A Separation
| Nader and Simin, A Separation | |
|---|---|
| File:A Separation.jpg French-language festival poster | |
| Directed by | Asghar Farhadi |
| Written by | Asghar Farhadi |
| Produced by | Asghar Farhadi |
| Starring | Leila Hatami Peyman Moaadi Shahab Hosseini Sareh Bayat Sarina Farhadi |
| Cinematography | Mahmoud Kalari |
| Edited by | Hayedeh Safiyari |
Release date |
|
Running time | 123 minutes |
| Country | Template:Film Iran |
| Language | Persian |
Nader and Simin, A Separation (Template:Lang-fa, [Jodaeiye Nader az Simin] Error: {{Transliteration}}: missing language / script code (help), Template:Lang-az) is a 2011 Iranian drama film written and directed by Asghar Farhadi, starring Leila Hatami, Peyman Moaadi, Shahab Hosseini, Sareh Bayat and Sarina Farhadi. It focuses on an Iranian middle-class couple who separate, and the intrigues which follow when the husband hires a lower-class caretaker for his elderly father. The film received the Golden Bear for Best Film and the Silver Bears for Best Actress and Best Actor at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival, becoming the first Iranian film to win the Golden Bear.[1]
Plot
Nader and Simin have been married for fifteen years and live with their eleven-year-old daughter Termeh in Tehran. The family belong to the urban upper middle-class and the couple are on the verge of separation. Simin wants to leave the country with her husband and daughter, as she does not want Termeh to grow up under the prevailing conditions. Her desire is not shared by the stubborn Nader. He has concerns for his father, who lives with the family and suffers from Alzheimer's disease. When Nader decides to stay in Iran, Simin files for a divorce.
The Family Court judges the couple's problems not to be grave enough and rejects Simin's application. Simin then leaves her husband and daughter and moves in with her mother. Nader hires Razieh, a young, pregnant and deeply religious woman from a poor suburb, to be able to better take care of his father. Razieh has applied for the job without consulting her hot-tempered husband Hodjat, whose approval according to tradition would have been needed. Her family is however financially dependent on the work, and brings her daughter with her.
Razieh soon becomes overworked by taking care of Nader's father and does not receive much pay. She becomes unsure whether her religion allows her to wash the old man who suffers from incontinence. She refrains from the task and ties the man to his bed while she leaves for a doctor's appointment, but plans to ask her husband about the issue before Nader hears anything about it. However Nader returns and discovers the father's condition. Outraged, he shoves Razieh out of the apartment and calls her a criminal, whereupon the next day, she loses her unborn child in the fourth month of pregnancy.
Razieh's husband could either get a prison sentence for attempted murder, or receive financial compensation if Nader is found to be guilty of the miscarriage. The wives and daughters wait outside for the final verdict. Razieh is found to not be guilty of the incident and tumbles to the street.
Cast
- Leila Hatami as Simin
- Peyman Moaadi as Nader
- Shahab Hosseini as Hodjat
- Sareh Bayat as Razieh
- Sarina Farhadi as Termeh
- Ali-Asghar Shahbazi as Nader's father
- Shirin Yazdanbakhsh as Simin's mother
- Kimia Hosseini as Somayeh
- Merila Zarei as Miss Ghahraei
- Babak Karimi as judge
Production
The concept of the film came from a number of personal experiences and abstract pictures which had been in Asghar Farhadi's mind for some time. Once he decided to make the film, about a year before it premiered, it was quickly written and financed. Farhadi described the film as the "logical development" from his previous film, About Elly. Like Farhadi's last three films, Nader and Simin, A Separation was made without any government support. The financing went without trouble much thanks to the success of About Elly.[2] The production was granted 25,000 US dollars in support from the Motion Picture Association's APSA Academy Film Fund.[3]
In September 2010, Farhadi was banned from making the film by the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, because of an acceptance speech held during an award ceremony where he expressed support for several Iranian film personalities. Notably he had wished to see returns to Iranian cinema by Mohsen Makhmalbaf, an exile filmmaker and Iranian opposition profile, and the imprisoned political filmmaker Jafar Panahi, both of whom had been connected to the Iranian Green Movement. The ban was lifted in the beginning of October after Farhadi claimed to have been misconceived and apologised for his remarks.[4]
Release
The film premiered on 9 February 2011 at the 29th Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran.[5] Six days later it played in Competition at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival.[6] Farhadi had previously competed at the festival's 2009 edition with About Elly, for which he had received the Silver Bear for Best Director.[4] Distribution rights for the United Kingdom were acquired by Artificial Eye.[7]
Reception
Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter wrote from the Berlinale: "Just when it seemed impossible for Iranian filmmakers to express themselves meaningfully outside the bounds of censorship, Asghar Farhadi's Nader and Simin, A Separation comes along to prove the contrary. Apparently simple on a narrative level yet morally, psychologically and socially complex, it succeeds in bringing Iranian society into focus for in a way few other films have done." Young held forward how Farhadi portrayed Iran's social and religious divisions and complimented the film's craft: "As in all the director's work, the cast is given top consideration and their realistic acting results in unusual depth of characterization. All five main actors stand out sharply in Mahmood Kalari's intimate cinematography. Though the film lasts over two hours, Hayedeh Safiyari's fast-moving editing keeps the action tensely involving from start to finish."[8]
The film won the Fajr Film Festival's Crystal Simorghs for Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematographer and Best Sound Recorder. It also received the Audience Favourite Film award.[9] It won the top award, the Golden Bear for Best Film, at the Berlin Film Festival. The actress ensemble received the Silver Bear for Best Actress, and the actor ensemble the Silver Bear for Best Actor. In addition it received the Competition Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and the Berliner Morgenpost Readers' Prize.[10] Isabella Rossellini, the Jury president of the Berlin Festival, said that the choice of Farhadi's film for the Golden Bear was "pretty unanimous."[1] Farhadi commented that he never would have thought he would win the Golden Bear, and that the film's victory offered "a very good opportunity to think of the people of my country, the country I grew up in, the country where I learned my stories - a great people".[11]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Iranian Film Takes Top Prize at Berlinale". 2011-02-19. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
- ^ Wiseman, Andreas (2011-02-18). "One on One: Asghar Farhadi". Screen Daily. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
- ^ Staff writer (2011-02-04). "Berlin debut for MPA & APSA supported Iranian film". BusinessofCinema.com. Join The Dots Media. Retrieved 2011-02-17.
- ^ a b Yong, William (2010-10-04). "Iran Lifts Ban on Director, Saying He Issued an Apology". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-02-17.
- ^ Staff writer (2011-02-12). "'Nader and Simin' people's choice so far at Fajr festival". Tehran Times. Retrieved 2011-02-17.
- ^ "Competition: Jodaeiye Nader az Simin". berlinale.de. Berlin International Film Festival. Retrieved 2011-02-17.
- ^ Hopewell, John; Keslassy, Elsa (2011-02-11). "'Nader and Simin' sells to top territories". Variety. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
- ^ Young, Deborah (2011-02-15). "Nader and Simin, A Separation: Berlin Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2011-02-17.
- ^ Staff writer (2011-02-19). "'Crime' crowned best film of Fajr festival". Tehran Times. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
- ^ "The Awards / Die Preise" (PDF). Berlinale.de. Berlin International Film Festival. 2011-02-19. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
- ^ "Nader and Simin: A Separation wins Berlin Golden Bear". 2011-02-20. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
External links
- A Separation at IMDb