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[richardghohestani]

After watching and understanding The White Balloon a few weeks ago, I knew I needed to continue watching Persian classics. This past weekend, I watched the 2012 Persian film, A Separation via Amazon Prime Video. This movie was directed by the famous Iranian director, Asghar Farhadi, and takes place in modern-day Iran.

After watching this film, I was reminded of several things pertaining to Persian culture, and learned a few things as well. One thing that especially surprised me was the way the value that religion had on the characters. The characters had no problem blatantly lying and withholding the truth from each other, but quickly

I especially enjoyed sharing some time with my family, and having some quality time with my mother especially. It was also nice watching it with both my mother and brother, who are Persian, and then my girlfriend, who is not. It was interesting hearing various comments from people with different levels of familiarity. Although my mother and I are obviously very close and we are family, her opinions and input on accuracy is very different since she actually grew up in Iran. On the other hand, my girlfriend only knows Persian culture and tendencies through watching us and through the stories I tell her. My girlfriend also dove deeper, and was incredibly surprised that they were able to produce such a movie despite only having a budget of $500,000.

Additionally, the whole concept of a divorce/separation in Iran caught me off guard to begin with. As silly as this might sound, I was truly under the impression that all couples in Iran would in some way be forced to stay together. It was interesting seeing the long process of a divorce in a country that is not the US.

RG

[richardghohestani]

Forushande

Earlier this week, I watched The Salesman on Amazon Prime Video. The Salesman, which is also known as “Forushande'', is a globally renowned Persian movie directed by Asghar Farhadi. Despite the fact that it has won multiple awards, including the Oscar award for best foregin language film of the year in 2017, I had never heard of it.

The movie started out slow, and uneventful, so initially I didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. Little did I know, it was gradually progressing to a work of art that met its expectations. The movie revolved around a husband and wife who were involved in the theatre, Emad and Rana. Honestly, I had no idea that theatre was even a thing in Iran. In my elementary Persian class, we’ve seen a few documentaries which suggested that there are some serious sanctions on music in Iran, so I was under the impression that theatre fell under the same category. Seeing Rana and Emad’s dedication to their craft, along with the rather packed crowds at the theatre, definitely flipped this stereotype for me.

Like I previously mentioned, I thought the movie started out uneventful. I felt strongly about this, until Rana was attacked in the middle of the night, in her own home. This actually reminded me that not all Iranians are fully good. Although this is obvious, the only association I have with Iranians is what I know in my own family and culture. Knowing the Persian culture in my family and just in general, I totally forgot that there were actually Iranians whose main focus isn’t to kill you with kindness; there are criminals and dangerous people everywhere.

After this attack, the movie began to fulfill its expectations. In Persian culture, family is everything. I think they portrayed the extent that an Iranian would go for their loved ones perfectly. The main character genuinely cares about his wife, and he even values her way more than his passion for the theatre. There was a scene where he goes away from the script to address something in the middle of the play. Once he found the attacker (someone he knew well), he roughed him up and locked him in a room, then went to the theatre. When he told his wife however, she didn’t want anything bad to happen to her attacker. Despite her trauma with the attacker, she didn’t want to harm him in any way. I especially enjoyed the end, because the husband, Eman, let the attacker go, and even gave him back the money he left when he attacked Rana. Emad was put in a tough situation where he ultimately had to decide between siding with the anger and creating his own justice for his wife, and forgiveness.

-RG

Citation (MLA)

Farhadi, Asghar, director. The Salesman, Cohen Media Group, 1 June 2016, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089Y7DL9W/ref=pv_ag_gcf?cmp=rt_where_to_watch20. Accessed 29 Oct. 2021.