Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation is one of the finest Iranian dramas of all time. On the surface it appears to be little more than a domestic drama but a range complexities emerge from its increasingly detailed narrative in time. Farhadi’s film is a detailed, humanistic portrait of tortured religious convictions, moral debts and the irreducible ties of blood.
The film begins with the marriage break-up of Nader (Peyman Moaadi) and Simin (Leila Hatami). She’s desperate to flee their homeland for a fresh start with their daughter. But he’s resolutely determined to stay because of the responsibility he feels toward his Alzheimer’s-stricken father who is no longer able to care for himself.
Nader hires a woman, Razieh (Sareh Bayat), as a carer for his father but when she disappears one day to run errands, his father nearly dies. Enraged and convinced, too, that she’s stolen from him, he pushes her out of their apartment. Later he learns that in the process she fell down their external steps, hurting herself. Further complicating matters, it comes to light that Razieh was actually pregnant and lost her baby in the mishap.
Subsequent police investigations are only the beginning as the moral ramifications of these impassioned characters’ actions and the reparations they attempt to make, become painfully entwined. What emerges is a rich, moving, and occasionally very troubling insight into Iranian life. A Separation (2011) is perhaps the highlight of the Festival so far, a film that rings true in every scene and will hypnotise you with its compelling, forceful interactions and brilliant, searing performances.
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