IRAN wins Best Foreign Film Oscar

Take that Saudi Arabia.


In Tehran, the teacher Simin (Leila Hatami) has requested the divorce from her husband, the bank clerk Nader (Peyman Moadi). Simin wishes to live abroad to give a better life to her eleven year-old daughter Termeh (Sarina Farhadi) and Nader, who is a family man but very arrogant, wants to stay to take care of his father (Ali-Asghar Shahbazi) that has Alzheimer. Simin moves to the house of her mother and Nader hires the religious Razieh (Sareh Bayat) to take care of his father while he is working.

Razieh is pregnant but she does not tell her husband Hodjat (Shahab Hosseini), who owes a large amount to the creditors, that she is working. When she arrives with her daughter Somayeh (Kimia Hosseini)at Nader's house, she distracts and Nader's father goes to the street and she goes and gets him back home. On the next day, when Nader arrives home with Termeh, they find Nader's father tied up to his bed and Razieh and Somayeh are not at home. When they arrive at home, Nader accuses Razieh of theft and expels her. Razieh feels offended and argues with him, and Nader pushes her out at the front door. Razieh falls and has an abortion. She goes to the court with her husband and the witnesses are summoned to testify.

"Jodaeiye Nader az Simin" or the separation of Nader and Simin, is among the best Iranian films I have seen and is a fantastic drama that shows how flawed mankind is, no matter in Iran, Brazil, Europe or wherever. Despite the different values of the Iranian society comparing with the Westerns ones, all the characters are flawed; therefore, the plot is realistic. Nader is a family man that loves his father and his daughter, but commits perjury, is stubborn and arrogant and asks his acquaintances to lie. Simin uses the secret that Razieh had told her to take advantage. Termeh lies to save her father from justice. Razieh is religious and worried with Allah and sins, but she was capable to lie fearing the reaction of her husband. Hodjat is a rude and impulsive man that is violent.

The direction is perfect and the acting is top-notch. The story is engaging and believable and differences of cultures between Iran and Brazil are intriguing. I really recommend this film for any cinema lover or people interested in learning a little about the Iranian culture.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1832382/