The sad truth about human beings is that we don’t really understand each other. We think we do, and we imagine that other people’s motivations are similar to our own, but usually we’re just fooling ourselves.
Typically, these misunderstandings are met with a polite smile or a roll of the eyes once the other person’s back is turned. Occasionally, however, the stakes rise and we are forced out of our avoidance and into confrontation.
Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation begins with a high stakes divorce between Nader and Simin, and then raises those stakes again and again as characters with competing motivation systems are added to the plot. Culture, religion, gender, and personality traits are brought to the surface, as each character tries desperately to do what they believe is the right thing. When they turn to the legal system to help them solve their disputes, they don’t find a resolution that makes anyone happy, but rather discover yet another competing value system with which to contend.
I am not qualified to speak to the details of life within Iran, but I did find the message to be universal, and wondered why more films don’t really explore how these themes play out in our multicultural society. Too often, mainstream films reduce our differences to caricatures, cover over them with platitudes and easy answers, or take sides according to the filmmaker’s own leanings. Farhadi’s refusal to do so allows us to sympathize with each character, and the ending finds us wondering less about the choice that a central character must make, and more about the choices that we have already made to become the people that we are, and the separations that divide us.
Oscar Chances:
A Separation won the Academy Award for best foreign language film (one of the awards that I predicted correctly), and was also nominated in the original screenplay category.
Interestingly, the film’s reception and Oscar win has mirrored its central premise, with different political and cultural groups inside and outside Iran interpreting its success in ways that support their own perspectives.
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I read about how good this film was in The New Yorker. By all accounts, it is a courageous film.
ReplyDeleteYou should definitely check it out, as it is quite well done.
DeleteGreat review! I liked the movie a lot, but I think all those people giving it 10/10 are overreacting a little, I mean it's very skillfully made movie with strong acting, but it's just that - drama, a story and there tons of better ones even in last year alone.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I thought really hard about whether to give this a perfect score, and decided that it didn't quite make it for me, thus the 4.5 out of 5. It was well-crafted and all of the elements were there, but for me the perfect score needs an extra boost of something.
DeleteI watched this before the Oscars and once I did I knew it was a shoe-in. It's a great film and I think it would've won even if it was from another country.
ReplyDeleteI was really pleased that it made it, as the foreign language category often has unexpected snubs. It seems like this is one of the years where the right film won!
DeleteHave yet to see this. Still waiting for Netflix to send it to me when it becomes available but I usually like this period after the Oscars when I discover all the foreign movies that got a nomination, like last year with Animal Kingdom, Incendies, and In a Better World.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely better than the new releases that are coming out during this time of year, so you are in for a treat!
DeleteMy favorite film of the year. It provides a simple glimpse of a foreign country, and yet reveals so much as the story unfolds. What's most precious to me is that it captures issues that most people struggle with no matter where they are, and yet has a unique ending in that special social setting.
ReplyDeleteOur perception of Iran is hardly accurate with all the politically oriented media. What this film tries to seek, just as what the director plead in his award-accepting speech, is the recognition of the country's 'glorious culture.'
I completely agree about the universal themes in this while still giving a look at the culture. I really hope that people see this regardless of their politics. It's always seemed strange to me that people allow the politically oriented media to make them think that there isn't as much diversity in other parts of the world as they already know that there is in our own.
DeleteAnd here is yet another good review of A Separation! Eventually I will get on the ball and see this film. I really enjoyed your opening few sentences about how people often think they know and understand others' motivations, but they really don't. It's like the flip side of the coin for the film - for one, it shows us that as humanity, we all share this common understanding in life for dealing with struggles and hardships, and we celebrate the journey to get through them. But also as you pointed out, we are often unaware of one another's motivations and read people wrong. I enjoyed this post!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kristin. I do think that the film itself allows us to look at our common humanity, precisely because the characters don't all recognize it in each other. Hope you get to see this one soon!
DeleteNice review. I was also impressed with this movie, and it would almost certainly make my top 10 from last year. The Academy got this one right.
ReplyDeleteThanks Eric. I would probably have this one in my top ten as well, and it is great when the Academy gets it right every once in a while, isn't it?
DeleteGreat review. I was amazed about how this film was able show us a culture that as you said no one knows much about and yet be able to make the plot and characters intriguing. I don't see many foreign language films but it seems that the Academy has had a good run as of late with their winners for the category (In a Better World was great and A Separation was even better).
ReplyDeleteThanks Ryan. I do know that the Academy has been trying to "fix" their rules to compensate for some of the perceived mistakes of the past, so maybe this is a sign that they've made progress.
DeleteGood review! I loved the twists and turns of the story in A Separation.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of those oscar predictions that everyone got right, even though strangely few people had viewed the other nominees for foreign film!
I plan to show it to friends once on dvd, and take another look at the important scenes of the accident.
I love what you say: "less about the choice that a central character must make, and more about the choices that we have already made to become the people that we are"
Thanks Chris. It's always a tough category, as it is quite common for the films to not even get a release in most places until after the ceremony. What is perhaps even more amazing is that it was able to hold onto its front-runner status all year long!
ReplyDeleteI just watched this and was really impressed with it. I agree with your coment about how you end up sympathizing with all the characters. There is no single bad person in this, just people making choices based on what they belive is right, but not thinking of the consequnces it will be for others.The last movie that did this with great efforts was "House of Sand and Fog". I need to think this one over and see again soon
ReplyDeleteActually, I need to see House Of Sand And Fog again soon, as I barely remember it from the first time I saw it. There are definitely some similarities though!
DeleteSuper review, I think this was second in my best films of the year (I joined The Artist bandwagon), all the performances were just utterly sublime.
ReplyDeleteThanks Myerla. Glad you liked it and there are definitely some great performances here.
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