Green Grey Reality

 Green Grey Reality

Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation (2011) is an intense and immersive experience within the world of New Wave Iranian cinema. Focused on opposing family dynamics and economic status, the themes of the film revolve around the characters’ decaying relationships. Nader (Payman Maadi) and Simin (Leila Hatami) are teetering on the edge of a traumatic divorce, and their daughter Termeh (Sirina Farhadi) is caught in the middle. Nader’s father is in the declining stages of Alzheimer’s Disease and requires a caretaker, so Nader hires Razieh (Sareh Bayat), a woman from a highly religious yet impoverished household. When conflict arises after Razieh leaves Nader’s father tied to his bed unattended, the families must come to an agreement or face separating their lives even further. 

 

© Filmiran, Sony Pictures Classics 

The film begins with a drab room, Nader and Simin sitting pensive, waiting for their turn to speak. The judge, who we never see, is asking the unhappy couple questions about the reason for divorce. The greenish-gray tones embedded in the walls of the room and the character’s clothing, and the slightly shaky camera as if we’re looking directly from the judge’s gaze, makes it feel almost like a documentary, or even a shockingly well-acted reality TV episode. The argument that ensues captures all the ugly realness of divorce and directly parallels the even more heartbreaking ending. 

Part of the reason this film is considered a cornerstone of New Wave Iranian cinema is the focus on class and opposing family dynamics. Nader and Simin are decently well off, live in a fairly large apartment, and aren’t very strict in their religious beliefs. Razieh is from a clearly lower class yet deeply religious household, as she asks her husband if it would be a sin to undress and bathe Nader’s father as part of her job. Her main conflict in the film also revolves around money and fear of punishment from God, while Nader and Simin’s main conflict revolves around Simin wanting to leave Iran for a better life. 

The green and gray colors of the opening return in several different ways throughout the film.  The apartment that Nader and Termeh live in has green doors, green kitchen walls, a green fan in the grandfather’s room. The characters often wear green or neutral colors, off-put by the pop of vibrancy seen in Termeh’s royal blue school outfit, or Razieh’s daughter Somayeh's (Kimia Hosseini) bright pink backpack. It conveys the solemn dullness that grounds the film in reality, and the brightness and innocence of the children trapped in all the messes their parents make, creating a world that revolves around the adults where children are collateral damage. Similar to Marriage Story (Noam Baumbach, 2019) in that respect, the parents create conflict that pulls the audience to root for one or the other, and yet the real characters deserving of the “win” are the children.  

© Filmiran, Sony Pictures Classics 

The world in which the film takes place is a world without music as well. The only semblance of a soundtrack is the song that plays over the very last shot of the film as the credits begin to roll. Silence is a common recurrence, with the quietest scenes having an even larger impact than some of the more loud and bursting moments filled with arguments. One of the final but most impactful moments occurs as Termeh and Somayeh’s gaze meets as their parents argue in the background, silently consoling each other as the victims of their parents’ endeavors.