"A Separation" Movie Review

 

LINK TO THE FILM (Note: You do not have to download anything. On top of the video you will see an advertisement box. Click the X at the upper right hand corner of the advertisement and it will go away.  Enjoy the movie!)  

 WATCH A SEPARATION

Wow did this movie make an impact! Thanks for the suggestion, Suellen! I'm going to try to talk about the film's theme without mentioning any spoilers!

A married couple are faced with a difficult decision - to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimers. Not only did the film give amazing insight on Iran's culture, but it highlighted the effects of decisions we make. There is so much to take away from the couple's dilemmas as they have to weigh out decisions involving their children, spouses, neighbors, the law, and the Koran. What I learned is that it is nearly impossible to point out who is "right" or "wrong" when incidents happen. When you think about your life at this second, there are situations already in effect (You are at SAIC because you had the attributes to be accepted. You moved to Chicago because you enrolled at SAIC. You got an apartment because you moved to Chicago. You must pay rent every month because you got an apartment.) Notice this is much like the game Dominos. One decision ---> the next decision ---> the next decision. Therefore, life can sometimes quickly wind up in a place you didn't think you'd be at since one cause led to one effect and that effect led to three more causes, which led to 10 more effects. With this in mind, what happens when a huge boulder comes and knocks some of your Dominos down into different directions? You have to use the path of life that you are currently at in order to solve the boulder problem. You can't always start back at the beginning because life has kept moving and time has not stopped ticking.

As therapists we must keep in mind that our clients cannot be deemed "wrong" or "right" in most cases. A person that ended up in jail for stealing walks out of jail 4 years later. Perhaps, wrong. Then that person decides to do everything right, honest, and square to make him or herself a good job candidate BUT their resume states they have been convicted of theft. Guess who will hire that person? Not many. That person has no where to go despite their great convictions and jumps into selling drugs just to make it by. They get caught and are sent back to jail for 10 years. At this point, we start a cycle. As therapists, we have to keep in mind that there are systems in place (the law, the Koran, family) that will be affected by decisions whether they are "right" or "wrong." In this case, is it our duty to help individuals learn from decisions, accept their situations, and help them find ways of dealing?

-Erika