A Separation

Peyman Moadi, Leila Hatami, Sareh Bayat, Shahab Hosseini, Sarina Farhadi

Dir & Scr. Asghar Farhadi

A Separation is a heavy, compelling, thriller-esque drama about the dissolution of a marriage, an act of aggression and so much more. Winner of best foreign film at this year’s Oscars, this film is not an easy watch. But not because it’s violent or brutal or gory – the moral ambiguity and hard grind of life will be too much for some who are looking for cinematic escapism. Sure, this is a film set in a foreign land, but these people could be your neighbours or, indeed, yourself. And what might you do in the situations that arise in this film? That question will have your head spinning.

Set in contemporary Iran, on the surface this film is about the separation of a husband and wife – Simin (Hatami) wants to leave Iran but her husband Nader (Moadi) is less keen. Their situation is complicated by Nader’s live-in, Alzheimer’s afflicted father and their teenage daughter Termeh (Farhadi), who is desperate to keep her parents together. A turn of events (which I will not describe for fear of spoiling the story), involving a maid hired by Nader and her troubled husband (Bayat and Hosseini), sees much more put at risk than merely a marriage.

At times, this is indeed a very foreign film – in a foreign land and language and religion, for me anyways. The foreignness keeps you on our toes and often sneaks up on you – when the newly hired maid, Razieh, rings a religious “hotline” to check whether cleaning a man who is not her husband is a sin, I was suddenly aware of another level of complexity that started making my head hurt. But as we ease into the story, the struggles and questions these people face are breathtakingly universal. Although I shudder at the thought of ever having to grapple with such issues.

The performances in A Separation are all very good. The two husbands particularly shine, especially in their scenes together – two such different men, both brought to breaking point. This movie is truly an indepth character study and the strength of the acting is an essential element to making this work. The fine quality acting avoids any danger of caricature. There are no obvious good guys or bad guys – it is left to the audience to make such judgments, if you dare. Indeed, the open nature of the film’s ending, allows the audience to draw their own conclusions about what happened next for this family.

I didn’t necessarily enjoy A Separation. The forces at work are a little too heavy and, at times, draining to truly sit back and let the film wash over you. This film may remain with you for days. But I certainly recommend A Separation, just except a little moral ambiguity and outrage and, ultimately, bewilderment.

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Nader: What is wrong is wrong, no matter who said it or where it's written.