What happens in the doorway doesn't stay in the doorway in Asgar Farhadi's A Separation
RC-2013-101: A Separation (2011)



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I've decided that a great way to start 2013 is with what I regarded as the best movie of 2011—Asgar Farhadi's A Separation. Throughout the commentary, I attempt to stop myself from gushing about such a fantastic work of art, and fail miserably. With hardly a bad word to say about Farhadi's pre-classic masterpiece, I fall back on cinema geekery. I attempt to situate the movie within the larger context of Iranian movies, providing a sloppy-but-well-meaning crash course in the cinema of that fascinating nation. Ultimately, I seem to conclude that what makes the film work is that it's actually a mystery movie that doesn't tell you it's a mystery movie until there's this huge, yet still somehow understated, reveal that makes you say "Holy cow!" If you don't like this movie, I'm afraid it will be hard for us to remain friends. It's not me; it's you.


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