In a land where,
acting is categorized as a decadent cultural practice; actors are forced to unreasonable
conformity and women actors follow the Islamist edict of maintaining the
stringent code of conduct; it is an avant-garde to make cinema portraying real
Iran.
Iran’s film industry
is known for its strife against the fundamentalism and the ever-changing decree
related to the depiction of women affairs in films. It is astonishing to see
that in a nation which is still driven by religious fanaticism, filmmakers are
attempting to make remarkable films conforming to the obstinate laws that
govern it.
Iran as a nation has
frequently witnessed movements related to women rights. Cinema seems to be a
practice; especially a respite to the prevalent rules that demarcate women’s
existence. If we observe; the recent times have made cinema a yardstick to
measure the social, political, cultural and economical progress in Iran. The
filmmakers through their innovative depiction and portrayal of realism in an innocuous
manner have made their voices heard, and also at the same time kept the moral
watchdogs at bay.
Women characters on
screen are evidently entangled between the intertwining state regulations and
socio-cultural limitations. If we look at the history of women actors in Iran;
theirs is the most deplorable position. The societal norms albeit stern and
contentious; filmmakers are driven more by a strong passion, to make cinema a
medium to voice their apprehensions in the muddled state.
Even today, the appearance
of uncovered women on screen is strictly forbidden. A woman’s interaction with
men other than husband, father, brother and son is not allowed. Under this
overbearing religious dogma, making a full length cinema featuring women is a
difficult job. The filmmakers’ skills lie in following a non-confrontational
narrative style of expression. Female characters were however bound by the
persisting religious and social demands. Their characters are restricted to
secondary roles. Even through the
secondary characters; mainly that of mothers, sisters and wives and women, they
were unable to depict their part realistically, owing to decree that limit
their interaction with the opposite sex. Even the slightest idea of suggestive
sexual attraction was considered decadent and threatening; and hence got
omitted in most of the cases.
A Separation
A Separation by Asghar
Farhadi is winning rave reviews across the globe. The film which
portrays the predicament of a middle class Iranian family at the verge of
annulment has won immense acclaim and prestigious recognitions from critics and
viewers alike. The latest achievement to the films credit is the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film 2012.
The film is a representation of the conflicts between hope
and the dismay that clouds the present life of the lead characters. It begins with
a colossal disappointment in the marital life of two young middle class
Iranians, Nader and Simin. It is a stark imagery of the current social,
economical, and cultural scenario in Iran.
Simin bears the responsibility of
the well being of the family and wants them to move out of Iran to
provide a bright future to her 12 year old daughter Teremeh. Her husband,
Nader, disapproves the idea of fleeing Iran for a better place; he reasons his
disapproval of the flight with the degenerating condition of his old father
afflicted by Alzheimers. The couple separates; leaving the daughters life in a disjointed
situation.
A Separation implicitly depicts the abject realities of life.
The gulf that divides the privileged and the underprivileged is shown in the
light of a disagreement. Simin while leaving her husband’s home hires a home
maid, Razieh who is 3 months pregnant, to take care of her husband’s home,
which also has his ailing father, and their daughter. On Razieh’s first day at
Nader’s house; she is duty-bound to clean the old man who urinated in his
pants. Before cleaning the old man, Razieh – perplexed and apprehensive, like
any other woman would have been in her position; calls up a cleric, to confirm
whether if it was unlawful of her to clean a “na-mahram”(a man other than,
husband, brother, father and son). This particular scene evokes the moral
dilemma during the time of adversity; the film has several scenes, where we
come across the confrontation between the two impossible choices - between
religious ethics and humanism. As the film progresses, a certain unpleasant
event compels Nader to push the home maid out of the house, causing an injury
that results in an abortion. This results in a chain of events. The film is an
intense narrative, which needs the viewers full focus to decipher the intricacies that
this (if I can call it) thriller poses.
The major themes in the film are family loyalty, religion,
economical inequality, migration, class division, and troubled-relations. The
film also in a way satirizes the much debated “veiling of women”. It subtly evokes
the irrationality behind the dress code, and this is pretty evident when the
protagonist claims his ignorance to the fact that the home maid was pregnant,
and this he attributes to the
chador(fabric
to cover the body, similar to purdah), which makes it difficult to determine the physical traits of a pregnant woman. The Koran is a re-occurring aspect, as the
victim of the crime is a deeply religious woman, who experiences a conflict
between moral imperatives at various junctures in the film.
Farhadi’s A Separation,
doesn’t boast of technical brilliance or a phenomenal cinematography, as most of
the film seems to be shot under hand held cameras. The unsteadiness of the
shots particularly adds to the mystifying effect that this intense film exudes.
All the actors have been exceptionally gifted when it came
to depicting their complex yet realistic characters with ease and utmost
conviction.
Rating: 3.5/5
* The introduction is the result of my extensive reading
about Iran and this is my first Iranian film. Gratitude to my MA program, I am
glad that they prescribed Reading Lolita in
Tehran by Azar Nafisi, as it has made me perceptive to women centric issues.
The major themes in the film are family loyalty, religion,
economical inequality, migration, class division, and troubled-relations. The
film also in a way satirizes the much debated “veiling of women”. It subtly evokes
the irrationality behind the dress code, and this is pretty evident when the
protagonist claims his ignorance to the fact that the home maid was pregnant,
and this he attributes to the chador(fabric
to cover the body, similar to purdah), which makes it difficult to determine the physical traits of a pregnant woman. The Koran is a re-occurring aspect, as the
victim of the crime is a deeply religious woman, who experiences a conflict
between moral imperatives at various junctures in the film. 
Another major lead is Bérénice Bejo, a surprisingly
refreshing performance. Bejo lives through Peppy Miller, a young dancer who
admires Valentine to an extent that she harbors a certain platonic love for the aging
superstar. The chemistry between Djuardin and Bejo is startling. Bejo adeptly
pulls off both the diva Peppy Miller, as well as the aspirant young dancer; who
sashays with exuberance. Both the leads render and endearing performance, their
light-hearted camaraderie on the screen is invigorating. The surprise package
in the film is the amazingly adorable dog, Uggie, whose frolics add to the feel
good factor of the film.
