Review of A Separation (2011) by Joshua B — 08 Nov 2012

Asghar Farhadi's tense family drama, A Separation, hides such complexity under its title and simple premise. As the film opens, Nader and Simin argue over their inevitable separation. Nader wants to take their daughter and leave Iran, but Simin refuses to do so because he is responsible for the care of his aged father.

But while the film is about that conflict, it becomes primarily about the tension between Nader and Simin's family and that of Razieh, a young pregnant woman who is hired as an aide to help care for Nader's father.

Razieh is accused of theft and forced out of the house by Nader, and what follows is a labyrinthine series of dramatic events that unfold over the course of the film and pit the two families against one another.

It is a brilliantly-structured plot that sizzles with the measured intensity of a thriller, and Farhadi's careful attention to character allows everyone in the film to be complex, their stakes high, and their plights sympathetic.

For in exploring the lives of these people, he explores expectations of family, gendered roles, religious responsibility, and class differences that reflect the larger complexities and foibles of contemporary Iran.

It is a morality play in which every character is well-intentioned, and there is nothing as simplistic as a villain. The final scene of the film is stunning, a perfectly-framed visual note that lingers, leaving the viewer to think on the ideas inherent in the film.

And the best part is it is ambiguous enough not to suggest any kind of closure to the conflicts that the film was so careful to lay out in a nuanced, respectful way. A Separation won the Best Foreign Language Oscar for 2011, but it could just as easily have won Best Picture.

This is the best film from anywhere, of 2011.