Separation

Separation

I try to see all the available films produced in Iran. I have found the films to be very interesting and the cinematography exceptionally well done. This film is no exception. It just won an award for best foreign film at the Golden Globes. Generally I find Iranian films to be very long and slow in pace. This certainly was true for Separation. It is always challenging to look deeply behind the story to learn something about the regime Husband ,Nader, and wife, Simin, are arguing because the wife wants to move abroad to provide a better life for their 11 year old daughter, Termeh.. Nader refuses to leave mainly because of his father who lives with them. The father has Alzheimer’s. Nader also refuses to have his daughter leave with Simin. Simin plans to divorce Nader and moves out of the apartment and goes to live with her parents.
Nader hires a religious woman to look after his father. It doesn’t work out. There is an altercation. The woman charges Nader with assault. He, in turn, wants to charge her for mistreating his father.
It is quite interesting to see the legal system at work. Everybody is yelling at each other. The younger father is being charged with causing a miscarriage to the hired woman. The religious woman’s husband and Nader argue. The facts get scrambled and you wonder what the truth really is.
The children are the only innocent characters. Termeh is wiser than both her parents. She questions them about the truth and tries to help them face reality.
The young child of the hired woman is about 5 years old. She has large brown eyes that pierce you when she stares. The camera does its best work when it penetrates the faces of the characters.
The children were the pawns of their parents. They were also helpless.
I loved the ending which leaves you to decide what happens next. The 11 year old is asked by the judge to choose which parent she will live with. I can’t give anything away because I don’t know the answer. The 11 year old tells the judge she has made a decision and the tears stream down her face. You re left to decide which decision she probably made.
The plot moves slowly. There is a lot of bickering. The quiet grandfather doesn’t say a word but the camera lingers on his sad face and you feel his pain. Each person has a point of view. They all seem angry. Each has a truth but together they cannot come to a resolution of the problems. All the adults have a painful story. As a result of their actions the children also suffer. The acting from all the characters is excellent.
It will be interesting to see if there is a nod for the Oscars.