A Separation (Review) – The Crown of Iranian Cinema

A Separation

A house is built and run by both spouses together.

If anyone of the two gives up or retreats, the house falls apart.

Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation is an intense domestic drama. It captivates like a thriller by astounding performances and a truly compelling narrative arc. It is an Iranian film that centres on intimate domestic issues amidst of extremely difficult circumstances. It’s a pure humanistic narrative that gets better as it progresses. Densely layer after layer of critical situations where the poor characters helplessly engulfed. The plethora of deep emotions created honest ensembles pitch-perfect performances. Farhadi successfully manages to weave multiple angles together, which are otherwise, morally complexed and truthful. His primary characters are all exist in the middle to lower class.

There are no good guys or bad guys in “A Separation,” and there are certainly no easy answers. The movie engaged audience with easy answers at first. Then the characters were readily put into different situations. When we first saw them, they show us how quick we are to judge. Then we start learning about the people and the things that happen to them, plunge us into shades of grey.

The movie’s script by writer/director Asghar Farhadi is impeccable, expertly balancing the development and screen time of his characters. But it’s not just his characters that grab my attention. He portrayed the themes and narratives in such a smooth way that these look so easy. He brings together a hefty number of universal themes like divorce, separation, religion, negligence of responsibilities and moral inconsistencies.

A talented ensemble cast includes Peyman Maadi, Leila Hatami, Sarina Farhadi, Shahab Hosseini and Sareh Bayat. They all ace in their roles. Farhadi brings everything they can give out of them. No one of them ever being giving mediocre conviction. In fact, there’s no hint of mediocrity in the movie at all.

The atmosphere in this film is so tense. At times you feel as if you’re watching a thriller because it leaves you on the edge of your seat. You will wonder what’s going on next.

A good movie to watch for everyone. Don’t miss out it. In my opinion this is the film of the year.

Aqib Raza‘s Rating: 4/5

Previous read, ہلدی دودھ پینے کے طبی فوائد

Leave a comment