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Time Out
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Woman and Child
Iranian cinema is your go-to for knotty, complex morality tales. Small missteps are made, a series of seemingly inconsequential events leads to one big, defining one – and the fallout leaves characters trying to navigate the awful repercussions often made worse by the country's suffocating social and religious codes. A gun goes missing in Mohammad Rasoulof's The Seed of the Sacred Fig; a handbag is stolen in Asghar Farhadi's A Hero. Torment and tragedies ensue. In Saeed Roustayi's Woman and Child, a carefully crafted and endlessly gripping drama that follows a Tehran family's slow disintegration, it's the supposedly joyous occasion of a marriage proposal that set the wheels of fate in motion. Hard-working nurse Mahnaz (Parinaz Izadyar, magnetic) is a 40-year-old widow with two kids: teenage tearaway Aliyar (Sinan Mohebi) and all-round poppet Neda (Arshida Dorostkar). She's dating ambulance driver Hamid (A Separation 's Payman Maadi), an older man whose flirtations suddenly turn serious. He pops the question, but there's an immediate string attached: will she pretend she's childless when his strict rural parents come to visit them at her house? For anyone unfamiliar with the strictures and mores of Iranian society, the answer would be 'hell no'. But as Roustayi shows in a movie that's sympathetic to its female protagonist almost to a fault, it's nothing like that simple. As a single mum, Hamid might be her best bet – even if he immediately scans as something of a rogue and she's happy to tick along without formalising things. So she cedes to his request, dutifully taking down the portraits of her kids on her apartment walls, and endures the pretence with grace as her own mother (Fereshteh Sadr Orafaee) sits in. And so the first domino falls in a series of connected events that will leave her broken up and grief-stricken. She's pushed her kids onto her reluctant father-in-law for the visit. He's a wheezing misanthrope played with raw unlikeability by Hassan Pourshirazi, and perhaps inevitably, something terrible happens. For Mahnaz, sadness and regret are not enough. She sets off on a quest for justice for those she blames for the tragedy: neglectful granddad; the teacher she believes had victimised her son; Hamid, who, to compound matters, had decided that he wanted to marry her sister anyway. The outstanding actress toggles from open-hearted to incandescent with total believability The storytelling is enthralling but not flawless. It's not entirely clear why Mahnaz's sister would fall for the slimy imprecations of a man who has just ditched her own sibling, especially when their formidable, matter-of-fact mother is enraged by the idea. And an overheated final stretch, in which Mahnaz goes full black widow, overheats a film that works best when it's simmering slowly. The question of her own responsibility in what transpired is glossed over. But Woman and Child, the third part in Roustayi's trilogy about Iranian women (2016's Life and a Day, 2022's Leila's Brothers), manages to be both incredibly tense and deeply stirring in its depiction of a woman coping with unimaginable pain. And in the outstanding Izadyar, who toggles from open-hearted to incandescent with total believability, he's found the perfect collaborator to bring down the curtain on his feminist triptych.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Asghar Farhadi to Direct ‘Parallel Tales' in Paris With Powerful French Cast, Including Isabelle Huppert, Virginie Efira, Vincent Cassel, Pierre Niney, Adam Bessa (EXCLUSIVE)
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways Twelve years after making his French-language directorial debut with 'The Past,' two-time Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi is set to return to Paris for his next film, 'Parallel Tales.' The film, whose plot remains under wraps, brings together a powerful French cast, including Isabelle Huppert ('Elle'), Virginie Efira ('Benedetta'), Vincent Cassel ('Black Swan'), Pierre Niney ('The Count of Monte Cristo') and Adam Bessa ('Ghost Trail'). Iconic French actor Catherine Deneuve will also make an appearance in the film. More from Variety Produced by long-time collaborator Alexandre Mallet-Guy alongside with Asghar Farhadi and David Levine, the prestige project will be launched by Charades and UTA Independent Film Group at the upcoming Cannes Film Market. Charades will handle international sales, while UTA Independent Film Group will rep U.S. rights. Farhadi is set to begin production on 'Parallel Tales' in Paris this fall. The Iranian director's most recent film, 'A Hero,' earned the Grand Prize at Cannes in 2021 and was nominated for a Golden Globe. 'Parallel Tales' marks Farhadi's eagerly awaited follow up to 'A Hero' which earned the Grand Prize at Cannes in 2021. The helmer, who is attached to France through his friendship and collaboration with Mallet-Guy, previously struck a chord with 'The Past' which starred Tahar Rahim and Berenice Bejo. The movie competed at Cannes in 2013 and won best actress for Bejo, and received five César nominations and a Golden Globe nomination in 2014. Besides 'The Past,' Mallet-Guy's Paris-based company Memento Production three more films by Farhadi, 'The Salesman,' which won two awards at Cannes for its screenplay and lead actor in 2016, and the Oscar for best foreign language film the following year; 'Everybody Knows,' Farhadi's Spanish-language debut starring Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, which opened and competed at Cannes in 2018; and lastly 'A Hero.' On top of producing, Memento, which is one of France's leading distribution companies, will handle the release 'Parallel Tales' in France. The cast of 'Parallel Tales' is particularly exciting as it mixes some of the biggest names in French cinema from different generations and cinematic horizons, notably Huppert and Efira, and Cassel and Niney, whose recent epic film 'The Count of Monte-Cristo' was France's second biggest box office hit in 2024 with 10 million admissions sold. Bessa, meanwhile, is a rising French talent who was nominated for a Cesar Award for his performance in 'Ghost Trail' earlier this year. 'Parallel Tales' is expected to be theatrically released in France in the Spring of 2026. The film will be an official French-Italian-Belgian coproduction between Alexandre Mallet-Guy's Memento Production in France, Andrea Occhipinti's Lucky Red in Italy, and André Logie's Panache Productions and Gaëtan David's La Compagnie Cinématographique in Belgium. Anonymous Content in the US will also co-produce the film. Memento Production, whose auteur-driven production credits include Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Palme d'Or 'Winter Sleep' and 'On Barren Weeds,' is headed for a strong Cannes Film Festival with Tarik Saleh's 'Eagles of The Republic' set to world premiere in competition. 'Eagles of The Republic' will reteam Mallet-Guy's Memento Production with Saleh following 'Cairo Conspiracy' which had won best script at Cannes in 2022. Anonymous Content's credits include Oscar-winning films such as 'The Revenant,' 'Spotlight,' 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' and 'Mr. Robot,' along with recent and upcoming projects such as 'The Nickel Boys,' 'True Detective: Season 4,' Alfonso Cuarón's 'Disclaimer,' 'East of Eden' starring Florence Pugh, and 'Neuromancer' starring Callum Turner. Executive producer credits include Carole Baraton, Yohann Comte, Pierre Mazars, Yousra Filali, Stefano Massenzi, Chadwick Prichard, Krzysztof Piesiewicz, Maciej Musial and Lila Yacoub. Asghar Farhadi Best of Variety Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Asghar Farhadi Sets Paris-Shot Film ‘Parallel Tales' With Isabelle Huppert, Virginie Efira, Vincent Cassel, Pierre Niney & Adam Bessa
Asghar Farhadi will shoot his next film Parallel Tales in Paris this coming fall, with Isabelle Huppert, Virginie Efira, Vincent Cassel, Pierre Niney and Adam Bessa in the cast. It is the Oscar-winning Iranian director's first feature since A Hero, which won the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2021. More from Deadline Ruben Östlund To Mentor Emerging Directors At France's Les Arcs Film Fest Along Euro Industry Pros Katrin Pors, Gaia Furrer & Olivier Barbier Taraneh Alidoosti: European Film Institutions, Festivals Join Calls For Iranian Actress To Be Released Iranian Director Asghar Farhadi Demands Release Of Arrested Actress Taraneh Alidoosti Parallel Tales marks Farhadi's second French-language film after The Past with Tahar Rahim and Berenice Bejo, who won Best Actress award for her performance at Cannes in 2013. The feature will be produced by Alexandre Mallet-Guy alongside Farhadi and David Levine. Mallet-Guy has worked with Farhadi on all of his films starting with and since The Past, having originally connected with the director as the French distributor of his earlier titles including About Elly and A Separation. The film is an official French-Italian-Belgian coproduction between Mallet-Guy's Memento Production in France, Andrea Occhipinti's Lucky Red in Italy, and André Logie's Panache Productions and Gaëtan David's La Compagnie Cinématographique in Belgium. Anonymous Content in the US will also co-produce the film. Charades and UTA Independent Film Group will launch the film at the Cannes Film Festival. Charades will handle international sales, while UTA Independent Film Group will rep U.S. rights. Memento will handle distribution in France. The film is set for theatrical release in France in the spring of 2026. Best of Deadline Everything We Know About The 'We Were Liars' Show So Far 'Wednesday' Season 2: Everything We Know About The Cast, Premiere Date & More 2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Tonys, Emmys, Oscars & More
