisbane International Film Festival Farhadi won the Netpac Award.
• About Elly is Iran's official selection to compete at the 82nd Academy Awards in the field of Best Foreign Language Film.^[4]
• Jury Grand Prize (with The Time That Remains) and Best Screenplay at the 2009 Asia Pacific Screen Awards
• Suvarna Chakoram for Best Film in International Film Festival of Kerala^[5] 2009.

References

1. ^ http://www.farsnews.net/newstext.php?nn=8805020314
2. ^ http://fajrfestival.ir/pe/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=633&Itemid=560
3. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7890194.stm
4. ^ http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=106683&sectionid=351020105
5. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Film_Festival_of_Kerala

External links

• Official website
• About Elly at the Internet Movie Database
• About Elly at the Memento Films website (French)
• About Elly in Iran Negah
• About Elly gallery in 30nema website