A Separation review
Riding a wave of acclaim from film festivals all across the world and sitting atop countless year end lists, I decided to see “A Separation” as the very last film of 2011. Well acted and competently shot, it was nevertheless not for me so I’ll keep this brief. The film opens with Nader (Peyman Maadi) and Simin (Leila Hatami) applying for a divorce to an unseen Iranian judge. The reason? Simin wants to leave the country on their newly approved VISA’s before they expire in 40 days but Nader refuses to leave his Alzheimer’s afflicted father behind. Matters are complicated further because the two share a 11 year old daughter Termeh (Sarina Farhadi) who Nader knows that Simin will not leave behind. The judge refuses to grant them the divorce but Simin decides to move out anyway. Nader must hire a caretaker for his father which comes in the form of Razieh (Sareh Bayet), a friend of a friend who has a young daughter of her own as well as another child on the way. After a lengthy stretch of running time involving Razieh caring for Nader’s father, we finally arrive at the conflict.
Nader comes home early one day to find Razieh gone and his father within an inch of his life in a locked apartment. When she does show back up, he insists she leave which results in a minor altercation where as a last resort he shoves her out of his apartment. The remaining hour of the film is taken up with a court case between the two parties concerning this incident. It’s about as exciting as it sounds, which is not terribly. With the limitless possibility of film and all the subjects and characters that can be addressed I spent most of the running time wondering both, why this story and what exactly other critics seem to love here. Is this supposed to be a morality play? A slice of life and bad circumstances in Iran? I’m not really sure. But anyone who refers to this film as a thriller needs to have their pulse checked. “A Separation” is a leisurely paced Iranian melodrama, with a cheap third act reveal and some fine performances but nothing more. Now bring on 2012.
