A Separation
UA Court Street, April 4, 2012
Movie #17 for 2012
A Separation is basically a family drama with the sensibility of a thriller. Revelation after tiny revelation mounts tension upon tension until nobody is what they seem to be.
Simin (LEILA HATAMI) wants to immigrate to America, but her husband Nadir (PEYMAN MOYADI, pictured) won’t leave his elderly father in Iran. They are at an impasse, and so decide to separate. This is the event that seems to spin out a series of increasingly unfortunate circumstances and increasingly desperate actions, involving their daughter Termeh, their housekeeper and the housekeeper’s husband.
The writing and performances are so subtle and so very well done that every new scene is a shaft of light exposing something in the characters that feels both shockingly revelatory and known at the same time.
It’s about as good a character-based story as I’ve seen.
