Is it a sin? Razieh makes an anxious phone call to get advice. In modern day Iran, one imagines that there is a 24-hour Imam advice service for just this situation. One call is all you need to protect your place in Heaven.
Razieh’s problem is a tragic one: The elderly man she’s been hired to watch over has soiled himself and is not capable of changing clothes. Razieh’s dilemma is whether she can help the old man change without violating the Quoran and the principles of Islam. This small scene in the peerless Iranian film “A Separation” points up one of the key conflicts driving the powerful narrative forward. What is a sin? What is right? When is it okay to lie? All these questions swirl in a movie that might possibly be the best foreign language film at this year’s Academy Awards.
“A Separation” begins with a brilliant opening sequence. Married couple Nader (Peyman Maadi) and Simin (Leila Hatami) appear before some unseen authority (probably the immigration board) to resolve a conflict between them. Simin wants to leave Iran and take the couple’s child with her. She would prefer that Nader leave too, but if he won’t come, she will divorce him. Their daughter, Termeh (Sarina Farhadi), is caught in the middle. She decides to stay with Nader forcing Simin to remain as well. Nader has a good reason to stay—his elderly father is suffering from Alzheimer’s and has no one to look after him. It is an impossible situation that becomes even more impossible when Nader gets accused of murder.
Murder? Well it is complicated. When Simin files for divorce and moves out of the marital residence, Nader is forced to hire Razieh (Sareh Bayat) to watch after his disabled father. Razieh is pregnant and after a heated argument with Nader has a miscarriage. She and her husband then go to the authorities and feticide charges are brought against Nader. Is Nader guilty? What might Razieh be hiding? The mystery is one that is constantly shifting. Worsening things is the informal Iranian justice system and Simin’s divided loyalties. Does Simin want Nader to be convicted so she can take her daughter and leave Iran?
The power of “A Separation” is that it is a slow moving, patient tale that trades marvelously on the matter of fact frustration of a real life conflict. The deliberate story telling is an asset and the setting and cultural practices fascinating. At times, the frustration experienced by the characters is so authentic that it is almost unbearable. And it is not as if we in the audience can offer up easy answers, because there isn’t a quick fix. Nader’s motivations for staying in Iran are honorable. Simin’s reasons for wanting to leave are equally commendable. A tough decision looms and is the 800-pound gorilla throughout the entire film.
Iran may be foreign in almost every way to most people here in the States, but the marital strife displayed on screen is universal. Nader and Simin are one hip, good-looking couple. Iran is depicted as a civil place rooted in its cultural rules. Not having been to Iran, my understanding of life in that country has been shaped by the images of the smiling Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad as he campaigns for a nuclear program. His sometimes clownish persona is certainly not a good example for his country. In “A Separation” we get a glimpse into another side of Iran, one that may still be foreign and frustrating, but a place where there is a rule of law and people do know what is right, when lies make things worse, and where people grapple with universal family discord.
Note that in addition to being nominated for Best Foreign Language Film “A Separation,” which opens here in Atlanta this weekend, is nominated for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, a first for Iran.