1200. Jodaí-e Nadér az Simín

Jodaí-e Nadér az Simín
The Separation
2011
Directed by Asghar Farhadi

1200! Thankfully, we get to celebrate with the best movie I have seen in a long time. I watched this at approximately 3:30 am, because that's when my pain alarm clock woke me up. This proved to be a compelling watch that was able to distract me until pain medication kicked in. 

The movie begins with Simin begging a family court judge for a divorce from Nader, who refuses to let her leave Iran with their eleven-year-old daughter Termeh. Nader doesn't want to leave his father, who is suffering from Alzheimer's, and won't agree to Simin taking Termeh away from him. The court denies her request, and deems the couple's problems unworthy of divorce. At this point, I thought this would be a story about an abusive husband, and a woman trapped in a country where she has very little rights. Instead, the plot shifts when Simin moves back in with her parents. Nader needs somebody to look after his ailing father, and employs Razieh, a deeply religious woman, who thinks washing a old man after he peed his pants is a sin. I suppose I will stop there so as not to provide any spoilers.

I think it is important that not every foreign film you watch be some gruesome tale about the local atrocities that took place there. While those stories are clearly important, they dehumanize the people living in those countries to some extent. We start to feel like they aren't really people, but just a collection of tragedies that we are helpless to fix. We get a plot here that doesn't revolve around war crimes, even if it does showcase some horrors of living in Iran.

I was really into this plot and it almost felt like Rashomon, with every character giving their side of the story and keeping the audience guessing. Highly recommended.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

First Iranian movie to win an Oscar. The news of winning was mentioned only once on Iranian television.

Considered by Roger Ebert to be the best movie of 2011.