One separation, multiple contradictions

Kayla 2022-03-20 09:01:30

The beginning of the film is a long shot of a male and female protagonist arguing in front of a judge, and the end of the film is a long shot of a male and female protagonist sitting on a chair with a broken glass and waiting for his daughter's choice. At the beginning, it ended with "Separation", a separation once, a separation for a lifetime, "Separation" runs through the main thread of the whole movie, not only between husband and wife, but also between father and son, class relations, selfish desires and religious morals, relationship between citizens and the state. The plot of the whole film is intricately linked, but behind the story, it reveals various contradictions between people and themselves, between people, and between people and society.

The contradiction between man and himself
is a struggle between belief and selfishness, altruism and selfishness. Their beliefs come from their loyalty to Islam. The most sacred thing in the film is to swear by the Koran. Ryze's conflict is mainly about whether to tell the truth about her miscarriage. If she chooses to keep silent, then she can get compensation, but if she tells the truth - she miscarried because she was hit by a car, Then she will get nothing. For Nader, his struggles come mainly from saying he already knew Ryze was pregnant. If he tells the truth, he will be punished by the law, he will be imprisoned for 3 years, and he will not be able to take care of his daughter and father with dementia, but if he hides the truth, he will be disloyal to his faith.
What is worth noting in the film is that the struggle of different characters, and the final choice made is to give up selfish desires, under the belief of Islam, to redeem themselves and avoid others from being punished, which makes the film full of the power of human nature towards goodness.
At the same time, it is worth noting that Ryze chose to hide the truth of her miscarriage from the beginning, ignoring the law, ignoring morality, and finally collapsed when she was about to swear by the Quran, which brought the truth to light. As can be seen from the film, religious belief is far greater than legal and moral power, and religious power plays a leading role in people's hearts, and its status cannot be shaken.

conflict between people
This contradiction is a conflict of values ​​and a crisis of trust. This kind of contradiction comes from the conflict between different social classes. The Nader family of the middle class has a house and a car and can afford to hire them; while the Richie of the lower class has to work as a maid even if she is pregnant due to family debt. , this disparity between the rich and the poor leads to a crisis of trust among the characters. The second is the contradiction between the same class. Westminster chose to leave Iran to give his children a better life, while Nader chose to stay, take care of his dementia father, and choose his daughter to receive education in his own country. The conflict led to a divorce between the husband and wife.
These contradictions just expose the problems of Iranian society. The characters of different classes in the film have different final endings in the events - the Nader family of the middle class seems to be at fault, while the Reiz family of the lower class is repenting and revealing The middle class is superior to the lower class; the contradiction between Nader and Westminster always shows the sense of male sovereignty, and Nader's education for his daughter always leads her actions in the name of letting her choose freely, exposing the severity of male dominance in the family.

The contradiction between man and society
is a reflection on the social environment. The film is based on the real event of divorce, which reflects people's loyalty and belief in Islam and respect for local traditional customs, but isn't this a restraint? Nader's conservative thinking made him think that men must be dominant, and Ryze was so restrained that he did not dare to let her husband know about her being a maid. At the end of the film, we are waiting for the daughter's choice, but in the end we can't know whether the daughter's final choice is to continue to be conservative or choose to escape. This kind of contradiction is left to the next generation to deal with.

The film kicked off with a divorce incident, revealing a variety of problems in Iran, one separation, multiple contradictions, and where to go in the end, which is worth pondering.

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Extended Reading
  • Jordane 2022-03-22 09:01:31

    I was so uncomfortable watching Emma's movie. I was so aggrieved that I wanted to cry but couldn't cry. At the end, I almost suffocated. Everyone struggling in the quagmire of life is too real, too humble, trying their best to live an ordinary life with their relatives, who can tell us what we have done wrong?

  • Emilia 2022-04-24 07:01:04

    Four and a half stars

A Separation quotes

  • Simin: He

    [Nader's Father]

    Simin: doesn't even know who you are.

    Nader: He does not know me but i know that he is my father.

  • Nader: Don't you ever think why you wanna leave this country? 'Cause every time you face a trouble, you give in. Rather than confront it.

    Simin: Sorry, it hasn't been a week since I left, and look what happened!