A Separation

This Iranian film is winner of the 2012 Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Film (yes it has subtitles people). I can not comment on its deservedness of this accolade as I have not seen any of the other films nominated for this somewhat xenophobic category. However I was riveted by the drama of the story

Unfortunately it took a long time to set up the story I enjoyed, at 123minutes in duration it needed to be cut by about 30 minutes, most of it at the beginning of the film. During the beginning sequences it was also difficult to follow the dialogue. It was easy to read the subtitles and the story all made sense – it was just difficult to attribute the separate lines to the correct characters.

At its heart this is a story of truth and devotion. In Jesus Christ Superstar Pilate asks Jesus “But what is truth, is truth unchanging law. We both have truths – are mine the same as yours?” Fundamentally this is the heart of A Separation.

After separating from his wife Simin, Nader hire a caretaker, Razieh for his father who suffers with Azheimers. This is where the drama begins. Religious impropriety, duty of care, and family commitment sets in motion a series of events that see Nader charged with murder and Razieh charged with abuse.

Throughout it all Nader’s devotion for his daughter drives his commitment to his truth, thankfully it was not set in America where the judicial system requires witnesses to swear the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Nader sticks to the ultimate truth but lies by directly and omission to make his mission easier.

Razieh sticks to a truth that upholds her devotion to her husband, to maintain honour for them both. Her honesty is not does not follow the more traditional universal understanding of truth in as much as it is mainly lies. If her version was a movie it would come with the disclaimer “based” on a true story.

The relationship between Nader and his daughter is moving. All of the key male figures dominate the women in their lives. Nader however dotes on his daughter, respects her and values her opinion and intelligence. It provides an interesting sidenote to the plot.

A great but long movie. Don’t rush to see it in the cinema. Nothing would be lost on a smaller screen in the comfort of your own home.

Watch out for the Judge, his dry matter-of-fact approach is entertaining, he does not buy into the emotion, nor does he let his emotions rise. A very amusing juxtaposition to the hot-headed responded to the main protagonists.