An Allegorical Analysis of About Elly: A Trauerspiel Reading of Farhadi’s Cinema

A Symbolic Reading of Asghar Farhadi’s About Elly

Introduction: The Concept of Trauerspiel and Allegory in Benjamin

The term Trauerspiel (mourning play) refers to a type of drama that emerged during the Baroque period in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. In Walter Benjamin’s treatise, the principal examples are not drawn from major figures like Pedro Calderón de la Barca or William Shakespeare, but rather from German playwrights such as Martin Opitz, Andreas Gryphius, Johann Christian Hallmann, Daniel Casper von Lohenstein, and August Adolf von Haugwitz. Their plays are characterized by a simplicity of action comparable to the classicism of early Renaissance theater, yet they also exhibit distinct Baroque features.

Allegory in Trauerspiel and Its Relation to the Narrative of About Elly

Benjamin employs the concept of allegory to analyze the latent mythological-apocalyptic structure of these works. Mourning (Trauer)—as a prevailing mood or essential state within their metaphysical structure—stands in contrast to the notion of suffering found in tragedy.

To understand how the form of these works is shaped by their truth-content, we must reconstruct the Baroque concept of allegory, which is organized by a reflective and melancholic disposition.

Benjamin notes: “The temporal measure for the experience of the symbol (Symbolerfahrung) is the mystical moment [Nu]” (OGT, 173). In contrast, allegorical temporality must be understood as something dynamic, fluid, and mobile. This original concept of allegory, which emerged in 17th-century Baroque thought, can be seen as a response to the tension between medieval religiosity and Renaissance secularism.

The Allegorical Dimension of About Elly and the Discourse of Mourning

Farhadi imbues About Elly with an allegorical dimension through which the film’s collective protagonist becomes a symbol of a generation. This generation was born around the time of the 1979 Iranian Revolution and thus has no direct memory of the revolution itself, though their lives have been shaped by post-revolutionary discourse. One of the most prominent aspects of this discourse is its emphasis on sorrow and mourning in Iranian culture, with particular emotions being coded as “good” or “bad.”

The Third Generation and the Narrative of Mourning in About Elly

Farhadi depicts what Shahram Khosravi has termed the “third generation”—a group undergoing social maturation and striving to express joy and freedom. Yet, the narrative of the film conspires against these aspirations, drawing the characters into a state of grief and mourning. As a result, they turn toward more traditional and conservative modes of thinking, being, and acting.

In mourning, they do not gather in collective sorrow but rather fall apart in conflict. The tension between the aspirations of this largely secular, educated generation and the official state discourses and practices promoting revolutionary values is portrayed in the film.

Dissimulation, Allegory, and Camera Style in About Elly

Throughout the film, Farhadi uses dissimulation as a key allegorical strategy. This aligns closely with the characters’ indirect modes of communication, employed to negotiate the strict norms imposed upon their daily lives.

Farhadi employs a “dissimulatory camera” to create a strong connection between the film’s style and its content. Just as the characters use dissimulation to navigate their everyday constraints, Farhadi’s camera guides the viewer beyond the surface narrative, revealing patterns that symbolize broader sociopolitical concerns. Every act of dissimulation involves an inside and an outside—for instance, one may feign pain without actually experiencing it—thus creating a dual-layered process. This aligns with allegory’s structure, which inherently involves two levels: one that appears somewhat disconnected from the other, though they do share a point of contact.

About Elly as an Iranian Trauerspiel

As a form of Trauerspiel, About Elly rejects the mythic and transcendent function of sorrow, which is rooted in traditional Iranian models of grief. Mourning in About Elly does not arise from the sacred, but from the mundane and profane.

Social Crisis and Symbolism in the Film’s Conclusion

The dramatic borderline situation brought about by Elly’s disappearance, the emphasis on dissimulation, the real suspense, and the narrative’s insistence on sorrow as a corrective to unrestrained joy—all depict a society on the verge of rupture or crisis. Farhadi constructs a collective group at the outset, and within this collective, events unfold. This legitimizes the use of allegory in this context.

About Elly implicitly asks whether Iran’s youth—the third generation—can summon the collective strength and unity needed to alter their habitual patterns when faced with such a critical situation. The film must be understood within the context of Iran’s sociopolitical history.
 

The film’s symbolic climax occurs in the final shot, where a car is stuck in the sand—a powerful allegory for the difficulty of transforming the ingrained habits of a generation.

Sources:
Based on Langford, Michel – Allegory and entries from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, with adaptation and commentary.