Summary
Nader and Simin are a couple on the rocks. They both want to move to a country other than Iran, but Nader wants to wait, so he can take care of his ailing father, and Simin doesn’t want to. As Simin pushes for a divorce and moves out, Nader’s flaws come to the surface as he seeks a caretaker for his father during the workday. When that caretaker accuses him of assault, the couple begin to unravel the mystery of what truly happened that day, and who they each truly are.
Don’t Read This Review
I was lucky enough to see this film with absolutely no information on what it would be about. A friend recommended it to me. A friend whose opinion I respect enough to see a film when they recommend it.
Unfortunately if you are reading this review, you probably won’t be seeing it under those sorts of constraints, but I really want to encourage you to stop reading this and see this film RIGHT NOW.
The only thing about it you may find challenging is that it is subtitles. No objectionable content at all.
With that out of the way, I will move on with the review, although even there, I am going to do as little as I can to spoil this film, because I really think that the less you know about “A Separation,” before you see it, the better.
The Three Best Things Are…
There are a lot of things that this film has going for it. It is strong in every aspect of the art of film making so you could really spend a long time talking about any of them you want, but I am going to try and restrain myself to just a few.
The first thing that I want to highlight is the cultural immersion in this film. Obviously, the director didn’t need to invent a world from scratch, but the challenge of making a world, which is foreign, seem accessible and understandable is tackled in a really great way. Basically, by not ever taking time to explain how the court system, religious law, or gender dynamics or Iran work, the world feels more natural, not less. Writers and Directors who work in Fantasy or SciFi would do well to learn this lesson. World building is NOT having a character explain how the world works. It is showing the audience how the world works without ever having to EXPLAIN it to them.
If you are worried that you won’t be able to understand the plot or follow the subtleties of the Iranian culture, I would want to assure you that you will not be lost at all because a great film maker will not let you get lost.
The second thing I want to call out is the mystery plot of the film. This is a film which does not feel like a mystery, almost all the way through it. The characters of the film always ‘think’ they know what is going on until they learn something new which changes their understanding and the same thing happens for the viewer. The movie doesn’t feel like a mystery because it seems like you are just watching a drama for so long. You seem to know what is going on, so you aren’t trying to puzzle it out until the characters do. It feels so natural and true to how we all discover things that you don’t even realize that this is a crime thriller until the credits roll.
It is a very interesting way to approach a film as compared to movies like, “Gone Girl,” which revel in the fact that they are mysteries and beat you over the head yelling ‘HOW MYSTERIOUS IS THIS,’ from the moment the film opens.
The last aspect of the film I would like to bring to your attention is the depth of the characters. The characters feel like real people because they are so complicated as are their relational dynamics. None of the characters in this film are straight up bad or good guys. Simin seems so impatient and uncaring toward her father in law, but she also is very dedicated to her family and trying to keep them safe. Nader seems so brash and forceful with people but he is also very tender with his daughter, father, and the caretaker and her daughter, who he hired.
None of the characters seem like archetypes that are just thrown in as placeholders. The most minor of characters in this film have inner complexities that are on display and have real effects on the plot of the film. They aren’t just quirks which have no bearing on the film. They are the main component of the plot of the movie. The characters, not events, dictate what happens and to whom it happens. The mysteries of this film are not so much, ‘how did this happen?’ but ‘why did that person do that? It seems so out of character.’
A Film For Grown Ups
This film is a great example of the types of movies Hollywood used to make. Personal stories of dramatic tension to be enjoyed mainly by adults. They are films for Grown Ups, not because they have swears, boobs, or blood. This one has none of that.
They are Grown Up because they are internal, dramatic, and not action oriented. It’s the sort of film that children would never want to watch but adults love, because they are so much more relatable and complex than movies like The Avengers: Part 5; Episode 2: Avengers Disassemble the Assembly of the Infinity Glowing Beam Glove Thing.
When we are children we hear about stories like Moby Dick, see the Wishbone version and think that it is a movie about a guy hunting down a whale which climaxes in a sea battle and shipwreck. As we grow older we realize that it is really about a man who hates God and is struggling with his own hearts hatred for fate’s role in his life. As we grow older we realize that the latter is more interesting and actually gives meaning to the former.
As Adults we know that the hardest battles to fight take place not on the beaches of Normandy, the Fields of Gondor, or in the Gamma Quadrant, but rather, in the depths of the human heart. For there lie the true Hydras of cowardice, laziness, and pride, and there are the fates of our souls contested.
Review Written By: