Kaveh Mousavi’s Top 10 Iranian Films

4. A Separation (2011) – Asghar Farhadi

So we have come to the most famous Iranian film of all time. Our only Oscar winner, the one which has garnered more awards than any other movie, and the one that sold the most tickets abroad. The late Roger Ebert chose it as his best movie of 2011. The critics loved it, giving it 99% on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s the film that propelled Farhadi to international stardom. In short, this is Iran’s most successful film in the international market. And it deserves the success.

A Separation tells the story of couple who might or might not be in the process of a divorce.  Their lives are complicated by a mishap which leads to the miscarriage of a working class woman, for which the protagonist may or may not be responsible. It’s a movie about uncertainty, whether uncertainty about reality or uncertainty about morality. Many have described the film as a morality tale, but to me it is more an examination of the nuances and complexities of our moral choices.

A lot has been said about this film. I don’t have much to add, but if you haven’t watched this film, make sure you do.