A Separation is the fifth film from writer director Asghar Farhadi and is the first Iranian film to win the Golden Bear at the Berlin film festival. Within the premise of divorce / manslaughter court cases, Farhadi has crafted an incredibly affecting dramatic piece of work.
The ensemble cast won the major acting awards at Berlin at it is clear why. Each character is brought vividly to life through performances of command and subtlety. Sarina Farhadi as Termeh is especially effective as the young girl trapped in the middle of the adult troubles. The realism and effectiveness of the characters can be attributed to the incredible script. Farhadi has a talent for scripting scenes of incredible power without crossing the line into melodrama. The situation that unfolds throughout the film is extraordinary, but always develops organically. Yet the real achievement here is how the film refuses to comprise. The audience is never offered an easy way out and are forced to make difficult decisions on the events unfolding and the morals of the characters. This is even harder considering the characters all make decisions that seem reasonable and relatable and both right and wrong. In essence, human decisions.
This is surely one of the best films on release at the moment and possibly one of the better of 2011.
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