Iranian cinema has come a long way in the past several years, thanks to the decades-long success of directors like Abbas Kiarostami (whom Jean-Luc Godard has high praise for) and Academy Award-winning Asghar Farhadi. The director is back Cannes Film Festival, with his newest, “The Salesman,” screening today, but it was 2011’s “A Separation” that first put him on the international circuit.
READ MORE: Cannes: 3 Clips And New Images From Asghar Farhadi’s ‘The Salesman’
Farhadi’s film focuses on the titular rift between a couple married for nearly fifteen years, who have a young daughter. They are on the verge of divorcing because Simin (Leila Hatami) wants a better life for their family outside of their current living conditions, but Nader (Peyman Moaadi) refuses to move because his father is ill. After being refused a legal separation, Simin moves out anyway, and convinces her husband to hire help to take care of his father.
In a new video essay from Digging Deeper, they take a look at the symbolism inside Farhadi’s film, and how everything from scene selection, shots, and color schemes are based on two Iranian movements, 1963’s White Revolution, and 2009’s Green Revolution. A dialogue-driven film with equal weight for each character, Farhadi uses these motifs to exemplify the differences in class in a socially and economically defective world. The influence of the revolutionary ideology is evident in scenery and clothing; a green background in Simin and Nader’s kitchen, which is typically scene in literature as a symbol of feminine oppression, this time represents the room where women fight back — a symbol of the Green revolution.
An array of shots in which the female characters are shot behind glass or mirrors (a technique also used in Todd Haynes’ “Carol”) represents the barrier between the sexes, and keeps the quarrelling characters apart amidst their numerous falling outs.
“A Separation” is a film with myriad perspectives, all waiting to be seen and interpreted, stressing the need for benevolence and understanding in our muddled, crazy world. What the video essay above.
