Review of A Separation (2011) by Kyle20Ellis — 18 Mar 2022

Hearing how highly regarded A Separation was among my IMDb friends, I knew I had to see it. My only question is how on earth did it take so long for me to do so? I can only put it down to being behind with my film watching because of uni, because A Separation is a fantastic film and deserves all ounces of praise it gets and some.

That is my opinion though, because I know people will find that it is not their cup of tea and have no problem with that. What was it I loved about A Separation? A lot of things actually. It was a very well made film.

The scenery is striking and authentic, and the cinematography is intrusive and relentlessly, but this adds to the impact of the story rather than detracts from it. Asghar Farhadi's direction similarly is supremely controlled.

A Separation is remarkably written as well. The writing is intelligent and insightful, avoiding any kind of melodrama or moralising. Not just that but it succeeds also in exploring the characters without any kind of prejudice, and that is including Hodjat.

The story is quite a complicated set-up, but compelling and moving. It gives the audience time to breathe, but with the tension and drama that fuels what is happening in the storytelling I found myself never being able to look away.

The characters are sensitively explored, and while I've not seen About Elly in a while I do remember that I didn't relate as much to the characters there than I did here. The acting is wonderful, Leila Hatami(especially good), Peyman Moadi, Shahab Hosseini and Sareh Bayat give performances that wholly justified the sharing of the Silver Berlin Bear.

One mustn't forget Sarina Farhadi, whose increasing intensity in her acting is what makes A Separation's storytelling and the case it depicts even more engrossing. In conclusion, one of the best of 2011, considering how hit and miss that year was for films that's saying a bit.