Asghar Farhadi is one of the most productive contemporary filmmakers working today, having received the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film twice for his films A Separation and The Salesman in the 2010s. He received his master’s degree in stage direction for theatre after studying dramatic arts at the University of Tehran. He was born near Isfahan. Farhadi’s films are recognised for their critiques of Iranian gender, politics, and social status. He is a filmmaker who is deeply steeped in his culture and, based on his remarks and political actions, is both proud and critical of his homeland. Perhaps the highest kind of love for one’s homeland is to show it beautifully, with care and commitment, while also highlighting its flaws and, more significantly, how it can be remedied. Below are some of the best films of Asghar Farhadi.
1. Dancing In The Dust (2003)
Nazar works extra shifts to pay back the debt he took out for his impetuous wedding and to give some ongoing restitution to his sweet jilted bride, Reyhaneh. After he is force to divorce her by family and social pressure since her mother is a prostitute. When he gets behind on his payments, he runs away from the cops. He ends up in the desert with an obnoxious old man who hunts dangerous snakes for their venom. They get force to coexist in the desert since Nazar refuses to return to the city. He instead wants to catch snakes to pay off his debts. His rambling, babbling irritates the timid elderly guy to the point where Nazar’s life is in danger.
2. Everybody Knows (2018)
Laura (Penelope Cruz) is coming to her hometown in Spain with her teenage daughter, Irene (Carla Campra), to attend a wedding. It’s a fun time with family and friends, including former lover Paco (Javier Bardem), who gets marry now as well. When Irene is abducted and a ransom demand is made, the merrymaking comes to an abrupt halt. As their pasts clash, a can of worms bursts open, making everyone a suspect.
3. The Past (2013)
After four years, Ahmad, an Iranian man, returns to Paris to complete the divorce procedure. He meets his ex-wife and her daughters from a previous marriage. He finds his ex-girlfriend now seeing an Arab named Samir. Samir has a son and a wife who is in a coma. The older daughter’s connection with her mother is deteriorating since the daughter believes her mother is to blame for Samir’s wife’s comatose state. When the older daughter reveals something awful she has done, the situation becomes even more complex.
4. Beautiful City (2004)
Akbar is eighteen years old. He has been kept in a rehabilitation centre since being sentence to death for murder when he was sixteen years old. He has to achieve the age of eighteen in order for the conviction to be carry out legally. Akbar has now been sent to prison, where he will await his death. Soon after his release, A’la, an Akbar friend who had been imprisoned for burglary. He tries desperately to gain the consent of Akbar’s plaintiff in order to stop the execution.
5. Fireworks Wednesday (2006)
A lady who suspects her husband of infidelity enlists the services of Roohi, a young woman hired by an agency to clean the house the day before their holiday trip to Dubai. She instructs Roohi to set an appointment with the woman she suspects and acquire information at her salon. Roohi is betroth and not unaffected by marital strife. She, the couple, their young son, the wife’s sister and husband, and the beautician have a series of exchanges, confrontations, and prevarications throughout the day. Acts of kindness have the potential to go wrong. And what about the trip to Dubai?
6. A Separation (2011)
Nader and Simin, an Iranian middle-class couple with an eleven-year-old daughter named Termeh, are about to divorce. They love each other, but Simin wishes to leave Iran permanently. Especially for Termeh, because the family’s exit visas are only valid for the next forty days. Nader, on the other hand, refuses to go since his father has Alzheimer’s disease and Nader would not abandon him. Despite the fact that he probably has no idea who Nader is most of the time. As a result, Simin leaves their home and returns to her own parents. Termeh, on the other hand, stays with her father because she sees this as a way to reconcile her parents.
Because Nader’s father requires round-the-clock care, Nader employs a guy named Hojjat to be his father’s caregiver. When he is at work during the day, based on a recommendation from Simin about a family member of an acquaintance. Hojjat, on the other hand, is unable to make it on his first day in this role. Razieh, Hojjat’s wife, arrives with their infant daughter Somayeh to do the labour. As they are in severe need of money. After a few days of Razieh doing all the work for an absent Hojjat, an incident happens between Nader and Razieh. The consequences of which imperil both their social position.
With their respective spouses and children put into the mix, each person has made up his or her mind about what is best for himself or herself, which is frequently at odds with the others. These choices are made with justice, humanity, and/or individual well-being in mind.
7. About Elly (2009)
A group of friends from the middle class travel from Tehran to spend the weekend at the beach. Sepideh invites Elly, her daughter’s teacher, to accompany the three families on their journey in order to introduce her to their recently divorced friend Ahmad, who now lives in Germany. The two ladies go shopping the next morning, and Elly claims she has to return to Tehran because her mother has lately been admitted to the hospital for heart surgery, but Sepideh encourages her to stay and hides her suitcase. Elly is asked to keep an eye on the youngsters who are playing in the sea by one of their mothers. Sepideh’s daughter shouts out to the men playing volleyball, asking them to save one of the youngsters from the river. They search for Elly after saving the little child, unsure if she has drowned or returned to Tehran.
8. The Salesman (2016)
Following the forced evacuation of their apartment in a condemned building in Tehran, Emad and Rana relocate to a small flat set against the backdrop of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (1985). Then catastrophe strikes when Emad decides to stay late for a rehearsal, leaving Rana alone at home. The couple’s faith and love, the very bond that holds it all together, will be put to the test during the next two weeks, in the aftermath of that dreadful night. Rana’s existence is now characterised by terror, while Emad is burdened by an intolerable sense of shame, and the theatrical performance must go on at all costs.
10. A Hero (2021)
Rahim Soltani is in prison because he was unable to settle a loan. As a result, he takes a two-day leave to try to persuade his creditor to drop his lawsuit against him. Rahim is prepared to go to any length to reclaim his freedom. He is eager to put in the effort to return the loan, but Bahram is a principled man who will make Rahim’s life difficult. That is why Rahim must try to find a solution to his problems. Many things will happen once his plan begins to operate.
