A Separation
At their best, foreign-language films are a reflection of the culture they come from, regardless of genre. And the Iranian Oscar nominee, “A Separation,” definitely fits that definition, as writer-director Asghar Farhadi looks at the chain of tragedies that unfolds when a couple gets a divorce that neither of them really want. The wife (Simin, played by Leila Hatami) wants to raise their daughter, Termeh (Sarina Farhadi), out of the country, so that she can experience life away from the repressive restrictions of modern-day Iran; meanwhile, the husband (Nader, played by Peyman Moadi) wants to stay so that he can look after his senile father, and since Termeh wants to stay with her father, Simin doesn’t want to leave her daughter behind, so she stays nearby. To help take care of his father during the day, Nader hires a wife and mother (Razieh, played by Sareh Bayat) to watch him, but because of his advanced case of Alzheimer’s, the pregnant Razieh finds it impossible to look after him, while also adhering to religious law regarding male-female relationships. Razieh then suggests her husband, Hodjat (Shahab Hosseini), but asks that Nader not mention that Razieh recommended him. When Hodjat is unable to show up because of financial and legal issues, Razieh returns, but the events that follow start a chain reaction that will have a profound and devastating effect on both familes when Razieh loses her baby, and Nader comes home to find Razieh missing, and his father tied to the bed. That is all I feel comfortable saying about the plot of “A Separation,” which gains much of its power from the “he said, she said” that takes place after those key events lead the two families to court, and into an emotional and spiritual crisis that will tear all of them further apart. Farhadi is a real talent, coaxing truthful performances out of all of the main actors (Sarina Farhadi and Kimia Hosseini, as Razieh’s daughter, in particular stand out, as both children have much to add to the film’s philosophically complex narrative) as the husbands become more stubborn about their positions, while the wives try to reason, and deal with the fall out of this series of events by looking at the larger picture. It wasn’t quite the gut-wrenching experience I’ve had in the past with such foreign-made domestic dramas (“Nobody Knows” remains the standard-bearer for modern world cinema), but “A Separation” has important things to say about life not just within the Arab world, but for anyone else who has ever dealt with the sometimes tricky nuances of life.
