Iranian auteur Asghar Farhadi, known for his European-influenced filmmaking reminiscent of Antonioni and Haneke, returns to France with his latest film, Parallel Tales. This middleweight meta-drama explores themes of betrayal and the alleged link between voyeurism and creativity, posing the question: do writers spy on the characters they bring to life?
The film is a variation on Kieslowski's A Short Film About Love with a touch of Hitchcock's Rear Window, intricately weaving a web of suspense. However, it can feel somewhat nebulous at times.
Plot and Characters
Isabelle Huppert stars as Sylvie, a cantankerous, fading writer living alone in chaotic squalor in her messy Paris apartment. She types out novels on her Olivetti electric typewriter, refusing to adopt modern laptops. Her latest work is inspired by spying with a telescope on the people in the flat opposite: Nicolas (Vincent Cassel), who runs a sound effects production facility with Nita (Virginie Efira) and Theo (Pierre Niney). Together, they fabricate noises like footsteps and rustling undergrowth for silent films.
Sylvie also constructs an autobiographical story about her father using the same telescope to spy on her mother's lover, who lived in the apartment next to Nicolas's. She imagines this lover as the old man who has recently died, leaving the apartment empty and vulnerable to those who wish to use it for spying.
Parallel Drama Unfolds
Fascinated by the intimacy of Nicolas, Theo, and Nita, Sylvie dreams up a steamy tale of furtive sexual passion and murder a trois. We see this parallel drama unfold on screen. However, her agent, played in a cameo by Catherine Deneuve, is unimpressed, comparing it to Georges Simenon's work.
But fate upends Sylvie's life when her niece (India Hair) hires Adam (Adam Bessa), an ex-convict, to clean her flat. Adam becomes dangerously obsessed with Sylvie's new novel and the people who inspired it. He shows the manuscript to Nita, fatally contaminating real life with fiction.
The film takes its time reaching a suspenseful climax, and its prolixity may stem from Farhadi seeking more than high-concept thrills. Yet, it remains intriguing and acted with conviction. The sound effects theme offers food for thought, highlighting how fake overdubs are essential for creating reality.
