Best Films of the 2010s: A Separation

Lists are beautiful. Films are beautiful. Opinions are subjective. Some films that we see now- some made for kids, some made in other languages, some made in 'trashy' genres- will one day become classics. Which ones? Here's my entirely subjective gaze into the crystal ball with my picks of the best films of the 2010s...

A Separation

    The way George Miller detonates a stunt truck, Iran’s Asghar Farhadi explodes the fault lines within a family. A man leaves his father who suffers from Alzheimer’s in the care of a nurse. She seems to leave him for dead and in anger the man shoves her which later seems to have caused her to miscarry her baby. Little is what it seems, however, due to deception, mixed motives, guilt and shame. The shifting and interlocking bonds of gender, religion and class influence who will speak and what they will say in the public enquiry that follows.

    This film is as engrossing as a panic attack, complex but not overly complicated. Shot like a documentary so the camera seems invisible, this is a detective film minus an in-story detective, the revelations masterfully drip-fed to the viewer. Every character is right in their own minds and that’s what makes what happens to them so awful, and so true. If it wasn’t for Western cultural biases Leila Hatami and particularly Peyman Maadi would be lauded to the skies for their portrayal of the central couple torn between making the best life for their child Termeh and caring for a father. This film deserves to crossover into the Western mainstream conversation the same way Parasite has done recently, since it is perfect, scene by suspenseful and emotionally devastating scene.

Next Time: another troubled relationship, if not an entirely human one.