A Separation

A Separation (2011) starring Leila Hatami, Peyman Moadi. When an Iranian husband and wife (Hatami and Moadi) ask for a divorce, the judge refuses on the grounds that they don't agree on everything. The wife wants to emigrate from Iran and take their daughter, while the husband insists that he must stay in Iran and care for his father, who has Alzheimer's. So they separate, but both stay in Iran. The husband has to work during the day, so must hire someone to take care of his father while he is at work. This goes disastrously bad when he comes home one day to find his father on the floor, one hand tied to the bedpost. He fires the caregiver, and shoves her out the door. She (claims) to fall down the stairs, causing a miscarriage. The husband is then charged with murder because the fetus was 19 weeks old. This movie clearly illustrates how the backward social conventions and legal system of Iran can lead to terrible consequences. It's like an Iranian Kramer vs. Kramer. This film won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. The movie is in (I believe) Farsi, with English subtitles. The subtitles are very legible. Grade: A-