Ali Ghasemi
The ability to see events from different perspectives is one of the most important elements of a successful relationship, whether it involves a married couple, a parent and child, or a group of nations. Warring parties are always convinced that they have right or, in some cases, God on their side. To them, every action they take is fully justified and every act the other party takes is sinister. The failure to see other people's perspectives is in full view in Asqhar Farhadi's brilliant A Separation, winner of the Best Foreign Film award at the Golden Globes and nominated for an Oscar in the same category. Farhadi does not ask us to choose sides but to observe how decisions made with good intentions and for the alleged benefit of others often have the opposite effect. The film opens in a courtroom in Tehran as Simin (Leila Hatami) speaks to a judge, unseen by the camera, asking him to grant her a divorce from Nader (Peyman Moaadi) her husband of fourteen years. Simin wants to leave the country and take her 11-year-old daughter, Termeh (Sarina Farhadi), with her to seek better opportunities abroad. Nader, a bank employee, however, will not leave Iran because of his responsibility to care for his elderly father (Ali-Asghar Shahbazi) coping with Alzheimer's disease. Even though they have been married for fourteen years, there does not seem to be any hint of compromise. Unable to obtain the divorce because the judge deems the issues not "serious" enough, the couple agrees to separate with Simin going to her mother's house and Termeh staying with her father. To help care for his aging father, the well-off Nader hires Razieh (Sareh Bayat), a pregnant, less affluent young woman with a four- year-old daughter. Whether or not Nader knows she is pregnant will become a contentious issue later in the film. Razieh, a devout Muslim, who has not told her husband Hodjat (Shahab Hosseini) about her employment, is conflicted when she has to change the clothes of the incontinent old man, and feels compelled to ask an Islamic authority if it would be considered a sin. Things become even worse when Nader returns from work and finds his father lying on the floor barely breathing with Razieh nowhere in sight. When Razieh returns home after she claimed she had to do an important errand, an angry Nader accuses her of stealing money and asks her to leave immediately. Resistant to leave, he pushes her out the front door, causing the pregnant woman to fall down the stairs. Events begin to spin out of control when Razieh has a miscarriage and her irate husband takes Nader to court for murder. As the case is presented in a preliminary hearing before a judge, the divide between the families escalates and each person is guilty of concealing the truth in order to protect themselves or a family member. A Separation may sound like a melodramatic soap opera, but it is far from it. It is a powerful, realistic, and beautifully acted drama full of constant tension and uncertainty, a film in which each person must confront the fact that the walls they have erected have not led to nurturing relationships. While the film is not overtly political, an underlying sub-text is the depiction of a male-dominated autocratic theocracy, a political system based on force, oppression and the alienation between gender and class. Eager to enhance their daughter's education, the couple hired Miss Ghahraii, a teacher (Merila Zare'i) from her school to come to their flat to provide coaching for her upcoming exams, but it is painfully clear to see how much more she is respected than Razieh, who stays in the kitchen during family gatherings. As the adults fight over perceived injustices, the children, as is often the case, endure the most pain, conflicted by their love and dependence on their parents and their desire for morality and justice. While Termeh seemingly hides her pain, her face reflects the terrible burden her parents have put on her by their inability to see the world from other points of view, the kind of tragedy that has plagued mankind for centuries. As Farhadi has wisely said "What I hope is that the viewer will not know whose victory to wish for." When responsibility, love, and sacrifice are not present, there can be no victory for anyone. Howard Schumann
Luka Kraljevic
A separation is about a man whose life got complicated because of a devastating incident after he separated from his wife. He then tries his best to keep calm and solve every problem in his life rationally, which includes desperate tries to keep his family together.This one is greatly about dialogues and drama between the families and inside the families, as well. But it is all together so breathtaking that you can't take your eyes of it. You also get to know just as many characters as necessary, which makes it easier to focus on everyone's state of emotions and their changes. A lot of twists and turns are contained in the story, so it keeps you entertained and excited the whole time. What I really liked is having that feeling when you can't decide which side you should take, when you feel so bad how circumstances were unmerciful for every single member of the two families that got involved in a really unpleasant situation that happened.Farhadi definitely knows how to produce a high-quality drama and induce a lot of viewers' tensity and compassion. It is also pretty realistic. Honestly, this is his best movie I have seen so far. That's why I've rewarded it with a 10/10
Arun George
What led me to watch 'A Separation' was in fact last year's Best Foreign Language Film Oscar Winner 'The Salesman' which had of course, made me take notice of the man behind the craft - Asghar Farhadi. While Iranian cinema as such remained relatively unknown to me, I was astonished by the way he had portrayed the events of 'The Salesman' carrying an element of suspense even while grounding the characters as realistically as possible.Boy, was I impressed with his 2011 directorial! It tells the story of a couple who are at loggerheads with each other over the decision of moving abroad for the betterment of their child or staying back to look after the husband's Alzheimer-diagnosed father. The plot line is as simple as it gets. An average viewer would even wonder what could be so path-breaking in a film with a synopsis such as this. Yet, the unfurling of incidents and how one thing leads to another is so well-cooked and meticulously crafted that every minute detail is bought into, including the reactions and expressions of each character with respect to various circumstances. Asghar does not let his screenplay flounder for one second. At 2h 3 min, the film is not what one would call a 'breezy watch' but it lets the viewer delve into the grayness associated with each human being. Asghar tries to say that even so-called rational human beings illustrate unexpected forms of behavior based on the context. The series of incidents that play out are simply repercussions of decisions taken by the lead characters and how the people in their life are forced to react due to the same. For example, the couple's only daughter (played by Asghar's own daughter Sarina) is coerced into deciding who she wants to stay with, on more than one occasion. It is (obviously!) not her call. She is only given the option of choosing between dad or mom. She knows she cannot have both, but still doesn't want to give up hope on them. The caregiver character (played by Sareh Bayat) who unintentionally infuses herself into the life of the couple is one that's written so carefully and depicted with an intensity that can match no other. She has her own reasons for the way she's acting, similar to the rest of the characters around her. But not for one moment does the cast go over-the-top. Peymaan Moaadi and Leila Hatami (who play the couple) are never observed to be "acting" at all..they're simply living the life of their characters and leaving their imprints behind. Even the sick dad character who barely speaks has left such a big impact with his presence. Kimia Hosseini who plays the caregiver's little daughter is spectacular with her expressions. Shahab Hosseini plays the distressed, unemployed husband of the caregiver to perfection. I can proudly say that there are countless number of stand-out scenes that are bound to stay with the viewer long after one has finished watching 'A Separation'. A few ones that immediately come to mind include the argument between Nader(the husband) and Razieh(the caregiver), the exchange between Nader and his daughter at the judge's office, the climax sequence where the caregiver's husband just implodes and storms out of the house, the powerful opening and closing scenes..the list is pretty huge.Even the message is not clear-cut. It is left for the viewer to formulate based on their own standpoint. Each time a (twisty) revelation is made, the viewer (along with the characters) goes into shell-shock. This indeed says a lot about the film and the impact that it leaves on its viewers. The theme is a depressing one, but the treatment is not. It does not attempt to employ the grim nature of the proceedings to affect the viewer into believing that a character is unabashedly right or wrong. They could be both right and wrong, depending on how you look at things. A masterpiece by all means, this film is highly recommended for all those who'd want to enjoy minimalist cinema at its purest. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing his 2006 venture 'Fireworks Wednesday'. (my viewing timeline is moving backwards but the quality seems to be going forward!)
