Review of A Separation (2011) by Rainer K — 28 May 2012

Justice and Injustice, Hypocrisy, religion, class society, family, divorce, aging, and probably many more.

That's a list of topics A Separation deals with and it's by far incomplete.

Asghar Farhadi managed to make a meaningful film despite censorship and other adverse conditions for Iranian filmmakers.

Thanks to an amazing script that was nominated for an Academy Award and strong performances from its lead actors.

Nader and Simin are a recently divorced couple of modern Iranians. Simin, the mother wants to leave the country to give their daughter more possibilities in life whereas Nader wants to stay at home to care for his father who suffers from Alzheimer disease. Like so many divorces, also this one is, at least partly, settled on the back of their daughter Termeh who has to decide with which parent she's gonna stay. First, she stays with her father and grandfather, while her mother leaves the apartment and moves in with her parents.

Nader hires a woman to take care of his father. This particular woman Razieh is from an inferior social class and also extremely religious, and moreover, pregnant.

One day, after Razieh leaves the grandfather alone in the house and Nader gets home early and finds him seriously injured they have a dispute and the next day Razieh is taken into the hospital with a miscarriage.

This is where the film really starts, when Razieh and her husband sue Nader for murder and the following legal battle ensues.

It's a heartwrenching, thought-provoking story and even though it could have been a desaster if it'd been made with lesser skill, it's worth the label masterpiece.

I'll give it a rare 100% - it's as engaging and tense as a thriller and as sophisticated as art house. Wonderful, natural performances and some of the best and smartest scripts (especially the dialogue) I've ever seen - there's not much to criticize.