A Separation (Jodaeiye Nader az Simin) (10/10)

December 20th, 2011

Divorce in Muslim countries is a big deal at the best of times, but the break-up of Iranians Nader and Simin has even wider ramifications. Unlike we Westerners, for whom divorce is a quick signature and congratulations, love, you get the house, in Iran the split is negotiated in front of a judge and decided by the court. For Nader and Simin, though, that’s only the start of it. Iran’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar of 2012 is, to my way of thinking, as near a certainty as you can get.

Simin (Leila Hatami) wants to leave the country and start afresh somewhere new. Nader (Peyman Moaadi) does not. He must stay in Iran, he says, if only to look after his ailing father, who has Alzheimer’s. Simin packs her bags and moves back in with her parents, leaving Nader and nearly-teen daughter Termeh to fend for themselves.

A housekeeper is hired, one who is under strict instructions to look after the stricken father at all times. Her name is Razieh (Sareh Bayat) and she needs the money. She’s pregnant and her husband, the quick-tempered Hodjat (Shahab Hosseini) is unemployed. Things don’t go well. There is an incident. Nader has reason to fire the pregnant woman – forcefully – and her unborn baby is lost. Now Nader is looking at a murder charge.

What follows plays out as a combination between a court procedural thriller and a drama of two families. The two couples are brought in front of a head-scratching judge whose job it is to weed out the truths from the multitude of stories presented to him. One by one the witnesses are called, all of whom give their evidence in front of the accused and the accusers. It’s enthralling to watch. The mild-mannered, erudite Nader defends his position – I didn’t know she was pregnant and I didn’t push her down those steps – while Hodjat grows ever more menacing, saying that he has nothing left to lose. With him, anything’s possible.

The court case affects the two families dramatically. The religious Razieh always seeks an imam’s guidance before doing anything (on one occasion calling him to ascertain whether it is a sin or not to change the senile father’s piss-stained trousers) and has to attempt a delicate balancing act between what is right for her Faith and what is right for her husband. For Nader and Simin’s daughter, it’s all about her parents’ integrity. Did her father commit such an act? Did he tell the truth in front of the judge? Did he know more than he let on? She certainly does, but is holding on to that little nugget of information...for now.

I have to admit, I’m a little surprised at how much I enjoyed A Separation. Certainly if you’d told me that probably the best foreign language film of the year would be an Iranian one without any trace of a musical score I wouldn’t have believed you, but here we are. Here is a marvellous, multi-faceted and contemporary look at Iranian life that all the while emphasises the very human nature of its content. Despite a complex storyline and moral issues that are, quite literally, foreign to Western audiences (who wouldn't bat an eyelid at the prospect of accepting morally ambiguous money or worry unduly about swearing an oath on a Holy Book), director/writer Asghar Farhadi unfurls the events with such precision and clarity that nothing is left ambiguous. He takes his time revealing certain facts - a movie staple, regardless of its country of origin - but unlike in most cases, A Separation's participants have their own, valid reasons for their lack of disclosure. Despite two families disputing their claim in front of an appointed judge, there are no bad guys here. Each has a vested interest in the outcome of the court case, each has a reason to contemplate the difference between what’s right and what’s honest. A film that works on many levels – the more you study it, the more it reveals - A Separation is brilliant filmmaking.