X
- 2011
- PG-13
- Sony Pictures Classics
- 2 h 3 m
- 2011
- PG-13
- Sony Pictures Classics
- 2 h 3 m
Summary Set in contemporary Iran, A Separation is a compelling drama about the dissolution of a marriage. Simin wants to leave Iran with her husband Nader and daughter Termeh. Simin sues for divorce when Nader refuses to leave behind his Alzheimer-suffering father. Her request having failed, Simin returns to her parents' home, but Termeh decides...
- 2011
- PG-13
- Sony Pictures Classics
- 2 h 3 m
- 2011
- PG-13
- Sony Pictures Classics
- 2 h 3 m
A Separation
8.7
Where to Watch
Summary Set in contemporary Iran, A Separation is a compelling drama about the dissolution of a marriage. Simin wants to leave Iran with her husband Nader and daughter Termeh. Simin sues for divorce when Nader refuses to leave behind his Alzheimer-suffering father. Her request having failed, Simin returns to her parents' home, but Termeh decides...
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 41 Critic Reviews
95
100% Positive
41 Reviews
41 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 41 Critic Reviews
95
100% Positive
41 Reviews
41 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
It's a mystery wrapped inside an enigmatic nation, flawlessly acted and difficult to predict. I'm always impressed when a movie informs about a foreign culture while it entertains, and this one is powerful art in that regard.
The actors, as sometimes happens, create those miracles that can endow a film with conviction. Moadi and Hatami, as husband and wife, succeed in convincing us their characters are acting from genuine motives.
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 788 User Ratings
8.7
88% Positive
697 Ratings
697 Ratings
6% Mixed
50 Ratings
50 Ratings
5% Negative
41 Ratings
41 Ratings
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 788 User Ratings
8.7
88% Positive
697 Ratings
697 Ratings
6% Mixed
50 Ratings
50 Ratings
5% Negative
41 Ratings
41 Ratings
Defining which gender it belongs to is not easy, although it is quite functional to show the problems that exist in Iran: gender violence and tedious legal bureaucracy.
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Hearing how highly regarded A Separation was among my IMDb friends, I knew I had to see it. My only question is how on earth did it take so long for me to do so? I can only put it down to being behind with my film watching because of uni, because A Separation is a fantastic film and deserves all ounces of praise it gets and some. That is my opinion though, because I know people will find that it is not their cup of tea and have no problem with that. What was it I loved about A Separation? A lot of things actually. It was a very well made film. The scenery is striking and authentic, and the cinematography is intrusive and relentlessly, but this adds to the impact of the story rather than detracts from it. Asghar Farhadi's direction similarly is supremely controlled. A Separation is remarkably written as well. The writing is intelligent and insightful, avoiding any kind of melodrama or moralising. Not just that but it succeeds also in exploring the characters without any kind of prejudice, and that is including Hodjat. The story is quite a complicated set-up, but compelling and moving. It gives the audience time to breathe, but with the tension and drama that fuels what is happening in the storytelling I found myself never being able to look away. The characters are sensitively explored, and while I've not seen About Elly in a while I do remember that I didn't relate as much to the characters there than I did here. The acting is wonderful, Leila Hatami(especially good), Peyman Moadi, Shahab Hosseini and Sareh Bayat give performances that wholly justified the sharing of the Silver Berlin Bear. One mustn't forget Sarina Farhadi, whose increasing intensity in her acting is what makes A Separation's storytelling and the case it depicts even more engrossing. In conclusion, one of the best of 2011, considering how hit and miss that year was for films that's saying a bit. 10/10 Bethany Cox
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A Separation is not the work of a constrained artist. It's a great movie in which the full range of human interaction seems to play itself out before our eyes.
The drama it might remind you most of, oddly enough, is "Six Degrees of Separation," also about the snowballing connections between unlikely people. And as in that urban clash, the bedrock of it all is social responsibility, ever crumbling and rebuilding. A total triumph.
Although it's slow to unfold, this courtroom drama is so timelessly humane and even-handed it feels like it came from the dockets of Solomon - by way of Sidney Lumet.
A Separation doesn't try to make easy sense of that world, or of this family's suffering. It's simply a quiet cry of anguish.
In the compelling but slow-moving Iranian film A Separation, a downbeat family drama of no particular distinction gradually turns into a mystery that raises painful moral questions. There may be several guilty parties.
Not compelling movie making. Interesting to see another culture so close up, but does not make up for the tedium. Not sure a shorter movie would have done the trick: somehow the narrative had to be made more compelling without sacrificing the simplicity of settings, characters, and story.
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I'm afraid that, based on the almost unqualified rave reviews, I went into this film with unrealistic expectations. On the positive side, it did provide an interesting window into contemporary Iranian life. It did present some very challenging dilemmas and some interesting character studies. It was interesting to see how men and women navigated the problems in an ostensibly male-dominated culture. It did stimulate good conversation after it was over. In it's positive qualities, it shared with The Descendants all of the things I've mentioned so far except the "male-dominated culture." On the negative side, it was a half-hour too long. None of the four main adult characters (the two couples) were easy to relate to and none of them demonstrated much growth as individuals across the length of the film. I'd contrast it very much with The Descendants in which difficult problems were presented but there WAS clear character development--the characters in The Descendants evolved and grew. In The Descendants, both characters and plot developed. In A Separation, IMHO, the plot develops but the characters do not. My advice having seen the film last evening? Discount the rave reviews about 40%. Ask yourself the question--do I like movies set in interesting places and presenting difficult dilemmas experienced by interesting characters who don't seem to learn or grow much from the events in the film? If the answer is yes, and clearly for many reviewers and users it was, go see the film.
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Rubish movie I have ever seen. I don't know how this kinftof movies get high rated
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Production Company
Asghar Farhadi Productions,
Dreamlab Films,
MPA APSA Academy Film Fund,
Memento Films
Release Date Dec 30, 2011
Duration 2 h 3 m
Rating PG-13
Genres
Tagline Ugly truth, sweet lies
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
International Cinephile Society Awards
• 4 Wins & 11 Nominations