"To be" VS "to have been" ( the impersonal passive)

Hi, Meriem,

The construction you are asking about needs to be interpreted as follows: the tense of the verb in the passive (is considered, was considered) refers to the time of judgment, while the simple or perfect form of the infinitive that follows refers to the time of the thing being considered (or thought, or supposed, or any other verb preceding the infinitive). If simple, what is predicated about the movie, in this case, is simultaneous with the time of judgment; if perfect, what is predicated is anterior to the time of judgment.

@Meriem posted:

(1) Almodovar's film was considered to be the most innovative.

(1): means that the film is still considered the most innovative

No, sentence (1) means that critics (or whoever evaluated the movie) considered that Almodovar's film was the most innovative. (Simultaneity between both verbs)

@Meriem posted:

(2) Almodovar's film was considered to have been the most innovative.

While (2): Implies that the film is no longer considered to be the most innovative.

Not exactly. Sentence (2) means that critics considered that the movie had been the most innovative. It may be the case that it was no longer so, but not necessarily. What is clear is that, by the time critics evaluated the film, it had already been released at some time in the past.

And then you have these two other options with the verb of judgment in the present:

(3) Almodovar's film is considered to be the most innovative. (Critics consider that the movie is the most innovative.)

(4) Almodovar's film is considered to have been the most innovative. (Critics consider that the movie was the most innovative.)

Hello, Gustavo,

Perfectly understood. Thank you so much for your time.