Maggie Hill

HONR 3702 Film

Julie Hicks
24 March 2015
A Separation Response
The 2011 Iran film A Separation, directed by Asghar Farhadi, tells the story of the
interactions between two Iranian families from different classes. After viewing this movie, it is
no surprise that it won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2012. This film
offers viewers an insight into the judicial system of Iran. Asghar Farhadi does an excellent job of
using this film to give the world an accurate view of part of Irans culture and society.
A Separation contains many different types of separations other than the obvious one of
Simin and Nader. One of these separations is the separation between the social classes. This is
illustrated by Simin and Naders family and Razieh and Hoijats family. Simin and Naders
family is middle class. This is evident by their house. They have items that appear to be from all
over the world and they have fancier appliances, such as a dishwasher and a refrigerator with an
ice dispenser on the door. Both Simin and Nader work jobs. Simin is a teacher and Nader works
at a bank. Razieh and Hoijats family is lower class on the other hand. Their house is not as nice
as Simin and Naders is. The kitchen is dingy and the living room barely has any furniture. This
class is marked by their high illiteracy rate, performance of manual labor, and generally
marginal existence (Social). Razieh and Hoijat fit the profile of a typical member of the lower
class in Iran. Razieh has to take a job doing manual labor taking care of Naders father even
though she is pregnant and has Somayeh with her. This separation between the classes causes
many other separations for the characters. For example, Termeh and Somayeh have very
different childhoods because of their social classes. Somayeh has to go to work with her mother

and face all the hardships that Razieh faces. Termeh on the other hand goes to school during the
day and even has a tutor to help her. In Iran, education is compulsory between the ages of 6 and
11 (Avery). Seeing how serious Termeh is about her studies and how much her parents care and
are able to provide for her, she will probably be able to continue her education past this though.
Somayeh might not get this opportunity though since she is from the lower class.
Another separation is the one between Termeh and her parents. After Simin and Nader get
divorced in the opening scene, they spend the rest of the film trying to use her against the other
one. This causes major strains in her relationships with them. Her relationship with her father is
further damaged when she lies for him to the judge. She is upset at him for causing her to be
untruthful. Not only is Termeh emotionally separated from her parents but she is also physically
separated from them. Termeh lives with Nader for most of the film while Simin lives with her
parents. At the end of the film, Termeh is forced to choose which parent she wants to live with
after the divorce. This means that no matter which parent she chooses, she will always be
separated from the other one.
Lastly, many physical separations exist in the film. Simin and Naders house has many
windows, doors, and walls that are featured in important scenes in the film. For example, when
Simin first leaves towards the beginning of the film, Termeh and Nader are shown watching
Simin leave through windows in the house. This physical barrier between them represents the
emotional barriers and separations that are occurring between the characters. When Nader throws
Razieh out of the house in the controversial scene, he is closing the door between them. Again,
he is creating a physical barrier that illustrates the misunderstanding and separation that is about
to happen. In the last scene, Simin and Nader are waiting in the hall for Termeh to tell the judge
which parent she wants to live with after the divorce. Instead of standing or sitting together,

Simin walks through a doorway and stands on one side of a window while Nader stands across
the hallway on the other side of it. This physical separation shows how the two characters are
completely separated and no longer have the close relationship that they once had.
The legal system of Iran as presented in the film is very different from the legal system of
the United States. It appears to be very easy to file a complaint against someone. In Iran, there is
no jury for court cases. This leaves the judges with a lot of power. In order to be a judge, the
person has to have received a higher education in Islamic Law (Sial). The judge in the film did
not seem to be someone like this. He gave off the impression that he did not care much about his
job and that he just wanted to have the case finished as quickly as possible. He became angry
easily and sometimes did not fully listen to what the people had to say. Furthermore, the legal
system in Iran does not appear to be very respected by the society. For example, at first Ms.
Qahraei, who is Termehs tutor, asks Simin what she is supposed to say to the judge. She does
not care about the telling the truth to the judge. This trend of lying to the judge and not caring
that the true story is not being told continues among the characters throughout the movie.
Overall, justice was not served for the cases presented in the film. Simin and Naders family
gave settlement money to Razieh and Hoijats family to protect their family without even
knowing the real truth. In addition, Razieh did not have to somehow pay for what she did to
Naders father. The legal system did not end up doing anything about either case in this film.
Before watching this film, I had the stereotypical view of Iran. I thought of it as a country
that is constantly fighting or involved in a war in some way and that has a society where women
are oppressed. Watching this film provided me with a different insight into Iran. Similar to most
countries, Iran has different classes. This is shown through the two different families in the film.
Similarly, the women in Iran are not as oppressed as I thought they were. The Iran presented in

the film reminded me of most other countries. It has a diverse culture and population.
Furthermore, the fact that there is not a separation of church and state was evident to me through
the film. Overall, after watching this film, I now have a better idea of Iran. It is really not that
different from other countries.
I liked A Separation. I found the film to be entertaining and informative. I had a different
idea of what Iran is like in my mind before this film, so I really enjoyed learning about this view
of it. The storyline of the film was also very entertaining and kept the audience intrigued since
they did not know what the truth was and who was telling it. This causes viewers to really focus
on the unfolding plot. Furthermore, I found all of the different types of interactions between the
characters to be interesting.
The first article for this week explains how divorce rates in Iran are increasing and the
effects of this on their society. For example, the Iran holiday that is usually referred to as
Marriage Day has been renamed this year to No Divorce Day because the justice minister
decreed that no divorce permits are going to be issued on this day. This decree is due to the fact
that from 2000 to 2010, the number of divorces each year has tripled from 50,000 to 150,000.
Surprisingly, this change is from the women having an increasing willingness to try to escape
undesirable marriages by manipulating the legal system. Not only are divorces becoming more
common than marriages for some lawyers in parts of Iran but marriages are also failing a lot
earlier than they used to. This increasing trend is causing many officials in Iran to be concerned
and is being referred to as a national threat. Most experts though agree that this increase is due to
women beginning to challenge Irans traditional attitudes towards their place in society. For
example, at Irans universities women are now outnumbering men almost two to one. Despite the

increase in divorces though, women still face an uneven playing field causing them to have to
use their legal right to a mehrieh as a leveraging tool.
The second article discusses the recent situation with Irans nuclear program and the talks
that are occurring about it. The current clash is over the Iranian demand that the United Nations
suspend its sanctions on oil exports and financial transactions if Iran complies with the other
demands, such as having to ship large portions of its uranium stockpile to other countries and
keeping only around 6,500 of its centrifuges. Another contentious feature of the deal is the length
of time the deal should last. Congress is arguing that if it is an executive agreement, it will not be
legally binding on future presidents. Mr. Kerry and the White House though are arguing that
future presidents are unlikely to try to rescind the accord. Many are worried that if the sanctions
are lifted, Iran would be free to continue research on high-technology goods that could be used to
build a weapon. The current nuclear power in the Middle East is Israel, so if Iran was to gain
nuclear power, it would disrupt the balance of the Middle East.

Works Cited
1. Avery, Peter William. Iran. Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 20
Aug. 2014. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.
2. Sial, Omar. UPDATE: A Guide to the Legal System of the Islamic republic of Iran.
Hauser Global Law School Program. Hauser Global Law School Program New York
University School of Law, Feb. 2011. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.
3. Social Class. Country Studies. U.S. Library of Congress, n.d.. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.