Summary: A married couple are faced with a difficult decision - to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer's disease.
Video Librarian Reviews
An Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film, writer-director Asghar Farhadi's ambiguous, enigmatic meditation on marital conflict is set in contemporary Iran, where two couples appear before a judge to defend their legal, moral, and religious beliefs in family court. As the drama begins, Simin (Leila Hatami) has received permission for her family to emigrate from Tehran, following a year-and-a-half of bureaucratic aggravation. Simin is trying to convince her banker husband, Nader (Peyman Moadi) and adolescent daughter Termeh (played by the director's daughter, Sarina Farhadi), to opt for a better life. But middle-class, moderate Nader feels he must stay and care for his frail father (Ali-Asghar Shahbazi), who is afflicted with Alzheimer's. When frustrated Simin moves back to her parents' home, Nader hires poor, pious Razieh (Sareh Bayet) to care for his father during the day—unbeknownst to her debt-ridden, unemployed husband, Hodjat (Shahab Hosseini). When pregnant Razieh is subsequently injured in an accident, the foursome winds up before an Iranian judge. Deftly exploring ethical and cultural issues surrounding Iranian women living under the Islamic theocracy that has dominated the country since the 1979 revolution, A Separation is highly recommended. (S. Granger)Copyright Video Librarian Reviews 2011.
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