Dir. Asghar Farhadi, Iran, 2011, 123 mins, Persian with English subtitles
Cast: Peyman Moadi, Leila Hatami, Sareh Bayat, Shahab Hosseini, Sarina Farhadi
Review by Eva Moravetz
Iranian screenwriter and film director Asghar Farhadi is becoming a major player in the arena of world cinema and rightly so. His third film Fireworks Wednesday (Chahar Shanbeh Souri) won the Gold Hugo at the 2006 Chicago International Film Festival. He followed that one up with About Elly (Darbareye Elly) which landed him the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 59th Berlin Film Festival and was awarded Best Picture at Tribeca Film Festival, with critics calling it a masterpiece. So it comes as no surprise that Farhadi’s fifth cinematic tale A Separation (Jodaeiye Nader Az Simin) is already gathering great reviews. It won the Golden Bear for Best Film at the 2011 Berlin Film Festival, the first Iranian film to do so. Farhadi’s background in theatre and creative writing clearly shows in this densely plotted, mesmerising domestic drama in which everyday disputes of marriage and moral matters are lifted from the mundane to a pitch of near-Hitchcockian suspense and tension.
Simin (Leila Hatami), a well-off, middle-class woman separates from her husband Nader (Peyman Moadi), a quiet and well-mannered bank clerk. Simin wants them to move abroad, as it would present better opportunities for their teenage daughter Termeh (Sarina Farhadi). Nader, however, cannot bring himself to leave behind his invalid father (Ali-Asghar Shahbazi), who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. They argue their case in front of the judge (the opening sequence of the film) and agree on a trial separation, so Simin leaves and moves to her mother’s, while Nader stays at home with his daughter and father. In order to get help, Nader employs a woman, Razieh (Sareh Bayat) to clean the house and look after his father. What he does not know is that the poor and strictly religious Razieh is working without the knowledge and consent of her hot-headed husband, Hodjat (Shahab Hosseini), who is unemployed. One day Nader finds that Razieh had left his father tied to the bed and some money had gone missing, too. Losing his cool demeanour, he confronts the maid and throws her out of the apartment setting a chain of events into motion that keeps us transfixed and guessing all through the lengthy two hours and six minutes.
What makes A Separation such an excellent example of movie making is the tightly plotted script (written by Farhadi) and the brilliant complexity of the characters. Everyone has secrets, everyone has motives. Nothing is what it seems. Even Termeh has a reason for not going with her mother…
The film contrasts two different aspects of Iran: the secular, well-educated middle-class represented by Simin and Nader and the poor, ultra-religious underclass as pictured by Razieh and Hodjat. However, these contrasts are not drawn up to judge between good or bad. Farhadi does not make judgements; there are no heroes or villains; everyone has a reason for their action and in a way all the characters seem to be victims of their circumstances. The only light moments are the ones involving Somayeh (Kimia Hosseini), Razieh’s four-year-old daughter, whom she brings with her to the apartment. Somayeh symbolises childhood freedom, the innocence and playfulness that are absent from everyone else around her. She observes what is happening with seriousness and perplexity but retreats back into her own little world, exhibiting the carefree spirit one loses with the passing of time. One particularly funny moment is when, mesmerised by the exploding bubbles, she plays with the switch of the oxygen tank attached to Nader’s father, causing the old man some discomfort. When Razieh asks her not to tell anyone about where they are going every day, we realise with unease that Somayeh is being taught to lie, too.
The film’s effectiveness is also fuelled by powerful and intense performances. The acting ensemble was awarded two Silver Bears, making it the first film to win three Bears at Berlin.
Despite the central argument in the story being repeated over and over again throughout the film, the action never becomes tedious or tiring. Secrets and lies, manipulation and bending of the truth lie at every corner highlighting the instinct for survival of the human spirit under the conditions of an oppressive society. In the end, the secrets are revealed but not all the questions are answered. The story is open ended and nothing is really resolved. Farhadi consciously decided to end the film like this because he says ‘the world today needs more questions than answers. Answers prevent you from questioning, from thinking.’
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