After Simin (Leila Hatami) leaves her husband Nader (Payman Maadi), he must hire someone to take care of his senile father. Then things get complicated...
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In The West, all we really get to see of Iran is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denying the Holocaust and claiming that his country has no homosexuals. No wonder so many in this country fear Iran. When the person representing your nation to the world is a madman, it stands to reason others nations will view its citizenry as equally mad. Don't you remember the Bush years? Going simply by the title A Separation, you might assumed that this would be simply a film about divorce. When I sat down to watch it, I was expecting little more than an Iranian Kramer vs Kramer. Though still very much about a divorce, it gradually becomes a film about class, religion, gender, responsibility, family, love and guilt. It gives Western viewers an eye-opening look into a world they so rarely get to see. I want to show this film to that substantial portion of America that is in favor of war with Iran. I want them to see that it is a country filled with human beings. Human beings who laugh, cry, love and hate. Human beings who just want to live their lives. This is what truly great cinema can do. Truly great cinema has the power to generate empathy, all within the span of two hours.
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