“A Separation” is a film from Iranian cinema whose plot is about story of an Iranian middle class married couple named Nader (husband) and Simin (wife), who are unfortunately on the verge of having a divorce. The film is directed by Asghar Farhadi, a prominent filmmaker from Iranian cinema, and in this film he depicts various problems faced by middle-class families in a society. The film shows us complexities of family relationships by displaying issues in Nader and Simin’s relationship and the impact of their separation on their daughter, Termeh. The film also explores the responsibilities and sacrifices inherent in familial duties, particularly through Nader’s commitment to his elderly father.

The film starts with the decision of divorce being made between Simin, Nader and an official. The art style of filmmaker can be noticed here as this scene is presented in such a way that it makes the audience feel as if the couple is talking to them and showing their problems. So, it makes the audience to build an early interest in the story by making them to judge the condition of the couple. Simin expresses that she wants to leave Iran inorder to provide better opportunities to their daughter, but Nader feels not to because he wants to take care of this old-aged father, who has Alzheimers disease. Therefore, they are in a condition of divorce, and this decision then leads to many problems and mis-happenings in their life as well as in life of a worker named Razieh who was hired by the family to take care of the house while they are away.

A very interesting point about the film which I liked is that we clearly know the origin of all the problems, that is the divorce decision. But after this origin, we can’t really blame someone for the problems. It is like stuck in a loop, where almost every character is reasonable as well as guilty at the same time for the events occurred. For example, if we just think about finding what caused Razieh’s child being killed, first thought might be Nader pushing her, but after going through many reasons, it boils down to the fact that why she was working so much even when pregnant without informing her husband, the answer is the need of money for paying her husband’s debt, as they were poor. Now, we are stuck because we couldn’t find a total bad person, and cannot just blame poverty for all of this after an extent. We can just say that there was a little bit of issue in this or that character, but they were not completely wrong.

The character depiction is also done beautifully in the film -

  • Nader is portrayed as a responsible son who has a job to do along with managing his family and old-aged father whom he loves and cares. But, Nader is also somewhat selfish in the sense that he does not cares much about the desires of people around him.
  • Simin is a determined woman who seeks to have a better future of her daughter. The desire of Simin to leave Iran was not about her personal choice, but for providing good opportunities to Termeh. The character also shows struggles of such a woman in the society.
  • Termeh is an intelligent, young, understandable and good girl, who is affected the most by the divorce. Although she always tried to unite Nader and Simin, but it didn’t happened. The points in the film where she noticed Nader was lying and when she handles the conversation with the judge about the same displays her smartness. But, in the end, we do see how sad she is about the separation.
  • Razieh, the care-worker, is a very religious woman, but poor and in a kind of miserable situation, who had to do a lot of struggle. Her character adds layers of complexity to the story, specially through her moral and religious dilemmas. We can also see the problems faced by her daughter who goes along with her and would be seeing such difficulties at an early age.
  • Hodjat, husband of Razieh, is a short-tempered unemployed and in-debt person, who adds on to the tensions of the poor family. His character shows the frustation and helplessness felt by many lower-class families.

Another point which I liked was about those 2-3 points where plot twists happened. One of them is whrn we initially think Nader is innocent and is not responsible for miscarriage of Razieh’s child, but then during a conversation between Termen and Nader, we get to know that he indeed knew about it. So, we start thinking in this direction. But, now as think that Nader is a little-bit guilty, we finally see that child died due to some carelessness from Razieh’s side only. But as I told before, we are not able to find someone completely responsible for this incident. So, one of the film’s strengths which I feel is its portrayal of moral ambiguity. The characters’ decisions are having dilemmas, and the film does not provide easy answers. Razieh’s struggle with her daughter, Nader’s actions, and Simin’s decisions all such examples.

One more hidden detail which I noticed some time after the movie ended was that the money which got missing and due to which Nader suspected Razieh was actually missing because in the very start of the film, we see Simin and some workers talking about money for extra floor. Simin would have given it to them, but didn’t informed Nader about this as they were not talking to each other. Now, this is just crazy that how this small act affected the whole storyline.

We can see that the filmmaker Asghar Farhadi’s direction is subtle yet powerful. He uses long takes and close-ups to create an intimate atmosphere, drawing viewers into the characters’ emotional states. The film’s naturalistic style and use of real locations enhance its authenticity. Farhadi’s focus on small tasks of everyday life and his attention to detail contribute to the film’s realism. As we discussed in class as well, that if we notice the camera position was not so stable, but that was a style which actually a more natural effect on the movie.

Finally, I would conclude by saying that I found “A Separation” to be an emotional and thought-provoking film, which justified its title well. In the end, the movies again reaches to the divorce condition showing Termeh in the court, but lefts the decision of Termeh open to viewes thoughts, which is also a style which makes viewers think about the story even after movie ends. Overall, it was a good film about personal & social conflicts, extending its relevance beyond Iranian society by touching universal ideas of family, justice, and moral reponsibilities, making it a timeless as well as impactfull piece of world cinema!