Jodaí-e Nadér az Simín (A Separation)
2011
****½
Director: Asghar Farhadi
Cast: Leila Hatami, Peyman Moaadi, Shahab Hosseini, Sareh Bayat, Sarina Farhadi, Ali-Asghar Shahbazi, Shirin Yazdanbakhsh
This terrific Iranian drama shows how a rather amiable separation ends up having devastating ripple effects. Simin wants her family to leave the country, but her husband Nader refuses to abandon his Alzheimer's-stricken father. The couple's 11-year-old daughter and the father's new caretaker and her family find themselves caught in the middle. This sharply scripted film provides an eye-opening view to life in present day Iran, but its dissection of humanity, morality, religion, truth and justice is universal. Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film.
