A Separation: Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

ABSTRACT

A Separation is the 2011 award-winning film by Iranian writer-director Asghar Farhadi. Set in modern-day Tehran, the film is about an upper-middle class couple who are separating after 14 years of marriage. The filmmaker gives a nuanced portrayal of the complex dynamics in this family and, in particular, how the struggles of the adults painfully affect their 11-year old daughter, Termeh. A Separation is not formally told through the eyes of the child, however, the film’s action and visual impact create in the audience a set of intense emotional reactions which powerfully convey Termeh’s internal upheaval.

Notes

1. It is Farhadi’s 5^th feature film, probably his best film to date, and the one that brought him international fame. It won Oscars for Best Foreign Film and Best Original Screenplay in 2011 and, in the same year, Golden Bear for Best Film at the Berlin Film Festival.

2. Although there is less divorce in Iran than in the United States, about 20% of married Iranian couples divorce, and this statistic has been rapidly increasing in the last two decades, (Dehghanpisheh 2014).

3. Under Iranian law, men have traditionally been favored. They are usually given custody of their children. While a man does not have to prove cause to end a marriage, a woman must have her husband’s consent to divorce, or she needs to prove that he is unfit (Yong 2010).

4. He has made films both inside and outside Iran.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Judith A. Yanof

Judith A. Yanof, M.D. is a Training and Supervising Analyst and Child Supervisor at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute.