A Separation
Apparently simple on a narrative level yet morally, psychologically and socially complex, [the film] succeeds in bringing Iranian society into focus for in a way few other films have done. (...) [T]he whole premise is based on a middle-class couple’s divorce because the wife Simin wants to move abroad to find a better future for their 11-year-old daughter Termeh. But that may not be the real reason for the separation.
Nader is a decent man but a stubborn one, and he neglects his wife. Too proud to ask her to stay with him, he lets her move back to her mother’s place while he and Termeh are left to look after his aged father with Alzheimer’s disease. He hastily hires a poor woman named Razieh as a daytime caretaker, who signs on without telling him she’s pregnant (or does she?).
Scene after scene, new details are added that changes the moral perspective. (...) As in all the director’s work, the cast is given top consideration and their realistic acting results in unusual depth of characterization. (...) Hayedeh Safiyari’s fast-moving editing keeps the action tensely involving from start to finish.
Deborah Young, The Hollywood Reporter
Original title: Jodaeiye Nader Az Simin
Duration: 123 min
Dialogue: Persian
Subtitles: Finnish and Swedish
Age limit: K7
