Nader und Simin - eine Trennung

this is one of the most heart breaking and real movies I have seen this year. you can not leave the movie for even 1 second and characters are such real ones that you start to put yourself in their position and think what would I do? it is a must see movie as Turkish drama lover person i may suggest every drama fan to watch this breath taking real natural real movie. these Iranian people are god's blessings bravo... the actor is like born to act as if he is living his real life. the relationship between daughter and father and wife and husband seem so natural for those who know that culture. I should also add that the performance of the cleaner woman is very satisfactory.

This is the first Iranian film I've seen, and I'm recommending it to every-one I know. It is so well-crafted; the twists of the plot throw up new moral dilemmas for all the protagonists, which are explored sensitively and without judgement - so refreshingly unlike mainstream American films. I felt sympathy for all the characters, even the threatening Hodjat, full of misplaced rage which often erupts volcanically. And as a footnote, the film felt like an intimate view into a society that our news media portray as monochromatic and extremely foreign. (I am writing this a few days after the UK embassy in Tehran was ransacked)

Caught "A Separation" in Amsterdam last night, fully unprepared for its greatness. I hadn't been swept off my feet for a while, but this Iranian Hitchcockian drama sucked us in for 123 minutes and left us very, very impressed.

I'm mainly writing this review to assure every non-Iranian IMDb-reader that you absolutely SHOULD see "A Separation". I will be shocked if this movie doesn't win an Academy Award. The acting is great, and the script is probably the best I've seen in five years. The genius of Asghar Farhadi's story is that it piles on the tension and drama without resorting to fireworks, trickery or shock and awe plot effects. It also manages to perfectly balance the plights of several protagonists. Very few screenwriters have this capacity.

If this movie reminds me of anything, it is "Ladri di Biciclette" (Bicycle Thieves), which has a similar seemingly "simple" story setup. But then "A Separation" is much more developed, much more complex, much richer. Go see it.

Today I had the pleasure of watching A Separation, a foreign film that has been critically-acclaimed for some time now. What we have here is definitely one of the year's best films. Intriguing, captivating, and ambiguous.

I had no idea that this was going to turn out to be some sort of court drama. I just want to first talk about the direction. Farhadi masterfully constructs these characters, and we enter into a state in their lives where we serve as some sort of observant. Even before the actual plot of the film comes along, his tight screenplay and direction leave us trying to astutely observe what is happening around every corner of the frame. We barely know these characters, and yet, tension is arising from the simplest of every-day matters. Why? Why indeed, as it becomes apparent, the film gets more serious in its plot. It is here that the real reason as to why we are observing moments of these characters' lives comes into focus. Questions arise, as to who did what, and who saw what, and who heard this or that. The film takes a neutral ground in all of this, and yet we ourselves can't help but try to memorize even the smallest of details that could perhaps help us out in figuring out the actual truth. The film never judges its characters, which is why we also have to be sort of neutral in all of this, even when we don't want to, even when we think we know what really happened. This is a mystery in the most unusual and most natural way. We are hooked into the film's plot line, and as much as the film won't let us go, we don't want to let go. We want to hang on and catch up with it, and not miss one single beat of what is happening. Such precise and balanced filmmaking.

I do want to take note of the fantastic performances. The entire cast is wonderful, especially the three main leads. Not one single moment is wasted in their portrayals. Overall, this is a near-perfect film, one of the most intriguing and engaging films of the year, and the ending serves entirely to what had come before, and is fully satisfying.

If mainstream cinema leaves you soulless, see this film.

If you have a modicum of intelligence, see this film.

If you like great acting and directing, see this film.

If you like great writing and editing, see this film.

If you have an interest in law, see this film.

If you are a parent, see this film.

A Separation is not harrowing or depressing. Fear not as I did before. If you don't like subtitles, you will forget they are there. Do not read any more detailed reviews. Go without preconception. A Separation deserves all the plaudits it is getting and deserves a much wider audience. Minimalistic and economic, a Separation is one of the finest, most chiselled pieces of cinema of this millennium.