Review of A Separation (2011) by Geoffrey T — 25 Aug 2012

I watched this movie like three days ago, but it was so brilliant that I was afraid I would write a raving, barely intelligible review praising it and compromising whatever credibility I have. I still cannot write that calm review I thought I could, and I think that speaks to the quality of this film, A Separation.

This film admires complexity, and once you see it you'll recognize how much of an understatement that is. Never have I seen a film paint such an elegant web of catastrophe coming from good intentions as I have with this film.

Every character rightly deserves some combination of justice and blame in this film. No one is culpable, or everyone is. No one is innocent, or everyone is. Because of this quality, and the continuing complexity of the story, I was completely engaged by A Separation.

It feels like a thriller, but in reality it's a richly layered drama about people, culture, and understanding. It takes a massively disruptive problem in culture and shows the personal effects of it.

A Separation is not preachy: in fact, it knows that there aren't many answers to the questions it proposes. But that's why it's so compelling, and so necessary. As difficult a picture of the complicated world this film paints, I'm thrilled that in reaction to that world we have films like this that change our perspectives, and our lives.