A Separation
A married couple are faced with a difficult decision - to improve the
life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and
look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer's disease.
Director:Asghar Farhadi
Writer:Asghar Farhadi
Stars:Peyman Moaadi, Leila Hatami, Sareh Bayat
Storyline
Nader (Peyman Moaadi) and Simin (Leila Hatami)
argue about living abroad. Simin prefers to live abroad to provide
better opportunities for their only daughter, Termeh. However, Nader
refuses to go because he thinks he must stay in Iran and take care of
his father (Ali-Asghar Shahbazi), who suffers from Alzheimers. However,
Simin is determined to get a divorce and leave the country with her
daughter.
User Reviews
This is the first
Iranian film I've seen, and I'm recommending it to every-one I know. It
is so well-crafted; the twists of the plot throw up new moral dilemmas
for all the protagonists, which are explored sensitively and without
judgement - so refreshingly unlike mainstream American films. I felt
sympathy for all the characters, even the threatening Hodjat, full of
misplaced rage which often erupts volcanically. And as a footnote, the
film felt like an intimate view into a society that our news media
portray as monochromatic and extremely foreign. (I am writing this a few
days after the UK embassy in Tehran was ransacked)
