Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Favorite Performances '13 - Elyes Aguis The Past


Aguis with Tahar Rahim as his father in Le Passe

Among the many many things Asghar Farhadi is a genius at, he's a genius at drawing fantastic performances from child actors. He does that again in his latest The Past (Le Passe) where he works with 3 young actors within the film's uniformly strong cast. And he's most successful in drawing out a mesmerizing and moving yet believable and restrained performance from Aguis.

Playing a young boy who's perplexed by the adults around him and how their shenanigans keep complicating his life, Aguis is the MVP. That's no small feat since every performance is tightly and expertly modulated. His big scene,  where he rebels against all that's happening around him in a train station, is the emotional highlight of the film. And he delivers, I was shattered by his deep emoting.



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