A Separation
A Separation | |
---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Asghar Farhadi |
Written by | Asghar Farhadi |
Produced by | Asghar Farhadi |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Mahmoud Kalari |
Edited by | Hayedeh Safiyari |
Music by | Sattar Oraki |
Distributed by | Filmiran |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 123 minutes[1] |
Country | Iran |
Language | Persian |
Budget | $800,000[2] |
Box office | $24.4 million[2] |
A Separation (Persian: جدایی نادر از سیمین, romanized: Jodâyi-e Nâder az Simin; lit. 'The Separation of Nader from Simin'; also titled Nader and Simin, 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 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2012, becoming the first Iranian film to win the award.[3] 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.[4] It also won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film[5] and the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Feature Film.[6] The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay,[7] making it the first non-English film in five years to achieve this.
Plot
[edit]Nader, Simin, and their 10-year-old daughter, Termeh, are a secular, upper-middle class family living in a flat in Tehran. Simin wants the whole family to leave Iran and has prepared the visas, but Nader wishes to stay to care for his father, who lives with them, and has Alzheimer's disease. Simin therefore files for divorce, but the family court considers the grounds to be insufficient and rejects the application. Simin moves back to her parents’ home and Termeh stays with her father.
Nader hires Razieh, a deeply religious woman from a poor and distant suburb, to take care of his father during the day. She comes each day with her young daughter, Somayeh. She soon finds that she cannot cope, in particular because the old man has become incontinent. One day, when Razieh and Somayeh are busy, he slips out and wanders in the street. Razieh hastens out and dodges through the traffic to get to him.
The next day, Nader and Termeh come home early and discover the old man lying unconscious on the floor in his bedroom, tied to the bed. Razieh and Somayeh are out. When they return, Razieh says she had some urgent personal business; Nader accuses her of neglecting his father and stealing some money (which Simin had in fact used to pay some movers). When Razieh refuses to leave until he pays her, he pushes her out of the flat. She apparently falls down some steps. Nader and Simin later learn that Razieh has suffered a miscarriage.
If Nader knew of Razieh's pregnancy and caused the miscarriage, he could be guilty of murder. There is now a series of claims and counter-claims before a criminal judge: on one side, Nader, with Simin and Termeh; on the other, Razieh and her husband, Hodjat. He is a hot-tempered man, embittered and humiliated by the loss of his long-time job as a cobbler, and harassed by creditors. More than once, he attempts to assault Nader.
Razieh says that Nader knew of her pregnancy because he heard a conversation in the flat between her and Termeh’s tutor, in which the tutor recommended a doctor to her. Nader denies this, and the tutor gives evidence in his support. Termeh finds reasons to believe this is not true, and Nader at last admits to her that he has lied for her sake and his father’s: he cannot go to prison. The tutor withdraws her evidence. To protect her father, Termeh tells the judge that her father did not know of the pregnancy until she told him.
Nader claims that when he pushed Razieh out of the flat, she could not have fallen down the steps, but would have been protected by the railing. Razieh confesses to Simin that when she went out to bring back the old man, she was hit by a car and was in pain that night; this was the day before Nader pushed her, and she had gone out that day to see a doctor.
Hodjat is violent, and Simin fears for Termeh’s safety. Simin persuades Nader to make a payment to Hodjat, but Nader first asks Razieh to swear on the Qur'an that he is the cause of her miscarriage. She cannot do so. Hodjat cannot force her, and begins hitting himself in a rage.
Later, at the family court, Nader and Simin are granted a divorce. As the film ends, they wait separately outside the court while Termeh tells the judge which parent she chooses to live with.
Cast
[edit]- Leila Hatami as Simin, a teacher and mother in Tehran
- Peyman Moaadi as Nader, Simin's husband of 14 years
- Sarina Farhadi as Termeh, Simin and Nader's teenaged daughter
- Sareh Bayat as Razieh, devout wife and mother employed as a caregiver for Nader's father
- Shahab Hosseini as Hodjat, Razieh's troubled and unemployed husband
- Kimia Hosseini as Somayeh, Razieh and Hodjat's young daughter
- Merila Zarei as Mrs Ghahraei, Termeh's teacher
- Babak Karimi as Judge
- Shirin Yazdanbakhsh as Simin's mother and Nader's mother-in-law
- Ali-Asghar Shahbazi as Nader's elderly father, suffering from severe Alzheimer's
Production
[edit]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.[8] The production was granted US$25,000 in support from the Motion Picture Association's APSA Academy Film Fund.[9]
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.[10]
Release
[edit]The film premiered on 9 February 2011 at the 29th Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran.[11] Six days later it played in Competition at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival.[12] Farhadi had previously competed at the festival's 2009 edition with About Elly, for which he had received the Silver Bear for Best Director.[10] A Separation was distributed in Iran through Filmiran.[13] Distribution rights for the United Kingdom were acquired by Artificial Eye.[14]
Box office
[edit]As of 17 April 2014, A Separation has grossed worldwide over $24 million on an estimated budget of just $800,000, making it a box-office success.[2]
Critical reception
[edit]The film has been met with universal acclaim from film critics. It currently holds a 99% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 176 reviews with an average rating of 8.90/10. 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",[15] as well as a score of 95 on Metacritic based on 41 reviews,[16] making it the best-reviewed film of 2011.[17]
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 noted 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.[18]
In a strongly 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.[19]
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.[20]
David Thomson for The New Republic wrote:
You cannot watch the film without feeling kinship with the characters and admitting their decency as well as their mistakes. The American films made this year that deal with the internal detail and difficulty of family life – like The Descendants — are airy, pretty and affluent compared with A Separation. With the best will in the world, George Clooney cannot discard his aura of stardom, yet the actors in the Iranian film seem caught in their characters' traps.[21]
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.[22] 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.[23] 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".[4] 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".[24] 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.[13]
A Separation was voted the second best film of 2011 in the annual Sight & Sound critic poll,[25] as well as in the LA Weekly Film Poll 2011.[26] The film was also voted No. 3 in the annual indieWire critic survey for 2011,[27] No. 4 in the 2011 poll by Film Comment,[28] and was ranked No. 5 on Paste magazine's 50 Best Movies of 2011.[29] 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".[30]
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".[31]
Industry reaction
[edit]Steven Spielberg stated he believed the film to be the best of that year by a wide margin. Other admirers of the film included Woody Allen who called Farhadi to congratulate him on the film. David Fincher, Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt, and Angelina Jolie spoke to Farhadi during the awards season each offering their praise for him and the film.[32]
Top ten lists
[edit]The film has appeared on numerous critics' top ten lists for 2011,[33] some notable of which are the following:
|
|
Sight & Sound magazine included the film in its list of "30 great films of the 2000s".[36] A Separation was later named the ninth-greatest film of the 21st century in a 2016 BBC critics' poll.[37] In 2018 the film was ranked 21st in the BBC's list of The 100 greatest foreign language films of all time.[38] In 2019, The Guardian ranked the film 36th in its 100 best films of the 21st century list.[39] In 2022 Sight and Sound ranked the film 72th in its Directors' 100 Greatest Films of All Time list [40]
Awards and nominations
[edit]^[I] Each date is linked to the article about the awards held that year wherever possible.
References
[edit]- ^ "Nader and Simin, A Separation (PG)". British Board of Film Classification. 3 May 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
- ^ a b c "Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (2011) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
- ^ "Iran wins first Oscar with 'A Separation'". Reuters. 27 February 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ a b "Iranian Film Takes Top Prize at Berlinale". 19 February 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
- ^ a b "Golden Globes: 'A Separation' wins best foreign language film". Los Angeles Times. 15 January 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "APSA Nominees & Winners".
- ^ a b "Oscars: 84th Academy Award Nominations; Only 9 Best Picture Nods". Deadline Hollywood. 24 January 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ Wiseman, Andreas (18 February 2011). "One on One: Asghar Farhadi". Screen Daily. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
- ^ "Berlin debut for MPA & APSA supported Iranian film". Business of Cinema. Join The Dots Media. 4 February 2011. Archived from the original on 6 February 2011. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
- ^ a b Yong, William (4 October 2010). "Iran Lifts Ban on Director, Saying He Issued an Apology". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
- ^ "'Nader and Simin' people's choice so far at Fajr festival". Tehran Times. 12 February 2011. Archived from the original on 10 February 2011. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
- ^ "Competition: Jodaeiye Nader az Simin". Berlin International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
- ^ a b "Asghar Farhadi repeats success at Berlinale". Tehran Times. 22 February 2011. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
- ^ Hopewell, John; Keslassy, Elsa (11 February 2011). "'Nader and Simin' sells to top territories". Variety. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
- ^ "A Separation (2011)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
- ^ "A Separation Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
- ^ Dietz, Jason (5 February 2012). "The Best and Worst Movies of 2011". Metacritic. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
- ^ Young, Deborah (15 February 2011). "Nader and Simin, A Separation: Berlin Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
- ^ Marshall, Lee (15 February 2011). "Nader And Simin – A Separation". Screen Daily. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
- ^ Simon, Alissa (15 February 2011). "Nader and Simin, a Separation". Variety. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
- ^ Thomson, David (7 February 2012). "How Iran Produced the Best Film of 2011—and What Americans Can Learn From It". The New Republic.
- ^ "'Crime' crowned best film of Fajr festival". Tehran Times. 19 February 2011. Archived from the original on 20 February 2011. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
- ^ "The Awards / Die Preise" (PDF). Berlinale.de. Berlin International Film Festival. 19 February 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 November 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
- ^ "Nader and Simin: A Separation wins Berlin Golden Bear". BBC News. BBC. 20 February 2011. Archived from the original on 21 February 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
- ^ Lodge, Guy (28 November 2011). "'Tree of Life' easily tops Sight & Sound's Best of 2011 poll". In Contention. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
- ^ "LA Weekly". Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
- ^ "indieWIRE". Retrieved 21 December 2011.
- ^ Kemp, Nicholas (16 December 2011). "Film Comment". Archived from the original on 8 January 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- ^ Marcum, Jane (27 December 2011). "The 50 Best Movies of 2011 :: Blogs :: List of the Day :: Paste". Paste. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (15 December 2011). "The Best Films of 2011". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 5 January 2012.
- ^ Saeed, Kamal Dehghan (27 February 2012). "Oscar success of A Separation celebrated back home in Iran". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
- ^ "A Hollywood party, with a nervous look to Iran". Salon. 12 March 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Dietz, Jason (8 December 2011). "Metacritic: 2011 Film Critic Top Ten". Metacritic. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f Staff."IndieWIRE: Annual Critics Survey 2011". IndieWIRE. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
- ^ Howell, Peter (29 December 2011). "Peter Howell's Top 10 movies of 2011". The Star. Toronto. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
- ^ "30 great films of the 2000s". bfi.org. 17 January 2020.
- ^ "The 21st Century's 100 greatest films". BBC. 23 August 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
- ^ "The 100 Greatest Foreign Language Films". bbc. 29 October 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
- ^ "The 100 best films of the 21st century". The Guardian. 13 September 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
- ^ "Directors' 100 Greatest Films of All Time". BFI. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- ^ "Oscars 2012: Complete Winners List". The Hollywood Reporter. 26 February 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "Nominees Announced in the 5th Annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards". Asia Pacific Screen Awards. 10 October 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "A Separation and Once Upon a Time in Anatolia Win Major Awards at APSA". Asia Pacific Screen Awards. 24 November 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "6th AFA Nominees and Winners". Asian Film Awards. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "A Separation wins BBC Four World Cinema Award 2011". BBC News. BBC. 18 November 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
- ^ "Prizes & Honours 2011". Berlin International Film Festival. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "'Melancholia' Wins Denmark's Bodil Award for Best Film". The Hollywood Reporter. 5 March 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "'The Artist,' Martin Scorsese, Brad Pitt and Michelle Williams win top honors from Boston critics". Hitfix. 11 December 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "Bafta Film Awards 2012: Winners". BBC News. 12 February 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "British Independent Film Awards: the winners". The Daily Telegraph. 5 December 2011. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "Critics' Choice Movie Awards: 'The Artist' Wins Best Picture". The Hollywood Reporter. 12 January 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "Camerimage honors DPs of 'In Darkness,' 'A Separation,' 'Wuthering Heights'". Hitfix. 5 December 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "'Tree of Life' wins four awards from Chicago critics, including Best Picture". Hitfix. 19 December 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "'The Artist' Wins 6 Cesar Awards, Including Best French Film of the Year". The Hollywood Reporter. 24 February 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "Dallas-Fort Worth critics REALLY like 'The Descendants'". Hitfix. 16 December 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "'Caesar Must Die' Tops Donatello Award Winners". The Hollywood Reporter. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "Durban Fest Offers Rare Spotlight on African Cinema". The Hollywood Reporter. 18 July 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ ""Crime" crowned best film of Fajr festival". Tehran Times. 19 February 2011. Archived from the original on 20 February 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "2011 Guldbagge Award Winners". Swedish Film Institute. 23 January 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
- ^ "2012 Independent Spirit Awards Winners - Complete List". 25 February 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "Colombian film wins Golden Peacock at IFFI". Deccan Herald. 3 December 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "'The Artist', 'A Separation' win at London Film Critics' Circle Awards". Digital Spy. 19 January 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "'The Descendants' Wins LA Film Critics Association Award For Best Picture 2011". HuffPost. 12 December 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "Melbourne International Film Festival". Melbourne International Film Festival. 24 August 2011. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
- ^ "National Board of Review awards 'Hugo,' Clooney, Swinton". USA Today. 1 December 2011. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
- ^ "National Society of Film Critics". National Society of Film Critics. 7 January 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
- ^ "New York Film Critics Can't Wait to Give Their Top Prizes to The Artist". Time. 29 November 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "'Tree of Life' Tops Online Film Critics List". Deadline Hollywood. 2 January 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "'Starbuck,' 'A Separation' among Palm Springs Film Fest winners". Los Angeles Times. 15 January 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "'Descendants,' 'Drive' Lead Satellite Award Winners". Indiewire. 19 December 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "2011 Sydney Film Festival Winners". Filmink. 20 June 2011. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
"2011 SFF Official Competition winner is..." Sydney Film Festival. 19 June 2011. Archived from the original on 6 August 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2011. - ^ "'The Tree of Life' Named Best Picture of 2011". Toronto Film Critics Association. 14 December 2011. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ a b "'Nader and Simin' Wins Vancouver Film Festival's Top Audience Award". The Hollywood Reporter. 16 October 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "Winners". Yerevan International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 21 April 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
External links
[edit]- Official website
(US)
- A Separation at IMDb
- A Separation at AllMovie
- A Separation at Box Office Mojo
- A Separation at Metacritic
- A Separation at Rotten Tomatoes
- 2011 films
- 2011 drama films
- 2011 independent films
- 2010s legal drama films
- 2010s pregnancy films
- 2010s Persian-language films
- Asian Film Award for Best Film winners
- Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners
- Best Foreign Film César Award winners
- Best Foreign Language Film Golden Globe winners
- Best Foreign Film Guldbagge Award winners
- Crystal Simorgh for Audience Choice of Best Film winners
- Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film winners
- Iranian drama films
- Iranian films about Alzheimer's disease
- Iranian independent films
- Films directed by Asghar Farhadi
- Films set in Tehran
- Films shot in Tehran
- Films about divorce
- Films whose director won the Best Directing Crystal Simorgh
- Films whose writer won the Best Screenplay Crystal Simorgh
- Golden Bear winners
- Sony Pictures Classics films