‘A Separation’, to lie or no to lie, that is the question: 10 years later

Ten years after Asghar Farhadi’s Oscar-wining ‘A Separation’, a new rave review highlights how ethical issues depicted in his masterpiece can pose new challenges for moral relativism.  

Nearly a decade has passed since the premiere of Farhadi's masterpiece ‘A Separation’ (2011), which is the last part of his trilogy following ‘Fireworks Wednesday’ and ‘About Elly’.

All three movies are themed on covering up lies and making judgments with a skillful twist in ‘A Separation’ where lies, unlike ‘About Elly’, are inevitable, spurring the audience to empathize with the characters to a greater extent.

In ‘About Elly’, the main character told a lie to stay away from any harm. Conversely, the lead in ‘A Separation’ does not give in to pressure, embracing poverty and misery not to shoulder the burden of a false oath or perjury for that matter.

‘A Separation’ also features how people have to decide on ethical issues in the nick of time, choosing between the absolute truth and objective truth that could save their life in the case of the latter.

The dilemma for ethical issues reaches a peak when Marzieh was about to lose her faith in telling the truth but decided to reveal the reality at court, encouraging the audience to feel that people still live by their faith in God.

The review emphasizes that this reasoning does not mean that Farhadi, like a moral teacher, intends to preach and advise the audience; On the contrary, Farhadi in ‘A Separation’ and his other films proposes a kind of moral relativism.

Ten years after his masterpiece, Farhadi’s ‘A Hero’ gears up to attend the 2021 Cannes fest. After making a few movies set abroad, Farhadi has gone back to his homeland for the new flick. We still wonder if his new title can repeat 'A Separation''s success, but his signature movies in past all had something to amaze movie fans across the globe.   

AG/AG