I posted here my favorable comments about the American movie Argo. Josh Larson was not as sanguine. He blogged here that he believed Argo would contribute to American's xenophobia. After reading his piece I continue to believe Argo was a very good film; the negative portrayals of Iranians were mostly linked to the efforts of the Revolutionary Guards and there were sufficient offsetting events, dialogs, and characters to demonstrate that Argo was not anti-Iranian propaganda.
In any event--and here's my primary point--last night we watched the relatively new Iranian film A Separation. Set in contemporary Tehran, the aptly-named A Separation displays the ever-increasing degrees of separation endemic to the human condition. Alzheimer's separates Nader from his father, the burden of caring for his father separates Nader from his wife Simin, and Nader's reckless action separates Nader and Simin from their 11-year old daughter, Termeh as well as the caretaker Nader hired for his father from her unborn child and ultimately her husband. The concluding symbolism of the lengthy shot of the courthouse barriers standing between Nader, Simin, and Termeh was extremely moving.
A Separation was certainly deserving of the several Academy Awards it received this past spring. It is, however, in Farsi with English subtitles. This film forms an appropriate bookend with Argo by showing how life, "even" Iranian life, holds together by the thinnest of threads, and how the virtues of paternal loyalty, love of one's child, and fear of sin are no protection from the vicissitudes of life.
In any event--and here's my primary point--last night we watched the relatively new Iranian film A Separation. Set in contemporary Tehran, the aptly-named A Separation displays the ever-increasing degrees of separation endemic to the human condition. Alzheimer's separates Nader from his father, the burden of caring for his father separates Nader from his wife Simin, and Nader's reckless action separates Nader and Simin from their 11-year old daughter, Termeh as well as the caretaker Nader hired for his father from her unborn child and ultimately her husband. The concluding symbolism of the lengthy shot of the courthouse barriers standing between Nader, Simin, and Termeh was extremely moving.
A Separation was certainly deserving of the several Academy Awards it received this past spring. It is, however, in Farsi with English subtitles. This film forms an appropriate bookend with Argo by showing how life, "even" Iranian life, holds together by the thinnest of threads, and how the virtues of paternal loyalty, love of one's child, and fear of sin are no protection from the vicissitudes of life.
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