A Separation directed by Asghar Farhadi is one of the best films I have watched.
I got to watch this film because it won the Best Foreign Language Film category in the 84th Academy Awards in 2012. As I was watching the Academy Awards, I was shocked to see an Iranian director to win an Oscar because that was when the tension between America and Iran was really high.
Apart from the politics, I had this major attraction to the movie because the short clip of the film that was aired during the Oscars really grabbed my attention. The clip was about ten seconds long of a little girl playing with an old man's oxygen tank and the old man chocking from it. It was such a cute scene, but it had that seriousness within the scene.
Shortly after the Oscars was aired in 2012, I decided to watch the film so I could really engage in what the story was about.
The title almost gives away what the major story is about - a divorce - but there are some huge conflicts throughout the film, which make this it so amazing.
I got to watch this film because it won the Best Foreign Language Film category in the 84th Academy Awards in 2012. As I was watching the Academy Awards, I was shocked to see an Iranian director to win an Oscar because that was when the tension between America and Iran was really high.
Apart from the politics, I had this major attraction to the movie because the short clip of the film that was aired during the Oscars really grabbed my attention. The clip was about ten seconds long of a little girl playing with an old man's oxygen tank and the old man chocking from it. It was such a cute scene, but it had that seriousness within the scene.
Shortly after the Oscars was aired in 2012, I decided to watch the film so I could really engage in what the story was about.
The title almost gives away what the major story is about - a divorce - but there are some huge conflicts throughout the film, which make this it so amazing.
The first time I watched this movie, it came to me as a shock because I saw two distinct classes of Iran, the upper-middle class and the lower class. These two classes clash, and it of course works around families. I was also shocked that the story was about a divorce in Iran, which I did not know was possible in such a religious country.
So here is the gist of the story (SPOILER ALERT): Nader and Simin separate since Simin, the wife, wants to move from Iran, but Nader, the husband, refuses because of his father who suffers from Alzheimer's. They have a teenage daughter, who is very mature for her age. The grandfather is very elderly, but since he has Alzheimer's, his health deteriorates and cannot communicate very well with spoken words. Because Simin moves to her parent's house, Nader takes care of his daughter, Termeh, and his elderly father.
So here is the gist of the story (SPOILER ALERT): Nader and Simin separate since Simin, the wife, wants to move from Iran, but Nader, the husband, refuses because of his father who suffers from Alzheimer's. They have a teenage daughter, who is very mature for her age. The grandfather is very elderly, but since he has Alzheimer's, his health deteriorates and cannot communicate very well with spoken words. Because Simin moves to her parent's house, Nader takes care of his daughter, Termeh, and his elderly father.
However, because Nader has a job and cannot stay with his father all day, he hires a house maid to take care of the house chores and his father.
The maid, Raziev, is a very religious woman who is pregnant and has a daughter of about five years old. Raziev and her daughter are inseparable - the girl adores her mother and helps out with some house chores. This is where the conflict starts: Somayeh, the five-year-old daughter, tries to help out her mother by dragging a trash bag down the stairs. The plastic bag tears, and Raziev takes care of the mess by taking the trash out while leaving the door open.
When she is out, she sees the elderly father walking about the busy street.
So she takes him to back to the house, ties him to the bed, and goes out with her daughter. Then Nader comes home with Termeh and sees his father on the floor with his arm tied to the bed. Obviously, he is shocked and angry. As Raziev comes back to the house with her daughter, not expecting anybody to be home, she unlocks the door and sees that Nader has found out what she had done. EEK. So Nader confronts her and accuses of her for being so cruel to his father and even accuses her of stealing. Now, she confesses that she has done wrong to the old man, but she denies that she did not steal. So she tries to prove him wrong by showing her purse and telling him that she did no such thing. But, Nader, angry and upset, pushes our out of the house, causing her to fall down the stairs.
Later on, she ends up in the hospital because the physical trauma has caused her to miscarry her baby.
This is when the real conflict begins. This film is not just about a divorce between a wife and a man. It is about the different characters dealing with their own conflicts within the given situation.
The maid, Raziev, is a very religious woman who is pregnant and has a daughter of about five years old. Raziev and her daughter are inseparable - the girl adores her mother and helps out with some house chores. This is where the conflict starts: Somayeh, the five-year-old daughter, tries to help out her mother by dragging a trash bag down the stairs. The plastic bag tears, and Raziev takes care of the mess by taking the trash out while leaving the door open.
When she is out, she sees the elderly father walking about the busy street.
So she takes him to back to the house, ties him to the bed, and goes out with her daughter. Then Nader comes home with Termeh and sees his father on the floor with his arm tied to the bed. Obviously, he is shocked and angry. As Raziev comes back to the house with her daughter, not expecting anybody to be home, she unlocks the door and sees that Nader has found out what she had done. EEK. So Nader confronts her and accuses of her for being so cruel to his father and even accuses her of stealing. Now, she confesses that she has done wrong to the old man, but she denies that she did not steal. So she tries to prove him wrong by showing her purse and telling him that she did no such thing. But, Nader, angry and upset, pushes our out of the house, causing her to fall down the stairs.
Later on, she ends up in the hospital because the physical trauma has caused her to miscarry her baby.
This is when the real conflict begins. This film is not just about a divorce between a wife and a man. It is about the different characters dealing with their own conflicts within the given situation.
When I watched this film for the second time, I saw so many things that I was not able to catch the first time.
It made me think of the four types of conflict I learned in my English Literature class in high school: man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. society, man vs. self. This film has it all - talk about films being literature.
First of all, this film almost made me feel like I was intruding on someone's personal life. Instead of a movie, it really seemed like a documentary that was not supposed to be seen by others. I believe that the reason I felt this way the whole time I was watching the film was because the actors portray such raw emotions that does not seem directed at all. The whole movie is filled with subtlety that it feels like a documentary. One of the biggest differences between American films and Iranian films is the subtlety. American films are mostly very forthright. Revolutionary Road (2008) directed by Sam Mendes is one of my favorite drama films of all time. The chemistry between Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio is just amazing. This film is also about a couple that separates after a long conflict. But this film is very different from A Separation because it just felt like a storm. It was calm in the beginning and later on everything gets messed up and very emotional. There is a lot of sex, a lot of yelling, and a lot of crying, and a lot of forthright emotions. Then the film ends as if nothing major had happened. It just ends.
It made me think of the four types of conflict I learned in my English Literature class in high school: man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. society, man vs. self. This film has it all - talk about films being literature.
First of all, this film almost made me feel like I was intruding on someone's personal life. Instead of a movie, it really seemed like a documentary that was not supposed to be seen by others. I believe that the reason I felt this way the whole time I was watching the film was because the actors portray such raw emotions that does not seem directed at all. The whole movie is filled with subtlety that it feels like a documentary. One of the biggest differences between American films and Iranian films is the subtlety. American films are mostly very forthright. Revolutionary Road (2008) directed by Sam Mendes is one of my favorite drama films of all time. The chemistry between Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio is just amazing. This film is also about a couple that separates after a long conflict. But this film is very different from A Separation because it just felt like a storm. It was calm in the beginning and later on everything gets messed up and very emotional. There is a lot of sex, a lot of yelling, and a lot of crying, and a lot of forthright emotions. Then the film ends as if nothing major had happened. It just ends.
A Separation is all about subtlety. The subtlety is shown especially through Raziev and her husband. They love each other, but they don't necessarily show it. Raziev never complains or says anything mean to her husband, even though he has some anger issues and trust issues. From what I saw on screen, Raziev loves her husband, but because of her religious beliefs and her background, she never really shows it in a romantic way. Hodjat, Raziev's husband, also loves his wife, but doesn't get touchy or expressive because of his working-class background. I think he actually says in the film that people like him have trouble expressing their opinions because of their background. Now, this might seem ridiculous or confusing, but I actually understand what he means. My parents, who are not expressive in any way, are the same way because of their working-class background. My father especially, was never taught to express himself, but to work in the field. He was never expected to say what was on his mind. He was expected to work. Nader and Simin are somehow different because they at least try to solve a problem by communicating. This is where I saw the subtle difference between the middle class and the lower class people.
Now, going back to the conflicts of the film, each character has his/her way of viewing the world. Termeh for example, struggles with her parents and the opposing family. She judges who is right and wrong. She struggles with herself as she loses her innocence by lying to the interrogator. She struggles with the indecent situation like everyone else in the film. She also struggles with the society that tells her to chose either one of the parents.
Another thing that is important to note here is that the audience is also constantly in conflict of who is the good and the bad. It is so natural for everyone to look at a situation and pick a "good" and a "bad" side and root for the good to win at the end. Especially during a divorce, we all pick sides and cheer on - like Angelina and Jennifer. However, this film does not portray a bad side. It is simply about good, naive, and diligent people stuck in an icky situation. This is why the film is so compelling.
Another thing that is important to note here is that the audience is also constantly in conflict of who is the good and the bad. It is so natural for everyone to look at a situation and pick a "good" and a "bad" side and root for the good to win at the end. Especially during a divorce, we all pick sides and cheer on - like Angelina and Jennifer. However, this film does not portray a bad side. It is simply about good, naive, and diligent people stuck in an icky situation. This is why the film is so compelling.
The film really shows how the people value their morals, and principles of being honest and keeping their integrity. The film is really touching because like I mentioned, there is this raw emotion. It doesn't feel orchestrated.
Apparently, Termeh was played by Asghar Farhadi's daughter. Some of the scenes and the personalities of the characters are built based on Farhadi's personal memories, which makes the film more authentic. Another thing that I loved about this film is the build up of relationships between characters. Rather than showing the relationships of the characters at once, Farhadi allows each relationship to be revealed gradually. For example, the first scene of Nader and Simin shows the relationship between a wife and a husband. Then there is the relationship between Nader and his father, Simin and her daughter, Raziev and her daughter, Raziev and Nader, and et cetera.
This build up makes the story strong because the audience gets to see a character's personality through the relationships. The relationship between Termeh and her parents makes the last scene really difficult because of this build up.
Apparently, Termeh was played by Asghar Farhadi's daughter. Some of the scenes and the personalities of the characters are built based on Farhadi's personal memories, which makes the film more authentic. Another thing that I loved about this film is the build up of relationships between characters. Rather than showing the relationships of the characters at once, Farhadi allows each relationship to be revealed gradually. For example, the first scene of Nader and Simin shows the relationship between a wife and a husband. Then there is the relationship between Nader and his father, Simin and her daughter, Raziev and her daughter, Raziev and Nader, and et cetera.
This build up makes the story strong because the audience gets to see a character's personality through the relationships. The relationship between Termeh and her parents makes the last scene really difficult because of this build up.
Basically, this film is about the innocent vs. the real world. The characters reveal this conflict so naturally that it really makes me question if the relationships I have had in my personal life was like this at all. It makes me wonder if the antagonists in my life were really the antagonists, or just innocent people stuck in an icky situation with me. Also, during the film, Farhadi says that the characters are nice people but are forced to lie because of the situation. Only the mean and the immoral people lie on purpose. He also says that honesty, integrity, and the truth is something that these decent characters share throughout the story. It all makes sense in the film, but I have to question whether his statement is valid in the real world. It seems like the even the immoral people lie in order to protect themselves and their loved ones. They don't just lie for fun. So, how can one really justify who is decent and indecent?
I wonder why he didn't show who Termeh chooses at the end. She said she knew who she wanted to live with, but doesn't reveal it at the end. I wonder why Farhadi decided not to reveal what he thought.
I wonder why he didn't show who Termeh chooses at the end. She said she knew who she wanted to live with, but doesn't reveal it at the end. I wonder why Farhadi decided not to reveal what he thought.