GRADE: 10
A married couple are faced with a difficult decision – to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer’s disease.
Director: Asghar Farhadi
Country of Origin: Iran | France | Australia
Thoughts:
This intimate portrait of a middle class Iranian family in crisis manages to present a prismatic and complex morality puzzle while somehow also being deeply suspenseful and riveting drama. The film focuses on the myriad gray areas of personal ethics and morality and contrasts it with a court system that necessarily can adjudicate only the most black and white facts. Compassion for those on the periphery of the lead couple’s predicament is also in the forefront of Farhadi’s mind, making this a masterful meditation on both the difficulty of getting at the “truth” in search of justice and the fallout such pursuits can cost on a personal level. A masterpiece.
It doesn’t hurt that Farhadi really knows how to select a cast. The performances are all superb, and the leads highly appealing. You feel for all of them and recognize that none of them are truly in the “wrong.”