| A Separation | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Asghar Farhadi |
| Produced by | Asghar Farhadi |
| Written by | Asghar Farhadi |
| Starring | Leila Hatami Peyman Moaadi Shahab Hosseini Sareh Bayat Sarina Farhadi |
| Music by | Sattar Oraki |
| Cinematography | Mahmoud Kalari |
| Editing by | Hayedeh Safiyari |
| Studio | Asghar Farhadi |
| Distributed by | Memento Films (worldwide) |
| Release date(s) | 15 February 2011 (Berlin Film Festival) |
| Running time | 123 minutes |
| Country | Iran |
| Language | Persian |
| Budget | $500,000 |
| Box office | $3,100,000 (Iran) $14,908,906 (Abroad)[1] |
A Separation (Persian: جدایی نادر از سیمین, translit. Jodái-e Náder az Simin) 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, and the intrigues which follow when the husband hires a lower-class caretaker for his elderly father. The film 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.[2] The film is the official Iranian candidate for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards.[3][4]
Contents |
Nader and Simin have been married for fourteen years and live with their eleven-year-old daughter Termeh in Tehran. The family belongs to the urban upper middle-class and the couple are on the verge of separation. Simin wants to leave the country with her husband and daughter, as she does not want Termeh to grow up under the prevailing conditions. This desire is not shared by Nader. He is concerned for his elderly father, who lives with the family and suffers from Alzheimer's disease. When Nader firmly decides to stay in Iran, Simin files for divorce.
The family court judges the couple's problems not to be grave enough to warrant divorce and rejects Simin's application. Simin then leaves her husband and daughter and moves back in with her parents. On the recommendations of his wife, Nader hires Razieh, a young, pregnant and deeply religious woman from a poor suburb, to take care of his father while he works at a bank. Razieh has applied for the job without consulting her hot-tempered husband Houjat, whose approval, according to tradition, would have been required. Her family is, however, financially dependent on the work, and she takes her daughter to the house with her.
Razieh soon becomes overwhelmed by taking care of Nader's father. On the first day of work, she finds that the old man is incontinent and she phones someone to ask if it would be a sin for her to clean him. Assured that it would be acceptable, she continues in the job, but later hopes to get her husband into the position, without revealing that she herself had worked there initially. Nader interviews Houjat and hires him, but Houjat, who is heavily in debt, is put in jail by his creditors on the day he is due to start - and so Razieh returns to work for Nader.
Whilst Razieh is cleaning, Nader's father wanders out of the apartment. Razieh runs to find him, and sees him from across a busy road, peering down at a newsstand. (Although we do not see what happens after Razieh has seen him, later on in the film, we learn that Razieh is hit by a car in an attempt to protect Nader's father from being hit).
The next day, Nader and Termeh return to an empty house. Termeh discovers her grandfather lying unconscious on the floor in his bedroom, with one of his arms tied to the bed. When Razieh returns, an argument ensues between her and Nader, and he throws her out of the apartment, and accuses her of having stolen money from his room (unbeknownst to Nader, Simin was actually shown taking the money in an earlier scene to pay movers). Razieh returns to protest her innocence, and to request her payment for the day's work. Outraged, Nader shoves Razieh out of the apartment. She falls in the stairwell and hurries out of the building. Houjat's sister later calls Simin to inform her that Razieh has suffered a miscarriage and is in hospital.
A court is assigned to determine the cause of the miscarriage and Nader's potential responsibility for it. If it is proved that Nader had knowledge of Razieh's pregnancy and caused the miscarriage by his actions, he will be sentenced to one to three years imprisonment, and much of the film revolves around this issue. Nader accuses Razieh of neglecting his father. The hot-headed and aggressive Houjat physically confronts Nader on several occasions, and threatens him, his family, and Termeh's teacher, who testifies on Nader's behalf. When Houjat is sent out of a court hearing for an outburst, Razieh reveals that he is deeply depressed and self-destructive, and that he is taking antidepressants for these issues. Nader learns from Razieh's young daughter that the reason she was absent the day Nader came home early was because she had gone with Razieh to see a doctor, something that Razieh was adamant about not revealing earlier. This, combined with Houjat's explosive temper causes Nader to wonder if perhaps Houjat is physically abusive to Razieh and possibly the cause of her miscarriage.
Termeh protects her father with a false statement and Simin attempts to arrange a financial deal with Razieh and Houjat, to compensate them for the loss of their unborn child. Nader is initially outraged by Simin's suggestion that they pay off Razieh and Houjat, as Nader feels that it would be a shameful admission of guilt. The morality of all of the characters are called into question as it is revealed that Nader did indeed lie about his knowledge of Razieh's pregnancy, and that Razieh has serious doubts as to whether Nader's actions caused her miscarriage, as she had been hit by a car the day before.
Eventually, everyone--including Houjat's debtors--meets at the home of Razieh and Houjat to consummate the payment. Nader, still wary about the true cause of Razieh's miscarriage (but not knowing about her being struck by a car) writes the cheques and slyly says he will give them to Houjat, under the condition that Razieh swears on the Qur'an that his actions were the cause of her miscarriage. Despite Houjat's desperate urgings, she cannot bring herself to do it, as she believes it will be a sin, and worries about it backfiring and affecting their daughter. Totally dejected, Houjat breaks down, hits himself violently and storms out of his home -- the money is not paid.
Back at the family court, Everyone is wearing black indicating in Persian culture of a death in the family. Nader and Simin's separation is made permanent and Termeh is asked to decide whether she wants to live with her mother or her father. Termeh tearfully says that she has made a decision, but requests that the judge ask her parents to wait outside in the hallway before revealing it. Nader and Simin are shown waiting silently and separately in the hallway, and the credits roll, with the viewer not learning of Termeh's decision.
The concept of the film 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.[5] The production was granted 25,000 US dollars in support from the Motion Picture Association's APSA Academy Film Fund.[6]
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 by Mohsen Makhmalbaf, an exiled filmmaker and Iranian opposition profile, and 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.[7]
The film premiered on 9 February 2011 at the 29th Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran.[8] Six days later it played in Competition at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival.[9] Farhadi had previously competed at the festival's 2009 edition with About Elly, for which he had received the Silver Bear for Best Director.[7] A Separation will be distributed in Iran through Filmiran.[10] Distribution rights for the United Kingdom were acquired by Artificial Eye.[11]
The film has been met with critical acclaim. Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter wrote from the Berlinale: "Just when it seemed impossible for Iranian filmmakers to express themselves meaningfully outside the bounds of censorship, Asghar Farhadi's Nader and Simin, A Separation comes along to prove the contrary. Apparently simple on a narrative level yet morally, psychologically and socially complex, it succeeds in bringing Iranian society into focus for in a way few other films have done." Young held forward how Farhadi portrayed Iran's social and religious divisions and complimented the film's craft: "As in all the director's work, the cast is given top consideration and their realistic acting results in unusual depth of characterization. All five main actors stand out sharply in Mahmood Kalari's intimate cinematography. Though the film lasts over two hours, Hayedeh Safiyari's fast-moving editing keeps the action tensely involving from start to finish."[12]
In a hugely positive review from Screen Daily, Lee Marshall wrote: "Showing a control of investigative pacing that recalls classic Hitchcock and a feel for ethical nuance that is all his own, Farhadi has hit upon a story that is not only about men and women, children and parents, justice and religion in today’s Iran, but that raises complex and globally relevant questions of responsibility, of the subjectivity and contingency of ‘telling the truth’, and of how thin the line can be between inflexibility and pride - especially of the male variety - and selfishness and tyranny."[13]
Alissa Simon from Variety called it Farhadi's strongest work yet and described it: "Tense and narratively complex, formally dense and morally challenging... The provocative plot casts a revealing light on contempo Iranian society, taking on issues of gender, class, justice and honor as a secular middle-class family in the midst of upheaval winds up in conflict with an impoverished religious one."[14]
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.[15] It won the top award, the Golden Bear for Best Film, at the Berlinale 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.[16] Isabella Rossellini, the Jury president of the Berlinale Festival, said that the choice of Farhadi's film for the Golden Bear was "pretty unanimous."[2] 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".[17] 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.[10]
A Separation was voted the second best film of 2011 in the annual Sight & Sound critic poll,[18] as well as in the LA Weekly Film Poll 2011.[19] The film was also voted #3 in the annual indieWire critic survey for 2011,[20] #4 in the 2011 poll by Film Comment[21] , and was ranked #5 on Paste Magazine's 50 Best Movies of 2011. [22]
| Year | Group | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Berlin International Film Festival[23] | Golden Berlin Bear | Won |
| Prize of the Ecumenical Jury | Won | ||
| Reader Jury of the "Berliner Morgenpost" | Won | ||
| Silver Berlin Bear - Best Actor | Won | ||
| Silver Berlin Bear - Best Actress | Won | ||
| Durban International Film Festival[24] | Best Film | Won | |
| Best Screenplay | Won | ||
| Fajr Film Festival[25] | Audience Award - Best Film | Won | |
| Crystal Simorgh Award - Best Cinematography | Won | ||
| Crystal Simorgh Award - Best Director | Won | ||
| Crystal Simorgh Award - Best Screenplay | Won | ||
| Crystal Simorgh Award - Best Sound Recorder | Won | ||
| Diploma of Honor - Best Actor in Supporting Role | Won | ||
| Diploma of Honor - Best Actress in Supporting Role | Won | ||
| Pula Film Festival[26] | Golden Arena Award - International Competition | Won | |
| Sydney Film Festival[27] | Official Competition Award - Best Film | Won | |
| Yerevan International Film Festival[28] | Grand Prix: Golden Apricot - Best Film | Won | |
| World Cinema Amsterdam Festival[29] | Parool Audience Award - Best Film | Won | |
| Saint Petersburg International Film Festival "KinoForum"[30] | Grand Prix - Best Film | Won | |
| Melbourne International Film Festival[31] | Most Popular Feature Film | Won | |
| 15th Iran Cinema Celebration[32] | Best Film | Won | |
| Best Director | Won | ||
| Best Original Screenplay | Won | ||
| Best Supporting Actor | Won | ||
| San Sebastian International Film Festival[33] | Another Look Award | Won | |
| Fukuoka International Film Festival[34] | Audience Award - Best Film | Won | |
| Riga International Film Festival[35] | FIPRESCI prize | Won | |
| Vancouver International Film Festival[36] | Rogers People's Choice Award | Won | |
| British Independent Film Awards | Best Foreign Film Award | Won | |
| BBC Four World Cinema Awards[37] | Best Film | Won | |
| Asia Pacific Screen Awards[38] | Best Feature Film Award | Won | |
| Achieving in Directing | Nominated | ||
| Best Performance by an Actor | Nominated | ||
| Best Screenplay | Nominated | ||
| New York Film Critics Circle[39] | Best Foreign Language Film | Won | |
| National Board of Review[40] | Best Foreign Language Film | Won | |
| International Film Festival of India[41] | Best Director Award | Won | |
| Satellite Award[42] | Best Foreign Language Film | Nominated | |
| The International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography CAMERIMAGE[43] | The Silver Frog | Won | |
| Independent Spirit Awards[44] | Best International Film | Pending | |
| Los Angeles Film Critics Association[45] | Best Screenplay | Won | |
| Best Foreign-Language Film | Runner-up | ||
| New York Film Critics Online[46] | Best Foreign-Language Film | Won | |
| Golden Globe[47] | Best Foreign-Language Film | Pending | |
| Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards[48] | Best Foreign-Language Film | Pending | |
| Chicago Film Critics Association Awards[49] | Best Foreign-Language Film | Won | |
| Best Screenplay | Nominated | ||
| Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards[50] | Best Foreign-Language Film | Won | |
| Southeastern Film Critics Association | Best Foreign-Language Film | Won | |
| Women Film Critics Circle | Best Foreign Film by or About Women | Nominated | |
| London Film Critics' Circle | Film of the Year | Pending | |
| Foreign-Language Film of the Year | Pending | ||
| Director of the Year | Pending | ||
| Screenwriter of the Year | Pending | ||
| Supporting Actress of the Year | Pending | ||
| Utah Film Critics Association | Best Foreign-Language Film | Won | |
| Online Film Critics Society[51] | Best Film Not in the English Language | Won | |
| Best Original Screenplay | Nominated | ||
| Dublin Film Critics Circle Awards[52] | Best Foreign Language Film | Won | |
| Vancouver Film Critics Circle | Best Foreign Language Film | Pending |
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