A separation – an intriguing family thriller!

It’s an intense family drama. (Dramavaa-nnu neenga alarradhu kekkudhu-Visu, V.sekar effect!). Family without drama is unreal, right?

 I too, agree with you. But, there is no real melodrama in this movie. Rather, it is unusually brisk, for a story based on family affairs with events unrolling fast and with many unexpected twists. Hence, with your permission, I call it as an intense family thriller (new genre).

“A separation” is a critically acclaimed Iranian film, written and directed by Asghar Farhadi, and won the Oscars for best foreign film in 2012. It was the first Iranian film to do so, and won many other international awards too, obviously. This movie, truly deserves those awards, and it is one of the finest films I have ever seen. Perhaps, the best among those I reviewed so far.

Sometimes you wonder in spite being a small country with lesser population, they make so many quality movies, why can’t we?

If you analyze, we are the one to be blamed. I feel, we are a color -blind society, we see black as white and white as black. We don’t appreciate true greatness, thus mediocre prevails everywhere, including cine field. Every citizen has a responsibility, including film makers. For most our contemporary Indian movie makers, only commercial success and box office collection matter.

Sorry, I may sound pessimistic but I don’t foresee any major revamp in near future rather values are going down. (sign of aging?!)

Story…

One-liner: When two economically different classes of Iranian families meet at one point and try to solve an issue, it raises many questions based on religion, faith, justice, morality and individual honesty.

Detailed story…

 An Iranian upper middle class, well educated, ambitious couple apply for divorce, because wife (Simin) wants to leave the country for a better future of their 11 years old daughter (Termeh) and husband (Nader) refuses to leave behind his Alzheimer’s affected father. And wife goes to her parent’s house and daughter prefers to stay with her father (reason- she reveals later).

On the other hand, debt ridden working class pregnant lady (Razieh) desperately looking for some part time work to support their family without her husband’s knowledge. Her husband recently has been fired from his job and his creditors has been troubling him to repay.

The maid (Razieh) comes to take care of the old man suffering from Alzheimer’s with her little playful daughter. She finds it very difficult physically and emotionally but tolerates, to earn that important money.

One day without her knowledge, the old man goes out of the house, onto roads and finds himself in the middle of bustling traffic and nearly knocked down by a car. She gets him back. The details of that day’s events kept secret in the film till the end, the knot is released during climax.

The very next day, when Nader comes back from work, notices the maid’s absence, and his father has been lying on the floor with hands restrained to cot, almost dead. He becomes very angry, misunderstands the situation and accuses the maid for stealing. Following intense altercation he pushes her out of the house.

 She suffers miscarriage. When maid’s husband comes to know this he becomes violent and files a case against Nader.

Trial starts…To avoid conviction Nader lies that he did not know she was pregnant otherwise he would be jailed for 2-3 years. To come out of the crisis he accuses the maid of negligence. Maid’s husband, mentally unstable- short tempered, threatens their daughter- Termeh. Simin tries to settle the issue by paying blood money to save her daughter. At the end, just before giving the cheque Nader requests the maid to promise on Quran that he’s responsible for her miscarriage (He desperately wants to show his innocence in front of his daughter).  She refuses to do so in spite of her husband’s pleading because she is not sure about it and the secret revealed here.

This is almost a perfect movie. Everything works so well.

Well written and directed. We need to understand the whole problem based on the current situation in Iran. This country is suffering because of international pressure, ban on sanctions, denied access to international financial markets, stagnant economy and soaring inflation. The divide between rich and poor growing every day like India. And the country is governed by a peculiar complex Islamic law.

It’s a multilayered film many places the director indirectly tries to convey subtle points.

In one scene, during argument Nader says you coward people running away from problems, why don’t you stay back and fight, targeting those leaving troubled country. Asks his daughter to fill fuel and demand for change …promoting female freedom against fundamentalist thinking.

Many sweet moments are there.

Maid’s small kid plays with oxygen cylinder…

Termeh asks her father to call her mom back, when he is hand cuffed and about to go to jail…

Simin expresses to the old man, why her husband is not stopping her going abroad, why he is not calling her back…

Something stops Nader calling her back …his ego?  Only a few words are in-between a separation and a reunion, which is so real.

Daughter decides to stay back with her father so that her mom does not leave the country, probably in the end also she would do the same (the movie ends with that question).

All the actors fit their roles perfectly. My favorites are the maid and Termeh (director’s daughter).

The maid looks exhausted, tired expresses her helplessness nicely.

The same with Termeh, caught between egos of parents tries her best to reunite them. 

The scenes are moving very fast. Editing was so precise, the one scene I remember when Simin leaves the house simultaneously maid comes to enquire. At one point so many events are happening, everything captured and placed (edited) perfectly, even small eye glances.

Music…You don’t realize there is no music till the end. That helps in creating a sting operation like feeling meaning, so real.

It is worth mentioning about Ilayaraja’s answer for a question- what is your favorite music? He replied as silence. Silence can be so powerful if utilized properly.

The movie starts and ends with a court divorce scene, couple facing audience (actually you realize how much they love each other, during those interviews).

And the director raises many questions...

Simin – her decision to go abroad leaving old man is right or wrong…?         

 Nader - lying the court about knowing maid’s pregnancy status, right or wrong…?

Razieh – not accepting money to help her husband…

Her husband- forcing her to false promise…

 The director bombards you with lot of questions and indirectly by making their lead roles to face audience at the beginning and the end, conveys you to find answers.

There are two legal systems. One is society created and relatively easy to manage. The other one is inside every individual, difficult to convince (self-confrontation). When you fail, then guilt builds up and erodes your soul slowly. Every individual struggles with this.

In one interview the director says

“More than anything else, I think today's world need more questions than answers,”

 "I'm not hiding the answers away from my viewers, I simply don't know them”.

"If you give an answer to your viewer, your film will simply finish in the movie theatre. But when you pose questions, your film actually begins after people watch it. In fact, your film will continue inside the viewer."

                           

It is a must watch!

23-08-14.