A Separation


A Separation is a 2011 Iranian drama film written and directed by Asghar Farhadi, starring Leila Hatami, Peyman Moaadi, Shahab Hosseini, Sareh Bayat, and Sarina Farhadi. It focuses on an Iranian middle-class couple who separate, the disappointment and desperation suffered by their daughter due to the egotistical disputes and separation of her parents, and the conflicts that arise when the husband hires a lower-class caregiver for his elderly father, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease.
A Separation won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2012, becoming the first Iranian film to win the award. It received the Golden Bear for Best Film and the Silver Bears for Best Actress and Best Actor at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival, becoming the first Iranian film to win the Golden Bear. It also won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film. and the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Feature Film. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, making it the first non-English film in five years to achieve this.

Plot

Simin desperately wants to leave Iran with Nader, her husband of 14 years, and their daughter, Termeh. Nader, however, is concerned for his elderly father, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. Simin files for divorce, but the family court judges the couple's problems insufficient to warrant divorce and rejects Simin's application.
Simin moves back in with her parents but Termeh decides to stay with her father. Simin hires Razieh, a deeply religious woman from a poor suburb of Tehran, to take care of his father while he is at work. Her family is financially dependent on the job, and she takes her young daughter, Somayeh, with her. Razieh quickly becomes overwhelmed by taking care of Nader's father, which is physically and emotionally demanding, especially as she is four months pregnant. One day, Razieh asks her daughter to help by taking the trash outside, but the bag bursts on the stairs. Razieh mops it up, but discovers that Nader's father has disappeared. Alarmed, Razieh runs down the street after him.
The next day, Nader and Termeh return to discover her grandfather lying unconscious on the floor in his bedroom, tied to the bed. Razieh and Somayeh are nowhere to be found. When they return, Nader accuses Razieh of neglecting his father and stealing money. When she refuses to leave until he pays her, he pushes Razieh out of the apartment. She falls on the stairwell outside. Hodjat's sister later calls Simin to inform her that Razieh is in the hospital. Nader and Simin go to the hospital, where they encounter her husband, Hodjat, and learn she has suffered a miscarriage.
If it is proven that Nader knew of Razieh's pregnancy and caused the miscarriage, he could be sentenced for murder. In front of a criminal judge, Nader accuses Razieh of neglecting his father, while the hot-headed and aggressive Hodjat physically confronts Nader on several occasions. He yells at Termeh's teacher Mrs Ghahraei, who was tutoring her at the flat, after she gives a statement in support of Nader, who she didn't think could hear the conversation they had when Razieh first arrived, in which Razieh discussed her pregnancy and Mrs Ghahraei recommended an OB/GYN who does sonograms. When Hodjat is arrested for another outburst, Razieh begs the judge, explaining that he has mental disorders and is taking medication. Nader takes pity on her and asks the judge to not jail him. Nader learns from Somayeh that the reason Razieh was absent that day was because she had gone to visit a physician, which Razieh had avoided revealing earlier. Nader and Mrs Ghahraei wonder if Hodjat is physically abusive to Razieh and caused her miscarriage. Meanwhile, Termeh asks her father if he really didn't know Razieh was pregnant, because her mother thinks he did, and he says he did not, but that Simin is trying to turn her against him.
Nader physically demonstrates to investigators that it is unlikely Razieh could have fallen where she did if he had pushed her out of the door, which angers Hodjat more. Hodjat shows up at Termeh's school and harasses her and her teacher, accusing Mrs Ghahraei of lying. Simin, fearing for Termeh's safety, wants Nader to pay restitution for the loss of their child to make the case go away. Nader is initially outraged by Simin's suggestion and Simin and Nader both blame each other for the situation as their marriage continues to disintegrate. Termeh overhears Nader leaving a voicemail for Mrs Ghahraei for the name of the OB/GYN whose number she gave to Razieh the first day, and Termeh asks her father how he could have heard this if he claimed he didn't hear the conversation. He admits he did hear it but was forced to lie or spend up to three years in prison, and that he was concerned what would happen to her. Mrs Ghahraei also realizes he lied and withdraws her statement, telling the judge about his phone call. When the judge questions Nader how he could known this, he claims his daughter told him. The judge tells Nader to send Termeh into his office. Nader hesitates, then sends her in without instructing her to lie for him. The judge is surprised that Termeh doesn't know what he wants to ask her, meaning Nader did not tell prepare her, and he believes her when she lies to protect her father.
Simin tries to negotiate a settlement with Hodjat. However, Razieh reveals to Simin she has serious doubts as to whether Nader's actions caused the miscarriage, considering she had earlier been hit by a car while retrieving Nader's father when he had wandered out of the apartment and had first experienced symptoms of the miscarriage that night. Razieh fears that without the money Nader can provide in or out of court Hodjat will not be able to pay back his debtors, destroying their family. After another full-blown argument, Simin forces Termeh to leave with her. Nader agrees to the payment and asks Razieh to swear on the Qur'an that he is the cause of her miscarriage. Since she has doubts, she refuses, though Hodjat tries to force her to avoid dishonor in front of his creditors, and begins hitting himself over and over in rage.
Later, at the family court, Nader and Simin have filed for a divorce once again. The judge makes their separation permanent, and asks Termeh which parent she chooses to live with. She states that she has made a decision, but asks that the judge tell her parents to wait outside before she tells him. Her decision is left unresolved.

Cast

Production

The concept came from a number of personal experiences and abstract pictures which had been in Asghar Farhadi's mind for some time. Once he decided to make the film, about a year before it premiered, it was quickly written and financed. Farhadi described the film as the "logical development" from his previous film, About Elly. Like Farhadi's last three films, A Separation was made without any government support. The financing went without trouble much thanks to the success of About Elly. The production was granted in support from the Motion Picture Association's APSA Academy Film Fund.
In September 2010, Farhadi was banned from making the film by the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, because of an acceptance speech held during an award ceremony where he expressed support for several Iranian film personalities. Notably he had wished to see the return to Iranian cinema of Mohsen Makhmalbaf, an exiled filmmaker and Iranian opposition profile, and of the imprisoned political filmmaker Jafar Panahi, both of whom had been connected to the Iranian Green Movement. The ban was lifted in the beginning of October after Farhadi claimed to have been misperceived and apologized for his remarks.

Release

The film premiered on 9 February 2011 at the 29th Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran. Six days later it played in Competition at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival. Farhadi had previously competed at the festival's 2009 edition with About Elly, for which he had received the Silver Bear for Best Director. A Separation was distributed in Iran through Filmiran. Distribution rights for the United Kingdom were acquired by Artificial Eye.

Box office

As of 17 April 2014, A Separation has grossed worldwide over $24 million on an estimated budget of $800,000, making it a box-office success.

Critical reception

The film has been met with universal acclaim from film critics. It currently holds a 99% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 171 reviews with an average rating of 8.91/10. The website's critical consensus states, "Morally complex, suspenseful, and consistently involving, A Separation captures the messiness of a dissolving relationship with keen insight and searing intensity", as well as a score of 95 on Metacritic based on 41 reviews, making it the best-reviewed film of 2011.
Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter wrote from the Berlinale:
Young noted how Farhadi portrayed Iran's social and religious divisions, and complimented the film's craft:
In a strongly positive review from Screen Daily, Lee Marshall wrote:
Alissa Simon from Variety called it Farhadi's strongest work yet and described it:
David Thomson for The New Republic wrote:
The film won the Fajr Film Festival's Crystal Simorghs for Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematographer and Best Sound Recorder. It also received the Audience Favourite Film award. It won the top award, the Golden Bear for Best Film, at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival. The actress ensemble received the Silver Bear for Best Actress, and the actor ensemble the Silver Bear for Best Actor. In addition it received the Competition Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and the Berliner Morgenpost Readers' Prize. Isabella Rossellini, the Jury president of the Berlin International Film Festival, said that the choice of Farhadi's film for the Golden Bear was "pretty unanimous". Farhadi commented that he never would have thought he would win the Golden Bear, and that the film's victory offered "a very good opportunity to think of the people of my country, the country I grew up in, the country where I learned my stories – a great people". Ahmad Miralaii, the director of Iran's Farabi Cinematic Foundation, said that "Iranian cinema is proud of the awards", as he welcomed Farhadi at the airport upon the director's return from Berlin.
A Separation was voted the second best film of 2011 in the annual Sight & Sound critic poll, as well as in the LA Weekly Film Poll 2011. The film was also voted No. 3 in the annual indieWire critic survey for 2011, No. 4 in the 2011 poll by Film Comment, and was ranked No. 5 on Paste Magazine's 50 Best Movies of 2011. Roger Ebert ranked the film No. 1 on his The Best Films of 2011 list and wrote: "A Separation will become one of those enduring masterpieces watched decades from now".
Iranian critic Massoud Farasati, whose views are close to those of the Islamic regime, said "The image of our society that A Separation depicts is the dirty picture westerners are wishing for".

Top ten lists

The film has appeared on numerous critics' top ten lists for 2011, some notable of which are the following:
A Separation was later named the ninth-greatest film of the 21st century in a 2016 BBC critics' poll.

Awards and nominations

Each date is linked to the article about the awards held that year wherever possible.