Nader and Simin, A Separation

Nader and Simin, A Separation
Nader and Simin, A Separation

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Asghar Farhadi
Produced by Asghar Farhadi
Written by Asghar Farhadi
Starring Leila Hatami
Peyman Moaadi
Shahab Hosseini
Sareh Bayat
Sarina Farhadi
Music by Sattar Oraki
Cinematography Mahmoud Kalari
Editing by Hayedeh Safiyari
Studio Asghar Farhadi
Distributed by Memento Films (worldwide)
Release date(s) 15 February 2011 (2011-02-15) (Berlin Film Festival)
30 December 2011 (2011-12-30) (US)
Running time 123 minutes
Country Iran
Language Persian
Budget $500,000
Box office $3,100,000 (Iran)
$14,908,906 (Abroad)[1]

Nader and Simin, A Separation (Persian: جدایی نادر از سیمین, translit. Jodái-e Náder az Simin) 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.[2] The film is the official Iranian candidate for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards.[3][4]

Contents

Plot

Nader and Simin have been married for fourteen years and live with their eleven-year-old daughter Termeh in Tehran. The family belongs 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. This desire is not shared by Nader. He is concerned for his elderly father, who lives with the family and suffers from Alzheimer's disease. When Nader firmly decides to stay in Iran, Simin files for divorce.

The family court judges the couple's problems not to be grave enough to warrant divorce and rejects Simin's application. Simin then leaves her husband and daughter and moves back in with her parents. On the recommendations of his wife, Nader hires Razieh, a young, pregnant and deeply religious woman from a poor suburb, to take care of his father while he works at a bank. Razieh has applied for the job without consulting her hot-tempered husband Houjat, whose approval, according to tradition, would have been required. Her family is, however, financially dependent on the work, and she takes her daughter to the house with her.

Razieh soon becomes overwhelmed by taking care of Nader's father. On the first day of work, she finds that the old man is incontinent and she phones someone to ask if it would be a sin for her to clean him. Assured that it would be acceptable, she continues in the job, but later hopes to get her husband into the position, without revealing that she herself had worked there initially. Nader interviews Houjat and hires him, but Houjat, who is heavily in debt, is put in jail by his creditors on the day he is due to start - and so Razieh returns to work for Nader.

Whilst Razieh is cleaning, Nader's father wanders out of the apartment. Razieh runs to find him, and sees him from across a busy road, peering down at a newstand. (Although we do not see what happens after Razieh has seen him, later on in the film, we learn that Razieh is hit by a car in an attempt to protect Nader's father from being hit).

The next day, Nader and Termeh return to an empty house. Termeh discovers her grandfather lying unconscious on the floor in his bedroom, with one of his arms tied to the bed. When Razieh returns, an argument ensues between her and Nader, and he throws her out of the apartment, and accuses her of having stolen money from his room (unbeknownst to Nader, Simin was actually shown taking the money in an earlier scene to pay movers). Razieh returns to protest her innocence, and to request her payment for the day's work. Outraged, Nader shoves Razieh out of the apartment. She falls in the stairwell and hurries out of the building. Houjat's sister later calls Simin to inform her that Razieh has suffered a miscarriage and is in hospital.

A court is assigned to determine the cause of the miscarriage and Nader's potential responsibility for it. If it is proved that Nader had knowledge of Razieh's pregnancy and caused the miscarriage by his actions, he will be sentenced to one to three years imprisonment, and much of the film revolves around this issue. Nader accuses Razieh of neglecting his father. The hot-headed and aggressive Houjat physically confronts Nader on several occasions, and threatens him, his family, and Termeh's teacher, who testifies on Nader's behalf. Nader learns from Razieh's young daughter that the reason she was absent the day Nader came home early was because she had gone with Razieh to see a doctor, something that Razieh was adamant about not revealing earlier. This, combined with Houjat's explosive temper causes Nader to wonder if perhaps Houjat is physically abusive to Razieh and possibly the cause of her miscarriage.

Termeh protects her father with a false statement and Simin attempts to arrange a financial deal with Razieh and Houjat, to compensate them for the loss of their unborn child. Nader is initially outraged by Simin's suggestion that they pay off Razieh and Houjat, as Nader feels that it would be a shameful admission of guilt. The morality of all of the characters are called into question as it is revealed that Nader did indeed lie about his knowledge of Razieh's pregnancy, and that Razieh has serious doubts as to whether Nader's actions caused her miscarriage, as she had been hit by a car the day before.

Eventually, everyone--including Houjat's debtors--meets at the home of Razieh and Houjat to consummate the payment. Nader, still wary about the true cause of Razieh's miscarriage (but not knowing about her being struck by a car) writes the cheques and slyly says he will give them to Houjat, under the condition that Razieh swears on the Qur'an that his actions were the cause of her miscarriage. Despite Houjat's desperate urgings, she cannot bring herself to do it, as she believes it will be a sin, and worries about it backfiring and affecting their daughter. Totally dejected, Houjat breaks down, hits himself violently and storms out of his home -- the money is not paid.

Back at the family court, Nader and Simin's separation is made permanent and Termeh is asked to decide whether she wants to live with her mother or her father. Termeh tearfully says that she has made a decision, but requests that the judge ask her parents to wait outside in the hallway before revealing it. Nader and Simin are shown waiting silently and separately in the hallway, and the credits roll before the audience learns of Termeh's decision.

Cast

  • Leila Hatami as Simin
  • Peyman Moaadi as Naader
  • Shahab Hosseini as Houjat
  • 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

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.[5] The production was granted 25,000 US dollars in support from the Motion Picture Association's APSA Academy Film Fund.[6]

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 the return to Iranian cinema by Mohsen Makhmalbaf, an exiled 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 misperceived and apologized for his remarks.[7]

Release

The film premiered on 9 February 2011 at the 29th Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran.[8] Six days later it played in Competition at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival.[9] Farhadi had previously competed at the festival's 2009 edition with About Elly, for which he had received the Silver Bear for Best Director.[7] Nader and Simin, A Separation will be distributed in Iran through Filmiran.[10] Distribution rights for the United Kingdom were acquired by Artificial Eye.[11]

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."[12]

In a hugely positive review from Screen Daily, Lee Marshall wrote: "Showing a control of investigative pacing that recalls classic Hitchcock and a feel for ethical nuance that is all his own, Farhadi has hit upon a story that is not only about men and women, children and parents, justice and religion in today’s Iran, but that raises complex and globally relevant questions of responsibility, of the subjectivity and contingency of ‘telling the truth’, and of how thin the line can be between inflexibility and pride - especially of the male variety - and selfishness and tyranny."[13]

Alissa Simon from Variety called it Farhadi's strongest work yet and described it: "Tense and narratively complex, formally dense and morally challenging... The provocative plot casts a revealing light on contempo Iranian society, taking on issues of gender, class, justice and honor as a secular middle-class family in the midst of upheaval winds up in conflict with an impoverished religious one."[14]

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.[15] It won the top award, the Golden Bear for Best Film, at the Berlinale 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.[16] Isabella Rossellini, the Jury president of the Berlinale Festival, said that the choice of Farhadi's film for the Golden Bear was "pretty unanimous."[2] 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".[17] Ahmad Miralaii, the director of Iran's Farabi Cinematic Foundation, said that "Iranian cinema is proud of the awards", as he welcomed Farhadi at the airport upon the director's return from Berlin.[10]

Awards

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/default.htm?id=aseperation.htm
  2. ^ a b "Iranian Film Takes Top Prize at Berlinale". 2011-02-19. http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,746610,00.html. Retrieved 2011-02-20. 
  3. ^ Staff (2011-09-16). "Iran’s “Nader and Simin” goes for an Oscar". Tehran Times. Retrieved on 2011-09-18.
  4. ^ "63 Countries Vie for 2011 Foreign Language Film Oscar". oscars.org. http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2011/20111013.html. Retrieved 2011-10-14. 
  5. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (2011-02-18). "One on One: Asghar Farhadi". Screen Daily. http://www.screendaily.com/reports/one-on-one/asghar-farhadi/5024047.article. Retrieved 2011-02-19. 
  6. ^ Staff writer (2011-02-04). "Berlin debut for MPA & APSA supported Iranian film". BusinessofCinema.com. Join The Dots Media. http://www.businessofcinema.com/news.php?newsid=17677. Retrieved 2011-02-17. 
  7. ^ a b Yong, William (2010-10-04). "Iran Lifts Ban on Director, Saying He Issued an Apology". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/04/world/middleeast/04iran.html. Retrieved 2011-02-17. 
  8. ^ Staff writer (2011-02-12). "'Nader and Simin' people's choice so far at Fajr festival". Tehran Times. http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=235679. Retrieved 2011-02-17. 
  9. ^ "Competition: Jodaeiye Nader az Simin". berlinale.de. Berlin International Film Festival. http://www.berlinale.de/en/programm/berlinale_programm/datenblatt.php?film_id=20116885. Retrieved 2011-02-17. 
  10. ^ a b Staff writer (2011-02-22). "Asghar Farhadi repeats success at Berlinale". Tehran Times. http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=236215. Retrieved 2011-02-22. 
  11. ^ Hopewell, John; Keslassy, Elsa (2011-02-11). "'Nader and Simin' sells to top territories". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118032604. Retrieved 2011-02-20. 
  12. ^ Young, Deborah (2011-02-15). "Nader and Simin, A Separation: Berlin Review". The Hollywood Reporter. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/nader-simin-a-separation-berlin-99930. Retrieved 2011-02-17. 
  13. ^ Marshall, Lee (2011-02-15). "Nader And Simin - A Separation". Screen Daily. http://www.screendaily.com/reviews/latest-reviews/nader-and-simin-a-separation/5023837.article. Retrieved 2011-10-02. 
  14. ^ Simon, Alissa (2011-02-15). "Nader and Simin, a Separation". Variety (Magazine). http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117944617/. Retrieved 2011-10-02. 
  15. ^ Staff writer (2011-02-19). "'Crime' crowned best film of Fajr festival". Tehran Times. http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=236083. Retrieved 2011-02-19. 
  16. ^ "The Awards / Die Preise". Berlinale.de. Berlin International Film Festival. 2011-02-19. http://www.berlinale.de/media/pdf_word/pm_1/61_berlinale/61_IFB_Awards_2011.pdf. Retrieved 2011-02-20. 
  17. ^ "Nader and Simin: A Separation wins Berlin Golden Bear". BBC News. 2011-02-20. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12518260. Retrieved 2011-02-20. 
  18. ^ "Berlin International Film Festival". http://archiv.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/2011/03_preistrger_2011/03_preistraeger_2011.html. Retrieved 19 November 2011. 
  19. ^ "Durban International Film Festival". http://www.cca.ukzn.ac.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=212%3Aawards-at-diff-2011&catid=30&Itemid=30. Retrieved 19 November 2011. 
  20. ^ "Fajr Film Festival". http://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000747/2011. Retrieved 19 November 2011. 
  21. ^ "Pula Film Festival". http://www.pulafilmfestival.hr/en/index.php?p=list&group=2. Retrieved 19 November 2011. 
  22. ^ "Sydney Film Festival". http://sff.org.au/public/news/2011-sff-official-competition-winner-is/. Retrieved 19 November 2011. 
  23. ^ "Yerevan International Film Festival". http://www.gaiff.am/en/winners/. Retrieved 19 November 2011. 
  24. ^ "World Cinema Amsterdam Festival". http://www.worldcinemaamsterdam.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=542%3Afilms-a-separation-en-porfirio-vallen-in-prijzen&catid=1%3Alatest-news&Itemid=87&lang=nl. Retrieved 19 November 2011. 
  25. ^ "Saint Petersburg International Film Festival". http://en.spbkinoforum.ru/entry/248. Retrieved 19 November 2011. 
  26. ^ "Melbourne International Film Festival". http://miff.com.au/news/322#article322. Retrieved 19 November 2011. 
  27. ^ "Iran Cinema Celebration Awards". http://www.whatsupiran.com/News/Item/83. Retrieved 19 November 2011. 
  28. ^ "San Sebastian International Film Festival". http://www.sansebastianfestival.com/in/pagina.php?ano=2011&ap=1&id=2651. Retrieved 19 November 2011. 
  29. ^ "Fukuoka International Film Festival". http://www.focus-on-asia.com/english/news/index.html. Retrieved 19 November 2011. 
  30. ^ "Riga International Film Festival". http://arsenals.lv/en/a/12191. Retrieved 19 November 2011. 
  31. ^ John Mackie (2011-10-15). "Nuit #1 is festival's No. 1". Vancouver Sun. http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Nuit+festival/5555577/story.html. Retrieved 2011-10-16. 
  32. ^ "BBC Four World Cinema Awards". http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008z086. Retrieved 19 November 2011. 

External links

v · d · eGolden Bear-winning films – 2000–present

Magnolia (2000) · Intimacy (2001) · Spirited Away (2002) · Bloody Sunday (2002) · In This World (2003) · Head-On (2004) · U-Carmen eKhayelitsha (2005) · Grbavica (2006) · Tuya's Marriage (2007) · The Elite Squad (2008) · The Milk of Sorrow (2009) · Honey (2010) · Nader and Simin, A Separation (2011)

Complete List · (1951–1959) · (1960–1979) · (1980–1999) · (2000–present)

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