A Separation (*****)

There are many things that are troubling about this year's crop of quality films, especially considering the thin list of potential Best Picture nominees that could be deemed 'worthy' of the award. However, to see a film like A Separation made this year in Iran both renews my belief in movies as well as further demonstrates the lack of quality America seems to pump out. Here is undoubtedly one of the best movies of the year, of the decade, of the new century, yet many people have failed to see or even hear of it simply because it is foreign.

The film follows a couple, Nader and Simin, who are facing a troubling divorce, leaving their teenage daughter to decide with whom she will live. Nader lives with his elderly father who suffers from Alzheimer's. A maid is hired to replace Simin in the grandfather's care taking, bringing with her the entire narrative to the rest of the film. Without spoiling much of the rich, layered plot, an incident occurs involving the new maid that sets off a chain of events that leads to the destruction of both families and raises moral, religious, ethical, and philosophical questions regarding the law. The amount covered in the screenplay is vast, moving from the troubled situation the daughter faces at school, to the maid's extreme religious beliefs (even going to the point of verifying that changing an elderly man's dirty pants is not a sin).

This film has jumped to the top of Rotten Tomatoes 'Fresh' list with a perfect 100% score and has won virtually every foreign language film award that is offered, and yet it does not seem like enough. Films rarely have the power to involve me so deeply in the plot as well as have such a strong grip on my attention - subtitles or not. The story is one that is universal, bridging languages and borders. Iran is not a country torn by war, destruction, and radicals - no, there are everyday dramas unfolding all the time. What's amazing is not how different this Iranian film is from the United States, but how we are the same.

I don't think I will be able to speak highly enough of this film in one small post. Out of all the films I have seen this year, perhaps it is not my favorite, but it is undoubtedly the smartest. In years to come, I believe that the film people will remember most from 2011 will be A Separation, a film that will most likely fail to receive more than an Oscar nomination or two, but challenges what filmmaking can do and delivers a universal message that should resound with viewers everywhere.

(Awards potential: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Original Screenplay)