Hello everyone!
Sorry for the long wait but I have a full time job now (one that I love) and I haven't been able to get over here to critique or blog at all since the last post. [Duh.] Anyways, here's another review! Going along with the trend, this critique is for "A Separation", released December 30, 2011.
0/5 – No value whatsoever. Absolute waste of time.
1/5 – Barely worth any time.
2/5 – Pathetic but has a bit of something to hold the attention a little.
3/5 – Somewhat kept the attention but could definitely have used more.
4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.
5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful moving all around – characters, music, theme, storyline, etc.
A Separation
This is a foreign-language film. Set in "modern Iran" (according to the description of the movie). I did not know this right away when I started watching this, since it does not say it in the subtitles though it is implied through references to Arabic, the Qu'aran, and the Middle Eastern culture of women's attire.
I watched the movie in the original language - Persian?! That's what Wikipedia says that it was. Huh. Anyways, Persian with English subtitles. I like the language and how it flows out of the characters' mouths [linguistic at heart]. It kinda hurt my eyes to watch the subtitles and the movie at the same time, especially since it was not a language that I am familiar with, but I liked the language.
It was about two Iranians getting a divorce (Simin [female] and Nader [male]). Nader didn't want to leave the country because he had to take care of his father with Alzheimer's though Simin wanted to take their daughter Termeh away from there. With Simin out of the house, Nader finds a caretaker for his father. However, things go downhill when grandpa goes out for a walk (without remembering what was going on and almost getting hit by a car!), the caretaker starts feeling unwell, Nader finding the caretaker tied grandpa to a bed so she could step out for a bit, Nader and the caretaker getting into a heated debate, and the caretaker miscarrying her second child. Charges of murder, lying, theft, etcetera occur after this fiasco and it really heats up from there.
It was a very interesting movie and I'm glad I got to hear that language (Persian, really?) through the video. It was a slow starter, esp for nowadays, but after the first hour, it picks up. After trying four times to watch this movie, I finally was able to sit down and finish it. I cried at times, I cringed, I gasped, and all that. The ending was a let down because it didn't tie things off but then again, it was a realistic movie with realistic situations.
I give this movie a 3.5/5 - had a hard time catching my attention; didn't give the conclusive ending I was hoping for. A decent movie. I guess I didn't like it as much as the big-time critiques liked it :-P.
{Viewed 10/13/12}
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