Elevated by a brilliant screenplay and some of the year’s best performances, the Iranian “A Separation” is a compelling and complex examination of cultural barriers, religious conflict, and responsibility all set within a simple domestic drama.
It focuses on a married couple, Nader (Payman Moadi) and Simin (Leila Hatami), who start the film off in front of a judge. Simin wants a divorce because Nader will not leave the country for Europe with her. She wants a better life for her daughter Termeh, but he cannot leave his father who is suffering from Alzheimer’s. When Simin goes to live with her parents out of anger over Nader’s refusal to leave, Nader hires a housemaid, Razieh, to help out around the house and take care of his sick father when he is at work. She is deeply religious and pregnant, though not many know, and when her duties begin to conflict with her religious beliefs she quits though offers her husband Hodjat to take over. He is deeply in debt and constantly abused by creditors. Razieh does not want him to know she has been working for Nader, but when Hodjat misses his first day she steps in. Unfortunately complications arise that result in a messy situation with Nader’s father, causing him to get angry and all the tension that had been boil between them all erupts with tragic results. They all find themselves in the middle of a legal dispute, with both sides making accusations even though they have secrets that could destroy their cases and families. During all this director Asghar Farhadi refuses to take sides, and instead focuses on the internal moral struggles of all parties affected by issues often not within their control; while also making these cultural, judicial and religious dilemmas, although set in Iran, feel universal.
What is truly remarkable is how he holds all these layers together with intricate but not blatantly obvious details put into the exposition. Asghar Farhadi’s handling of at times controversial subjects and the characters involved results in a fluid and consistently absorbing story from start to finish. Add onto that some of the more destructive yet quiet, emotional but subtle and complicated performances of the year and you get a film that cannot be ignored. A definite must see.
Through the Shattered Lens 
Definitely one of my top films for 2011. It’s a shame that politics have gotten in the way of more people seeing this film because it’s an Iranian film. I know that big cities don’t have a problem finding a venue to show this, but smaller cities and towns seem to have ignored this film.
At first glance, this film almost seems like one of those tv film dramas and the way it’s shot at times makes it so, but it doesn’t take long before the performances themselves quickly draws you in.
Personally, I thought the story in itself was pretty mundane. It’s the abovementioned performances which seem to elevate the script from mundane to very good.
LikeLike
I thought the script was great. The story itself, on the surface at least, was very “mundane” and rather simple, but I felt a lot below the surface, the religious conflicts (Razieh’s reluctance to do the work, Hodjat and Nader’s discussing) and cultural differences (the almost middle vs. lower class), as well as all the subtle exposition (the revealing of the pregnancy, the daughter mentioning the hospital) made the simple story fascinating and the pacing feel very fluid, the way it played out left glued to the screen. Then of course on top of that were some of the years best performances which only added to what was already there. Severely disappointing that it will most likely go overlooked, I can only hope the Oscars give it Best Foreign Film.
LikeLike