MovieChat Forums > Darbareye Elly (2009) Discussion > Significance of the coughing? **Spoiler...

Significance of the coughing? Spoilers

posted 12 years ago by sarahcmcconnell
11 replies | jump to latest

I noticed that, only after Elly's disappearance, both Shohreh and Sepideh are struck with coughing fits while trying to speak. They look and sound very real, not acted. Perhaps the actors all got colds, but why not re-take these scenes? Or maybe the coughing symbolises something?

Shohreh starts to cough while she and Ahmad are telling the children what to say to Elly's "brother". Ahmad picks up where she left off and she continues to cough - that seems improvised.

I thought Sepideh's cough might be caused by her going into the sea after Elly, but Shoreh did not go into the sea...

[–] alex-hendriks-alex 11 years ago

You don't have to go into the sea to get sick. Have you noticed the wind?
That might be enough for some vulnerable people to get a cold.

[–] mikeyflatley 10 years ago

Dat wuz annoyin. I think they ran out of film so no retakez

[–] ejungtd 10 years ago

I don't think it meant anything but I thought it was pretty cool, it made the dialogue seem more "real". Another example that comes to mind was a certain scene where the father of Arash didn't hear something his wife said due to the loud sea waves, he goes "ah?" and the camera pans back to his wife as she repeats herself. Such a mundane moment isn't common to see in films but Farhadi seems to focus in on every aspect of dialogue.

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] fairy_depp 9 years ago

I noticed that too and put it down to the characters being run-down, not eating or sleeping properly and so you may well start to become ill. I liked the little moments that made it seem very real - like when one of the men tripped up and one of the women got a splinter.. It made it feel more realistic. I wasn't a huge fan of the film itself but thought the acting was faultless.

[–] psdhart 8 years ago

I noticed that too and put it down to the characters being run-down, not eating or sleeping properly and so you may well start to become ill. I liked the little moments that made it seem very real - like when one of the men tripped up and one of the women got a splinter..

I thought it was maybe a combination of having been in the sea and the house being poorly insulated (someone mentions this at one point) led to a cold

[–] zee944 9 years ago

I was thinking about that too. I'm not sure. Maybe it's a metaphor of lies? Maybe.

I was even thinking about Sepideh being terminally ill. Usually, when someone is coughing in a movie, that's the explanation, but clearly it wasn't the case here.

[–] trish722 8 years ago

Yasss! If you cough in a movie you're terminally ill, if you faint or vomit you're pregnant.

[–] CoSMiGoNoN (77) 7 years ago

Why do you people insist on finding some hidden meaning to every freaking thing you see on the screen? People coughing on film just makes it look more realistic because this type of thing just happens in real life and that's it. Stop it!!!!!

[–] samoanjoes (57773) 3 years ago

If that was the case, people would have been coughing, sneezing or clearing their throats the whole movie.

[–] TheArgentinian (7205) 2 years ago

no one coughs on movies unless it's important to the plot.

Significance of the coughing? **Spoilers**

Significance of the coughing? Spoilers